Category: M/M Supernatural Fiction

An Alisa Review: Shadowing the Light (The Bearer of Truth #1) by Miranda Turner

Rating:  4.5 stars out of 5

“Everybody has their own agenda. Everybody.”

Hunted for the unique blood that runs through his veins, half-angel, half-demon Gabriel Sinclair lives without expectations. On the run from forces on both sides of an ancient conflict, he searches for strength and peace in a world which only seeks to use him.

When Gabriel is forced to stop running, assigned a team—and a mate—he doesn’t want, and reluctantly tasked with a mission, he must overcome obstacles both real and imagined. Otherwise, the world as he knows it, and the mate he’s reluctantly come to care for, may cease to exist.

“I will do as the Creator bids me. Always.”

Evander Ryan is special, and he knows it. The final handcrafted immortal warrior for the light, he is the Creator’s greatest masterpiece. For fifty-eight years, he’s lived his life in black and white, coddled by his Maker, while leading his team to countless victories against their enemies. Those fights were easy. Working with a new, uncooperative mate who sees the world in shades of gray? Less so.

As Evander’s eyes are opened to the existence of light warriors who are not good, dark warriors who are, and the wider world of supernatural beings, he learns nothing is as he thought it was, and his mate isn’t who he thought he was either. Maybe there’s something to be said for not always following the rules. . .

 

Oh my, this was a wonderful story.  I loved the world that the author crafted and how in depth it was.  Gabriel has been hunted his whole life and is used to doing everything alone.  When he is assigned to work with Evander and his team he gets much more than he bargained for.

 

Most of the story is told from Gabriel’s point of view but a few chapters give us some glimpses of the other characters’ thoughts and feelings too.  I couldn’t help but feel for Gebriel from the beginning, he knows he doesn’t belong and hates having to fight for the right just to live but he does so much good for those who would trust him.  I could see Gabriel’s frustration and fear in regards to his demon half and how he wanted to keep it pushed down.

 

Evander is a bit of a prick and does a bit of push and pull with Gabriel’s emotions, unfortunately it took Gabriel having to leave for him to finally realize that he wants him.  I loved that Gabriel was finally able to find friends and people who will love him for who he is but it’s still a but of a struggle to get there. I can’t wait to read more in the series to see how this goes.

I loved the cover art by Lou Harper and think it’s perfect for this book.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 273 pages

Published: December 17, 2018 by Miranda Turner

Edition Language: English

An Alisa Review : Midnight Angel by Kevin Klehr

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Dinner is overcooked. The guests haven’t arrived.

Luke is sitting alone at his dining table on New Year’s Eve. He was hoping to romance Nathan, one of the people he invited for this intimate evening meal.

As midnight draws closer, it seems an angel, who has magically appeared in Luke’s apartment, is the only person to drink champagne and watch the fireworks with.

But this angel has other ideas. He’s about to grant Luke the New Year’s Eve party he thought he wanted.

 

This was a different story and it’s so short I’m afraid to give everything away.  I understood the point of what the angel did but didn’t like the execution and mostly just felt for Luke as he was being blindsided.

 

In the end we get to see Luke find the love he wants just not in the way he had originally hoped.  Unfortunately I didn’t feel a big connection to any of the characters but felt as if I was watching from the sidelines.

I like the cover art by Natasha Snow is cute and one of the standard for holiday shorts this year.

Sales Links: Nine Star Press | Amazon | B&N

Book Details:

ebook, 10,500 words

Published: December 10, 2018 by Nine Star Press

ISBN: 978-1-949909-61-6

Edition Language: English

Katey Hawthorne on Superpowered Love: Reloaded (author guest blog, excerpt, and giveaway)

Superpowered Love Series

by

Katey Hawthorne

 

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Katey Hawthorne here today talking about the re-release of her wonderful series Superpowered Love.  Welcome, Katey!

 

 

Superpowered Love: Reloaded

Authors rarely get the chance to re-release their very first baby, but I did. A few months back, Less Than Three Press brought my unfinished Superpowered Love series back to life—and once the eight books already finished are out in the world, the series will polish off with three more.

I’ve read comics since I was a little kid, spending my allowance on random issues of The Amazing Spider-Man even through the worst of the Clone Saga. (If you don’t know, be glad.) As I grew older, I started making up my own stories about the superheroes I knew and loved—X-Men, Fantastic Four, Batman and Robin—but they weren’t so much about epic fights over Gotham City as they were weird day-to-day slices of life. Who do they love? What are their quirks? When they get downtime, what do they do to unwind? Can they unwind, and if not, what would it take to get them there?

Not so much the epic battle between good and evil we’ve come to know and love, but something more personal. Something for people like me, who are queer and longing for stories they can relate to on every level, not just via a desire to be on the side of the angels. (Or the Avengers.)

Geeky ass superpowered romance, ahoy. My blog was called “Superpowered Love”, and somehow it became the overarching title for the series via readers. Which might be the coolest thing ever.

Now, eight years later and hopefully a little wiser, I finally get to polish up my first work and make it shine like I wanted—and bring it to a fitting end. Superpowered Love 3: Nobody’s Hero is out today everywhere, and there’s more to come asap:

4: Losing Better on January 20

5: Re-Entry Burn on February 21

6: In Distress on March 20

7: The Playhouse on April 17

8: The Takedown on May 22

So if this little detour into the personal lives of superpowered folks sounds up your alley, follow along on this Reloaded blog tour for excerpts, soundtracks, fun facts, and of course the giveaway! To whet your whistle, check out this exclusive bit from Nobody’s Hero!

Excerpt – When your Mom walks in on a Saturday morning to find a cute boy in your shower, and then leaves without you telling her who he is… said boyfriend gets a little upset.:

[I asked,] “Oh, so if it was your mom, you would’ve just said, ‘Yeah, meet my new boyfriend’?”

“That’s exactly what I would’ve said,” [he replied.]

“And she would’ve been okay with that?”

“Jamie, my mother is the most amazing human being I know. But whether she loves it or hates it doesn’t alter a fact.”

I ran a hand through my hair, pulling on it. All my clever explanations, my smooth excuses deserted me. I just stared at him and wished so, so hard that I could tell him the truth. “She’s not ready to hear it so bluntly. I’m having lunch with her. I’ll talk to her about it then, I swear.”

“Right. She’s not ready.” Then he paused, mouth slightly open, as if having an epiphany.

I had a sick, sinking feeling he had.

Confirmed when he said, “Jesus. Does she even know you’re queer?”

I closed my eyes. “Kellan.”

He took an audible deep breath, and when I opened my eyes again, his hands were spread wide in front of him, chest rising and falling with controlled slowness. He said, in a tight, frightening voice, “Okay. You know what? It’s none of my business. Nothing about you is any of my fucking business.”

I pushed off the door and took a step nearer, reaching out for him. “No, it is. You’re right. Just, you don’t understand.”

“I noticed.” He stormed past me and reached for the doorknob.

“Please, don’t just walk away. Let me explain.”

“I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

“But—”

“I’ll say something I can’t take back.” He looked over his shoulder, biting his lip, but his eyes still burned hot and dark. “Megan will have to be your shortstop today. Tell everyone I’m sorry.”

“Kellan—” But before I got any farther, he was out the door. He closed it in my face—gently, but it still amped me hard. The charge started in that place deep in my middle, the source of it, and jumped from wire to wire until it raced all through me, begging to get free.

I turned around, let little lightning bolts arc across my hands, jumping from finger to finger. The visible, tangible expression of all my frustration, everything I held inside, everything I wanted to scream from the fucking rooftops.

I shoved one hand forward, sending a bright blue arc from my fingertips, right into the nearest poster frame on my wall. The plastic sizzled; the paper curled in sudden frenzied electrical flames.

I put it out before it set off the alarm and emptied the whole fucking building. Feeling like exactly what I was: a giant fucking five-year-old. Lonely, frustrated, and pathetic.

Shit. And this is why I can’t have nice things.

Or nice boys.

Superpowered Love: Re-loaded! Blog Tour

The Superpowered Love series explores the mixed-up love lives of the “awakened”, humans with awakened thermal or electrical superpowers.

[reloadedtour.jpg]

December 26 – Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

December 27 – Love Bytes

December 28 – My Fiction Nook

December 29 – Boy Meets Boy

January 1 – Joyfully Jay

January 4 – MM Midnight Café

January 7 – Bayou Book Junkie

January 9 – Diverse Reader

January 11 – Eroticaforall.co.uk

Superpowered Love 3: Nobody’s Hero

Jamie Monday lives in two different worlds. With his family, he’s the golden child of awakened superpowered society. He’s meant to do great things and pass on his powers—with the appropriate girl, hand-picked by his mother. He’s already failed at the first, so he can’t bring himself to tell her the wife and children aren’t happening either.

With his friends, he’s the social director and life of the party. He’s also an out gay man with an appetite for quick and easy lays. It’s tough to have a relationship when you’re hiding off-the-charts electrical powers, but Jamie doesn’t mind.

Not until the prickly, paddy rocking, geeky-hot new guy at work shows him what he’s been missing. Kellan’s singular combination of dirty mouth and pure soul makes Jamie spark right from the beginning. But if he’s going to overcome Kelly’s defensive front and reach the gentle heart inside, Jamie will first have to come to terms with his own divided lives.

http://www.kateyhawthorne.com/p/nobodys-hero.html

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. She lives at http://www.kateyhawthorne.com.

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A Lucy Review: Midnight Angel by Kevin Klehr

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Dinner is overcooked. The guests haven’t arrived. And Luke is sitting alone at his dining table on New Year’s Eve. He was hoping to romance Nathan, one of the people he invited for this intimate evening meal.

As midnight draws closer, it seems an angel, who has magically appeared in Luke’s apartment, is the only person to drink champagne and watch the fireworks with.

But this angel has other ideas. He’s about to grant Luke the New Year’s Eve party he thought he wanted.

It is highly possible that I will be in the minority about this holiday short but it wasn’t what I was expecting.  At first, I felt bad for Luke, who is sitting at his table with chicken drying out in the oven and no one present at his party.  He has invited his crush, Nate, Nate’s best friend, Lucy, and the annoying guy who has a crush on him, Tim.  As he is sitting wallowing about how now he can’t make his move on Nate, his guardian angel, Guy,  shows up, complete with wings on his back.  I did laugh at Luke’s reaction. 

“What happened?”

“You passed out.  Your face landed squarely on your plate.” 

I do have to mention editing – that sentence in the book reads “…you’re plate…”

So what his angel does is bring him the party he wanted, with Nate and Lucy and Tim.  The thing is, I felt really bad for Tim because I thought Luke was pretty awful to him. “Luke, I’m going home.  I’m making you uncomfortable at your own party, and that’s the last thing I want to do.”   Then I felt like the whole thing was a lecture.  The definition of infatuation, what constitutes stalking and some oddly phrased dialogue.  “I was on my way to another party, but something made me drop in.  It was like a mystical force drove me here.”  It just didn’t fit with the way Tim spoke previously.  And I just kept feeling bad for Tim.  “A better body, but  not the one I craved.”  It’s fantasy yes, but it’s convoluted about Luke’s feelings.  I just didn’t get any feel of a connection.  It’s a beginning, maybe, so hopeful. 

The cover design is the standard NineStar Press is using for their holiday collection.  It is pretty but not specific to this story.

Sales Links:  NineStar Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Published December 10th 2018 by NineStar Press
Original Title Midnight Angel
ISBN 139781949909616
Edition Language English