Category: M/M Supernatural Fiction

A Paul B Review: A Good Deed Done by Pelaam

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

A Good Deed Done coverWhen Conner saves a wolf from a rabbit trap, he doesn’t realize that it would lead to finding the partner in life that he needs.

Connor is a simple farmer content to raise enough food and animals to subsist. Since his mother’s passing, his is a somewhat lonely existence on his family farm. Despite the efforts of some of the townsfolk, Connor has not found any person who interests him as a life mate.

Ciaran is Faoladlh, the local name for werewolves. Still under the mating age, Ciaran is running around in his wolf form when he becomes ensnared in a trap. He is rescued by this simple farmer whom he recognizes as his mate. After being freed from the trap and given something to eat, the wolf runs off into the woods.

Two years pass since that fateful encounter. Connor always wonders what has happened to his wolf as he grows to call him. Leaving food occasionally in the clearing near where he found the wolf, he assumes that the wolf is doing well as the food has always disappeared when he comes back to check.

One day, after refusing to be bought out by a rich neighboring farmer, he finds a couple of his cows missing. He tracks them down to the man who offered to buy his farm. Knowing that the local authorities would take the rich farmer’s word over his, he decides to head back home.

Cutting through the forest, Connor is enveloped in a mist and comes across a small cottage. There he finds a family which includes the human form of Ciaran. There he learns of the existence of the Faoladlh and the meaning of mates. Wondering why Ciaran had not contacted him before that day, they explain the Ciaran was too young to take a mate but has since come of age. Knowing that Connor needs to return to his farm, they make plans to return with his mate and state that if he should ever need help, he should go to the woods and call for help.

As Connor and Ciaran settle into life, they must deal with the unscrupulous neighbor who will stop at nothing to obtain Connor’s farm. With the help of Ciaran and his family, they must find a way to finally stop the neighbor before Connor loses what is most precious to him.

I thought the author’s take on werewolves was unique. It seemed like they lived in an almost Brigadoon like existence. They will come out of the mist when or if necessary. The longing that Connor has for the unknown man in his dreams brings about the mate longing that is typical most shifter stories. Having only met Ciaran’s wolf form, he has no idea who this man is until they meet two years later in the wolf cabin. This short story satisfied on almost all levels for a shifter story.

The cover art by Michelle Cary draws you into the story. In the foreground, you have the dark haired Connor. In the background, you have a wolf howling on a hill with a ghostly image of Ciaran in his human form. The only quibble I have with it is that the clothing seems to be a bit modern for what I think the times in which the story is set but I could be wrong. Otherwise it is a top notch cover.

Sales Links:   MLR Press –  All Romance (ARe) – Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 46 pages
Published March 6th 2015 by ManLove Romance Press
ASINB00UDHONOY
edition languageEnglish

A MelanieM Review: Dead Blind: Jack of Spades #2 (PF 2015: Altered States) by Lee Brazil

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Dead Blind coverIn the two months since Dr. Sabine Brusilov and his ghostly lover Bart discovered the curious brass circlet while investigating a haunting in an apartment building, Sabine focused on recovering from his accident. Now, his health restored, his mind returns to the mystery of the circlet. Even a commission to appear on a television show can’t distract him from its allure.

After nearly two centuries of resistance, it takes an exorcism for Bart to come to terms with being a ghost…and learning that everything in the other realm isn’t quite the way he had figured. As he grows more comfortable in the spirit plane, his abilities on the earthly plane evolve. Even though he feels the circlet’s evil, he can’t help but connect his growing strength with it.

Life and death are two sides of the same coin, but the circlet blurs lines for both man and ghost.

In Dead Blind (Jack of Spades #2), Lee Brazil takes his plot and gives it a dark, maze-like quality that adds another level of trepidation and suspense to a tale already overflowing with it.  For me, this story is where I start to connect with Sabine whose personality and cavalier treatment of Bart sort of pushed me away in the first installment.

With an evil circlet in his possession, Sabine’s control over his emotions, thoughts and actions become compromised.  And it’s his struggle to remain himself that really draws the reader onto his side and let’s us empathize with this complicated man.  Bart too is growing in substance…literally.  While the reasons he is becoming stronger are still somewhat nebulous, the fact that Bart abilities have grown now allow him to have avenues for his thoughts and emotions not possible before.  He can travel and move things, for good or bad.  But it’s his growing concern for Sabine that pulls us into their relationship and gives us a better feel for their couple dynamics which is undergoing  drastic changes even as they are.

But back to that evil circlet.  Lee Brazil does a fabulous job of bringing that object’s menace to life on the page. Through the vivid imagery of Brazil’s descriptions, t he circlet emanates such malevolence, that the  dreams and actions it’s pulling out of Sabine will bring chills as you read.  Yes, this story is getting marvelously darker, more convoluted and scary.  And I couldn’t be happier.

If you love your romance stories with a touch of horror, if you listen for those things that go bump in the night, than this installment has just the right amount of shivers to make you downright  gleeful.  But be warned, none of these are stand alone stories.  They must be read in the order they were written and often contain cliffhangers just as serialized stories should.

But don’t take my word for it.  Pick them all up and get started today.  Each is a truly delicious morsel of romance and fear, addicting and downright delectable.  Happy Reading.

Cover art by Laura Harner.  I like the overall design but am still missing a supernatural element.  It just seems too light and fluffy for the content.

Sales Links:   All Romance (ARe)       Amazon         Buy It Here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 54 pages
Published April 14th 2015 by Lime Time Press
ASINB00W5HNFYE
edition languageEnglish\

About Pulp Friction 2015
Lee Brazil ~ Havan Fellows ~ Parker Williams ~ Laura Harner

The Pulp Friction 2015 Altered States Collection.
Four authors.
Four Series.
Twenty books.
One supernatural finale.

Spend a year with the creatures that go bump in the night…fighting for their rights to exist and protecting the innocents of The Big Easy. A diverse group of friends trying to find their place in a world they never had to “fit” into before.
Although each series can stand alone, we believe reading the books in the order they are released will increase your enjoyment.
Round One:
Drawing Dead (Jack of Spades: 1) by Lee Brazil
Blind Stud (King of Hearts: 1) by Havan Fellows
The Devil’s Bedpost (Four of Clubs: 1) by Parker Williams
Diamonds and Dust (Ace of Diamonds: 1) by Laura Harner

Round Two:

Dead Blind (Jack of Spades: 2) by Lee Brazil

 

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review — Foolish Encounters: A Rainbow Gold Anthology by Angel Martinez, Tinnean, Tali Spencer, Amy Lane, J.C. Wallace, Elin Gregory, and Freddy MacKay

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Foolish Encounters coverThis is a collection of stories in which one or both of the MCs have something happen which disrupts their routine before they have that first chance encounter. As the blurb states, “An accident, a chance encounter, a thought blurted out, a boat blown off course, a change in direction that suddenly runs into the line of fire – the smallest misstep can change everything. These foolish encounters are the moments around which lives pivot and sometimes spin out of control.”

A Message from the Home Office by Angel Martinez
Sissal, a cobra shifter, is sent an assistant to his outpost on planet Earth. The young guy named Rcrred, and nicknamed Richard, is cute, blond, very high strung, and uses his eidetic memory to spout regulations at Sissal every chance he gets. Richard is a dik-dik shifter and is the last thing Sissal wanted in his life. But Sissal adapts to the situation until he discovers that Richard has hacked into his computer and is apparently trying to find something on him to report back to headquarters. Actually, he’s reporting back to a specific officer who has had it in for Sissal for years. This is a very nice story with great world-building, interesting characters, and a plausible, complex storyline. Great for those who like sci-fi/futuristic adventures. 4 stars

Shredding the Heart by JC Wallace
Nicholas is a skateboarder who is hoping to win a national title, and in the meantime is working, going to college part time, and practicing on his skateboard every chance he gets. He’s not only obsessed with skateboarding, though. He’s obsessed with the guy he sees out running every morning, and in an attempt to get closer one morning, he accidently overcompensates on his board, sending it slamming into the man’s head. Quinn is a workaholic, driven to achieve in his high pressure finance job, and hadn’t noticed the gorgeous skateboarder until they both ended up in the hospital together. Eventually, Quinn gives in to Nicholas’s attempts to befriend him, and the two find they have a lot in common. But Quinn’s been burned before and doesn’t give his trust lightly. When he perceives that Nicholas has used him to get sponsorship to attend his next skateboarding event, he cruelly breaks Nicholas’s heart and storms off in a huff.

This is the longest of the stories and was very well done. The author took the time to build a relationship with the men and gave them plenty of time to work out their own issues and for Quinn to realize his own stupidity. Shredding is defined as performing an athletic sport well, and it’s not until Quinn learns how to master his heart that the two can finally find their HEA. Great for those who love a little angst and self-flagellation mixed with their romance. 5 stars

The Lunar Imperative by Elin Gregory
Futuristic sci-fi about Haken, a Vargan sergeant who leads a covert mission to another planet to exterminate the man who escaped their planet with their treasury. One of his soldiers, Raimi, is attracted to Haken but is not of the same rank so Haken hesitates to pursue anything. The Vargans are huge, and shift-shape to beasts during the full moon, often losing their humanity during that time and feasting on each other. However, at this full moon, both Raimi and Haken have been captured. The heart of the story revolves around whether or not they will kill each other, exterminate their captor, or be killed. This is an interesting tale with a lot of world-building for such a short story. If you like non-human species and sci-fi space adventures, you will likely enjoy this one. 3 stars

Blue and Green Persuasion by Tinnean
Stranded aboard The Midnight Ride, a starship which has been floating without power through the galaxies for centuries, Hart accepts that his fate may be to die aboard the ship that was to have transported them to a new world before it lost power. But as they enter a new galaxy, his father, the captain, asks him to power up his pod—a small spaceship that he uses for scouting. As Chief Scout, he will not only drop into a possibly hostile atmosphere, but he may never return to the ship since there’s not enough power to get back. But the reports look good. The planet seems to have both water and land mass, and when he lands he finds an oxygen-rich atmosphere, small animals to use as food, and beautiful, bird-like sentient beings. Kes is such a being and right from the start, they are attracted to each other. But Hart has to direct his father and the other survivors onboard The Midnight Ride as they use shuttle tenders to land in this new world so the men are separated until Hart completes his mission. This was a great story with amazing world-building within so few words. The primary romance, and another between Hart’s brother and one of the soldiers were sweetly done, and we see enough of the promise of a future together to make it a satisfying romance story. 5 stars

Well Hello, Eight Eyes by Tali Spencer
Tanner is out on Lake Michigan when a horrible storm blows up, and he can’t make it back to shore. Shooting for an island, his boat capsizes, and he ends up on Spider Island where the residents don’t seem very happy about saving his life. He’s assigned to Cory as his housemate and “sitter”, and told to stay in the cabin no matter what happens while Cory is gone during the day. He steps onto the porch and is greeted with a scary sight—huge, furry, eight-legged creatures resembling spiders seem to be playing with each other in a nearby field. Needless to say, he gets indoors and doesn’t plan to go out at all the next day. That night, he and Cory get closer and more romantically involved, and he’s starting to wonder if he even wants to leave the island the next day when the supply boat is due to arrive. But before he has to make the choice, he gets a greater shock when he spots a spider indoors with him. What happens next changes the course of his future, and he finds a chance to be happy with Cory in a warm and fuzzy way (pun intended!). 3.5 stars

The Fenestra Penetration by Amy Lane
A fenestra is an opening or a window. Steve is a UPS driver who enjoys imagining what goes on behind the windows he views as he makes his deliveries every day. Usually he can see something inside each window that fires his imagination, but one house on his route has all the shades pulled, and when he sees where the package he’s about to deliver is from, he’s hoping that the guy who lives there is as hot as his imagination makes him out to be. That particular company only produces certain items—the kind of items Steve himself prefers, and when he gets a look at the cute guy who receives the box, he wants more. Eventually, he not only gets it he gets much more than his imagination could have possibly hoped for. A really cute, sweet, hot, well done story packed with humor and romance. 5 stars

The Nut Job by Freddy Mackay
This one is somewhat of an offshoot of “A Message from the Home Office” by Angel Martinez. Spencer is the pilot who dropped off Rcrred and got out of there quickly before Sissal could make him return for the irritating little rik-rik. Spence is a squirrel, or a squirrel-like being, who is on a mission to gather nuts, not only for the people on his planet, but there’s also a little side trip to set himself up with his own private stash. When his assistants, some of whom are large and furry, are spotted and shot at by a human, Spence has to abort his mission, drop his nuts, and try to get his friends to safety. It’s during this escape that he meets Raijin, a human male who is stoned on pot and ’shrooms and doesn’t really believe his own eyes. Over time, and a great deal of bickering, he and Spence start to form an attraction, and when Raijin is injured by that same gun-toting human, Spence does whatever he can to keep him safe, including making Raijin his pet. This is a nutty story (pun intended) in which the author shows a definite sense of humor with the nut jokes. A great way to end the anthology, and though not strictly a romance, there’s hope for one as the story closes. 4 stars

Overall, this is a nice anthology, definitely just perfect for those who enjoy sci-fi since many of the stories were space adventures. I enjoyed some stories more than others, and I’m sure other readers will have their own choices, but overall I enjoyed this very much.

Cover art by Wilde City Press.  Cute cover that works for the anthology.

Sales Links:     Wilde City Press        All Romance (ARe)      Amazon       Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, First, 353 pages
Published April 1st 2015 by Wilde City Press, LLC (first published March 31st 2015)
original titleFoolish Encounters: A Rainbow Gold Anthology
ISBN 1925313069 (ISBN13: 9781925313062)
edition languageEnglish

Heat Things Up with Cari Z on Superheroes and Where There’s Smoke…(guest blog and giveaway)

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Where There’s Smoke by Cari Z
Riptide Publishing

STRW In The Spotlight Header

Here today at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is Cari Z talking about Superheroes and her release Where There’s Smoke.  Check out her guest blog and book details below. And don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway.

Cari Z on Superheroes….

Superheroes seem to be having a moment right now. A big one.

They’re everywhere. They’re in blockbuster movies (hello my Avengers, it’s been far too long), they’re getting their own shows on TV, they’re on t-shirts and backpacks and bags of Doritos. Yes, I can now eat Captain America-endorsed Doritos, and that actually does incline me to grab a bag. I mean…it’s Chris Evans. Yes, please. Then there are the comics, don’t even get me started on the comics and how much money I’ve spent and how many different timelines there are, I will go insane if I think about it too hard.

I love superheroes, from the staunch to the sly, but I’ve also got a major soft spot for those who are endowed with great power and choose not to accept that great responsibility along with it. Or if they do, they do it for what we’d think of as the “wrong reasons.” Money, notoriety, the sheer thrill that comes from using your power for yourself and no one else. Selfish reasons. Personal reasons. These are the sorts of motives that turn a potential hero into a villain, but that doesn’t necessarily make a person bad.

These are the people who take a shitty situation and make the best of it, or decide not to let someone else make their decisions and run their lives. You don’t have to be The Joker to make villainy interesting. Be a nihilist, be a hedonist, be the Jackie Estacado of the criminal underground. This was the sort of character I wanted to focus on in the first book of the Panopolis series, but naturally I couldn’t start right there. Instead I took a normal guy named Edward Dinges and stuck him in Panopolis, the city of Heroes and Villains. I gave him a decent job, an average history and an overall humdrum life, and then…I made him fall in love.

With a villain.

How does love change you in the face of overwhelming odds? Where There’s Smoke has the answer.

STRW Author BookSynopsis

Panopolis is a rough place to be an average Joe. I came here looking for adventure and excitement, but nobody cares about one more normal guy in a city filled with super-powered heroes. The closest I’ve come to glory is working in a bank that villains often rob.

But then I maybe accidentally-on-purpose helped a villain escape the hero who was trying to save the day. Imagine my shock when, a week later, that villain asked me out for coffee. One date turned into more, and now I’m head over heels in love with Raul.

Falling in love with the guy dubbed the Mad Bombardier isn’t without its downsides, though. I’ve had to deal with near-death encounters with other villains, awkwardly flirtatious heroes who won’t take no for an answer, and a lover I’m not sure I can trust. It’s getting to the point where I know I’ll have to make a choice: side with the heroes, or stand fast by my villain.

Either way, I think my days as a normal guy are over.

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

Cari Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing in earnest then, because when you have no television, no car and nothing to read other than a French translation of Twilight, you find ways of entertaining yourself. She’s been back in Colorado for a while now, but stuck with the writing.

Cari posts a free weekly serial on her blog at carizerotica.blogspot.com. Come read, come say hi, or check out her other works at cari-z.net.

STRW Spotlight Contest Header

GiveawayWhereTheresSmoke_TourBanner

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a paperback copy of Rules To Live By. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 2. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget to add your email so we can contact you if you win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

In the Spotlight: Jordan L. Hawk, her release “Hoarfrost” and the Whyborne & Griffin series (author interview and giveaway)

Hoarfrost cover

Hoarfrost (Whyborne & Griffin #6)
by Jordan L. Hawk

Sales Links:   All Romance (ARe)       Amazon      

STRW In The Spotlight Header

 

Our  Q and A with Jordan L. Hawk, on her  Whyborne & Griffin series and much more…

Do you see children in Whyborne & Griffin’s future?

Griffin would be a fabulous father from day one, and love every minute of it. Whyborne would have no idea what to do with a baby, but once it started talking he would probably be okay. Given the time period, I don’t see any children of their own as feasible, but that’s not to say they wouldn’t be amazing godfathers to any friends of theirs who happen to procreate at some point. *shifty eyes*

How do you figure out between the two whose story is it time to tell?

A lot of it has to do with where the characters are in their relationships with each other and themselves. Widdershins was very much Whyborne’s story to kick things off, and Threshold was critical in negotiating the parameters of Whyborne and Griffin’s relationship so that they could move forward. So it felt natural to have Stormhaven focus largely on Griffin’s issues, since we’d already tackled some of Whyborne’s, and then Necropolis is about Whyborne’s relationship with Christine. Of course during all of this Whyborne’s character arc has been ticking along, so Bloodline mirrors Widdershins in some ways, in that it’s about Whyborne deciding who he’s going to be.

In Hoarfrost we’re very much back to “this is Griffin’s story” just as Stormhaven was. He has deep issues with family, both in the reality of what his family is and what he dreams of it being, and it was definitely time to tackle those. I’d go on, but I don’t want to give too much away! 😀

How many books do you see in this series?

My criteria for a series is twofold: 1) there’s more story to tell (and I want to tell it) and 2) readers want to read it. At this point, I’ve ideas through book 9. Which does not mean 9 is the limit, only that’s what I have a solid plot for. After that, we’ll see!

Do you ever see yourself writing a modern/contemporary male male romance novel? If so, when would it be out?

Well, I already write contemporary paranormal with my SPECTR series and Hainted. As far as pure contemporary romance without paranormal elements, I don’t see myself ever writing it. My first love will always be for the fantastic, and it’s deeply engrained in everything I write.

Will Whyborne & Griffin ever cross paths with Henry & Vincent?

Alas, they live in two completely universes, so no. And I think Whyborne had his fill of ghost hunters when he and Griffin encountered KJ Charles’s Simon and Robert in “Remnant.” 😉

STRW Author BookSynopsis

Hoarfrost(Whyborne & Griffin: Book 6) 
Previous Book: Bloodline

Sorcerer Percival Endicott Whyborne and his husband Griffin Flaherty have enjoyed an unprecedented stretch of peace andHoarfrost cover quiet. Unfortunately, the calm is shattered by the arrival of a package from Griffin’s brother Jack, who has uncovered a strange artifact while digging for gold in Alaska. The discovery of a previously unknown civilization could revive the career of their friend Dr. Christine Putnam—or it might kill them all, if the hints of dark sorcery surrounding the find are true.

With Christine and her fiancé Iskander, Whyborne and Griffin must journey to the farthest reaches of the arctic to stop an ancient evil from claiming the life of Griffin’s brother. But in the rough mining camp of Hoarfrost, secrets fly as thickly as the snow, and Whyborne isn’t the only sorcerer drawn by the rumors of magic. Amidst a wilderness of ice and stone, Griffin must either face his greatest fear—or lose everyone he loves.

Find Mika’s STRW Review Here.

Book Details:

ebook, 274 pages
Published April 21st 2015 by Jordan L. Hawk
original title Hoarfrost
ISBN139781941230114
edition languageEnglish
url http://jordanlhawk.com/books/whyborne-griffin/
seriesWhyborne & Griffin #6
charactersGriffin Flaherty, Percival Endicott Whyborne

 

The Whyborne & Griffin series:
Widdershins (Book 1)
Threshold (Book 2)
Stormhaven (Book 3)
Necropolis (Book 4)
Bloodline (Book 5)
Hoarfrost (Book 6)

Eidolon (A Whyborne & Griffin short story)
Remnant (A Whyborne & Griffin/Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal short story) – written with KJ Charles
Carousel (A Whyborne & Griffin short story) – in the Another Place in Time anthology

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

About Jordan L. Hawk…

Jordan L. Hawk grew up in the wilds of North Carolina, where she was raised on stories of haints and mountain magic by her bootlegging granny and single mother. After using a silver knife in the light of a full moon to summon her true love, she turned her talents to spinning tales. She weaves together couples who need to fall in love, then throws in some evil sorcerers and undead just to make sure they want it bad enough. In Jordan’s world, love might conquer all, but it just as easily could end up in the grave.Jordan L. Hawk image

Find/follow Jordan L. Hawk at:

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 Enter to win an eBook of your choice from Jordan L. Hawk’s back library.  To enter to win, leave a comment with your email address below and use the link provided for more contest options.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Giveaway provided by the author.

 

 

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It’s Ally Blue ~ Back With “Down”, Love with a Hint of Horror! (guest post and giveaway)

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Ally Blue is here today at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words.  Any reader who loves romance with a hint of the supernatural or a touch of horror is familiar with this prolific author.  Ally Blue has written the popular Bay City Paranormal Investigations series, The Happy Onion, Willow Bend and so many more and now she brings us Down, her latest tale of romance and horror.

But let Ally Blue tell you herself….

Down_TourBanner

Hi everyone! I’m Ally Blue, and I’m touring the internet tubes this week in support of my new horror novel, Down. I really appreciate my hosts here at Scattered Thoughts and Rouge Words for having me here today, thank you!

If anyone here is familiar with my work, you’ll know me as an author of gay romance. For the past ten years, I’ve written romance pretty much exclusively. I’ve hit several different sub-genres, including paranormal, contemporary (both angsty and comedic), futuristic/dystopian, sci-fi, and suspense. But except for a couple of horror short stories, my books have always been romances at heart, no matter what else happens.

Down changes that in a big way. The two central characters are still gay men and they do fall into a romantic relationship which plays an important role in the story, but this book is definitely not a romance. The relationship between Mo and Armin is important to the book, but it’s not the focus. The horror plot is the focus of this book—the thing the BathyTech crew finds, the events that follow from that find, and what happens to Our Heroes and the people around them as a result. And some things happen that are not very nice at all. Yeah, Down is definitely Horror. With that big old capital “H”.

Writing horror as a romance author has been interesting. As a reader, I’ve been a fan of horror all my life. I’ve always wanted to write it. Like I said, I’ve done a couple of horror shorts—one of them, Flesh and Song, is available through Riptide Publishing in their Bump In the Night erotic horror anthology—but Down is my first full-length horror novel, something I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time. Horror is a completely different animal to romance. The focus is different. I mean, the characters still have to be the main focus, or the story will feel dead and uninteresting. Or at least that’s my opinion. But the way you handle the characters, their motivations and the consequences of their actions, is different. Obviously, in horror you can go a lot darker than you can with romance. Or maybe it’s just me, ha. I wanted to weave the romance into the horror plot and make the relationship a part of the horror. That was a big challenge for me, as a big fan of the Happily Ever After ending, but I think I succeeded. I think the romance part is very poignant, and the horror part is pretty damn horrific, and I think they work well together to create a frightening but touching story.

I’m very proud of this book, and I want everyone else to love it too. Thanks for letting me talk about it! Happy reading, y’all

About Down

Seven thousand meters below the ocean’s surface, the crew of the BathyTech 3 mineral mining facility has found something remarkable: a rock-like sphere of unknown material and origin.Down_200x300

For Mo Rees, the discovery calls to his inner explorer and adds color to his dull miner’s life. Even better than the promise of new knowledge is the unexpected connection he forges with Dr. Armin Savage-Hall, leader of the team brought down to study the thing.

For Armin, the object is the find of a lifetime. It could prove his controversial theories and secure his scientific reputation. And Mo is a fascinating bonus.

Then crew members start behaving strangely. Worse, they start to change: their eyes glow purple, their teeth sharpen. Then the violence begins, the brutal deaths. As BathyTech descends deeper into chaos, the surviving crew works desperately to find the cause of the horrors around them. What they uncover could annihilate the human race. And they can’t stop it.

Buy It Here (and read an excerpt too) at Riptide Publishing.

About the Author

Ally Blue is acknowledged by the world at large (or at least by her heroes, who tend to suffer a lot) as the Popess of Gay Angst.

She has a great big suggestively-shaped hat and rides in a bullet-proof Plexiglas bubble in Christmas parades. Her harem of manwhores does double duty as bodyguards and inspirational entertainment. Her favorite band is Radiohead, her favorite color is lime green and her favorite way to waste a perfectly good Saturday is to watch all three extended version LOTR movies in a row.
Her ultimate dream is to one day ditch the evil day job and support the family on manlove alone. She is not a hippie or a brain surgeon, no matter what her kids’ friends say.

Connect with Ally:
Website: http://www.allyblue.com
Twitter: @PopessAllyBlue
Tumblr: https://www.therealallyblue.tumblr.com
Facebook fan page
Facebook profile page: https://www.facebook.com/AllyBlue.author
Group blog: http://www.fictionwithfriction.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/PopessAllyBlue

Giveaway

Down_150x300Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing a $15 Riptide store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 25. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget to add your email so we can contact you if you win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Prizes provided by Riptide Publishing.

A MelanieM Review: Heart of Clay by Lee Brazil

Rating: 4 stars out of 5:

Heart-of-Clay-400x600Decades earlier a tragic accident separated two men who were always meant to be together.  Now the ghost of the man that died makes one more effort to bring the men he loved together as they were always meant to be.

Clayton Merk, accomplished, yet arrogant, businessman, has a reputation for one-night stands and being steadfastly anti-relationship, life choices that stem from a traumatic loss in high school. When he decides to return home—to the root of all his problems—he brings a co-worker with him as a buffer against the past. Even though he’s ready to lay old ghosts to rest, he certainly didn’t expect a literal ghost to lend a hand.

Brad Jorgensen, Clay’s former best friend, has also clung to the past in an unhealthy way. When Brad’s brother died in that car accident, he lost not only his brother but any chance he had to get together with Clay, the boy he secretly loved. Now Brad holds Clay responsible for everything that has gone wrong with his life, not the least of which is his cousin’s death decades earlier. At one time they’d been closer than brothers, but blame and anger are powerful weapons of destruction, and they’ve left Brad in a wasteland of self-doubt, hatred, and loneliness.

For decades Clay and Brad have remained apart, separated by loss, anger, bitterness and guilt.  The ghost at the heart of the problem has had enough. Bobby isn’t pleased with his cousin or his ex. Their refusal to let go of the past has kept him on a plane where he doesn’t belong and isn’t at home. He’s expended all his energy trying to get through to Brad, without success, but Clay’s return finally gives him a foot in the door…or out the door.
If he could just get the two stubborn men together.

I have loved ghost stories since I was a child and when combined with romance, they prove downright irresistible.  In Heart of Clay, Lee Brazil takes this trope and gives it his own twist by taking these two men decades past the accident that caused Bobby’s death and the schism in their lives.  Heart of Clay by Lee Brazil opens with Clay, a successful businessman, returning home to the farm he grew up on with his grandparents.  So powerful and traumatic are the memories he has of his time growing up there (and the strong bonds he built with the Jorgensen brothers from the farm next door), that Clay has stayed away rather than deal with his memories and issues.  Clay even brings along his assistant as a buffer although the man has other ideas about the trip.  Brazil makes us understand Clay, the shallow life he’s been leading and the importance of the farm, and grandparents to his formative years and well being.  Clay is clearly someone stuck in a pattern that not even he likes but the past is holding him there and he doesn’t know how to move forward.

Like two halves of the same whole, Clay’s arrival home after all this time sets off sparks everywhere, including next door, where Brad is still farming his family’s land.  Brad’s life is just as dry of life as Clay’s, albeit in another drastic manner.  If Clay’s life is a constant revolving door of anonymous men and no commitment, Brad’s has been one of alcohol abuse, anger and guilt.  The author is able to make Brad’s pain visceral as well as his deep love for the man he blames for his brother’s death.

Little by little, their combined past, happy and traumatic, is revealed to the reader. We get to “see” it from several perspectives, the idyllic life all three boys lead, their strong bond, and, for one, the feelings he kept hidden from the other two.  And then, of course, we have Bobby, our frustrated ghost.  Bobby’s just as stuck as the other two, all three lives shattered by one awful decision.

Bobby is just as real a character as the other two men, however ghostly he might be. His frustration and pain balanced by his continuing love for Clay and his brother, Brad.  He’s a great character and I only wish I had a little bit more of his life before it was ended.

It’s easy to understand how one moment, one bad decision can obliterate three lives, especially the one that caused Bobby’s death.  Equally, the reader will recognize someone wanting to fix the blame somewhere, anywhere than accept the situation as it really occurred.  Brazil offers lots of small truths in this story and that makes Heart of Clay feel familiar and layered.

If I had a quibble with this story, it would be that I wish sections had been enlarged with more memories, more of each man’s life in the interim.  There is a wealth of back history here, and the parts that we see are so intriguing that it makes us want to know more.  And Bobby’s hauntings?  More scenes of those as well.  Bobby’s cuts quite the supernatural presence here.

I so enjoyed Heart of Clay and think you will too.  Love romance with a mixture of the otherworldly?  Love the idea of ghosts and a little supernatural matchmaking?   Pick up Heart of Clay by Lee Brazil, I absolutely recommend it.

Cover art by Laura Harner.  It’s a nice cover but I could have used a little more of the supernatural element whether it was in the color or design.

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Book Details:

ebook
Published April 1st 2015 by Smashwords Edition
ISBN139781310511295