Category: Shifters, Weres

In the Spotlight Tour and Giveaway: Guarding His Melody (Enhanced World Standalone) by Victoria Sue

Guarding His Melody (Enhanced World Standalone) by Victoria Sue

Dreamspinner Press
Cover Art: Jay Aheer

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | B&N

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Victoria Sue here today talking about her latest novel      Guarding His Melody, the latest story and standalone novel in the Enhanced Universe.  Welcome!

♦︎

 

A standalone in the Enhanced World 

Deaf since childhood, Sebastian Armitage had a promising musical future until his dreams were shattered when he transformed at twelve years old. In a world where enhanced humans are terrorized and imprisoned, his life shrinks around him even more as he suffers the torment of his father’s experimental research to enable him to hear.

Gray Darling—struggling with the scars left by his experience in Afghanistan—agrees to provide short-term personal protection when anonymous threats escalate into assault on those closest to Seb.

As the lines between protection and attraction blur, Gray and Seb can’t ignore the intense feelings drawing them together. But secrets and betrayals might prove deadly, unless Gray is willing to risk it all. And Seb must find the strength to make his own future and sing his own song

 

Excerpt

 

“You haven’t shown the cops these.” It was a rhetorical question.

“No,” Seb whispered miserably.

“The detectives need to see them,” Gray insisted. “There’s all sorts of tests they can run, not least DNA if someone was dumb enough to lick the envelopes.”

Seb looked at him incredulously.

“You’d be surprised how stupid people can be,” Gray said. He looked in the file. “Envelopes?”

“I only have the one from today.” He nodded to the trash, and Gray fished it out using the corner of his shirt again, so he didn’t touch it.

“Does anyone know?”

Seb hesitated almost imperceptibly and with a flash of insight, Gray knew. “Arron?” Seb lowered his head, which was as good as an admission.

Gray sat down heavily on the bed, and Seb sank down next to him. Gray tapped Seb’s shoulder, and Seb raised his head, misery stark in his eyes. “How long have they been arriving?”

“Five months,” Seb whispered. “There were two more that I gave to Arron.”

Gray swore quietly to himself. “What did Arron do?”

“He was going to talk to a detective friend of his but said if I stopped the lessons and just lay low for a while, things might smooth over. He said there’s a team of enhanced in Florida—SWAT or something”—Seb frowned—“who are making a lot of waves, and people are getting real nervous.”

“FBI,” Gray corrected.

“Yeah, they saved a judge. Arron says it means things are changing, but that it also paints a target on my back.”

Gray’s heart sank. Not for what had happened to Arron, because as far as he was concerned, the man had been a fool, but Gray didn’t like coincidences even if on the face of things the suicide looked genuine. He didn’t like that Arron seemed to be trying to keep things quiet. Or had he? Had the man told someone else who couldn’t be trusted, and it had gotten him killed? Maybe Gray was misjudging him.

Gray also didn’t like blaming this on some supposed hate group. Not that they weren’t powerful, because he should know and had the scars to prove it. He just wasn’t convinced someone would go to all that trouble to pick on some kid who lived like a recluse because of a scar on his face. He thought it was something much simpler. And in particular, fourteen million of them. He picked up his phone to call Rawlings. It might be an idea to watch both Mrs. Pickering and Seb’s dad while they found out what the actual fuck was going on.

The words to ask Seb why he hadn’t told him were on his lips, and Gray had to forcefully swallow them to stop them escaping. Seb had known him less than one week. He’d known Arron for nearly three years, and Arron had been killed. Seb was blaming himself. He was mired in secrets and enough problems that would drive most people nuts. He was also doing his best to protect himself and didn’t know who to trust. Gray didn’t blame Seb for not telling him.

About the Author

Victoria Sue

Victoria Sue fell in love with love stories as a child when she would hide away with her mom’s library books and dream of the dashing hero coming to rescue her from math homework. She never mastered math but never stopped loving her heroes and decided to give them the happy ever afters they fight so hard for.
She loves reading and writing about gorgeous boys loving each other the best—and creating a family for them to adore. Thrilled to hear from her readers, she can be found most days lurking on Facebook where she doesn’t need factor 1000 sun-cream to hide her freckles.

www.victoriasue.com

@vickysuewrites

https://www.facebook.com/victoriasueauthor

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1182647028418709/

 

Giveaway

 

To enter to win, use this link below.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7fc3cf041/?

A Caryn Review : Diego (Endangered Fae #2) by Angel Martinez

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I am having so much fun reading fantasy books that incorporate ancient mythology!  Diego, the sequel to Finn, is all about Celtic mythology, mixing Irish deities with the Welsh, along with a bit of reincarnation and earthly as well as fae magic.  The end result is pure enchantment!

The first book introduced Diego, a human who is much more than he realizes, and Finn, a pooka who rose from a long hibernation to find a modern human world that was slowly poisoning him.  Through a series of adventures that reveal they are much stronger together than apart, Finn and Diego forged a relationship that was more than just a rekindling of the love they shared in previous lifetimes.  I didn’t expect a sequel because the story arc was complete, but I was really happy to see this book pick up just where the first left off.

Despite all they’ve been through, Diego is still a bit of a puritan, and has a hard time believing that Finn would ever give up his life of sexual freedom and adventure to settle down.  So when he came home to find Finn in a compromising position – even though there was a perfectly innocent reason – he allowed his anger to overtake his reason, leading to an explosion of magic that ripped a hole in the world, and he woke up on the other side of the veil, in the Otherworld, kingdom of the Sidhe.  Finn was also unwittingly transported to the Otherworld, but in the land of the Fomorians, enemies of the Sidhe.  I remember as I was reading through the adventure where Finn and Diego got caught between the Danu/Balor feud that this was enough for a novella all on its own, especially when our heroes managed to bring the two kingdoms together.  Next came a mysterious illness, for which again, Diego and Finn managed to find the cause, and provide the cure.  Once again, the story could have ended here!  But our intrepid author managed to push it yet further, and the culmination of the story involves clandestine government agencies capturing and experimenting upon the fae who were with Diego and Finn at their house in Montana.  I loved how the story went from fairy tale to X-Files!

It was clear in the first book that Diego, AKA Taliesin, was powerful, and probably the most magical human that ever existed.  His power was never really manifested though, and he was first and foremost a humble and gentle man.  In this book, he finally came to believe in and even embrace that side of himself, which made him more sure of his worthiness to be with Finn, but unfortunately made Finn feel that he did not deserve Diego.  A great deal of the book was the push and pull between the two of them wondering if they were indeed right for each other, and facing new jealousies related to old relationships.  Diego was revealed not to be as kind and forgiving as he thought he was, while Finn found humility.  They both made mistakes, but as in every good fairy tale, true love wins in the end.  I have to admit that the ending was cheesy in a lot of ways (and I had to laugh when the US lost out to Canada as the host for Faerie’s chosen earthly location!) but that is part of the author’s charm.

Very enjoyable, with some surprising twists, and a whole lot of learning to love your neighbor despite differences

Cover art by Emmy @ studioenp has a very nice representation of the hole in the veil, with the ubiquitous headless torso.

Sales Links:  Pride Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 328 pages
Published August 14th 2018 by Pride Publishing (first published September 16th 2010)
Original TitleDiego
ASINB07FCT4SVR
Edition Language English
Series Endangered Fae #2
Characters Danu, Finn Shannon, Diego Sandoval, Lugh, Balor…more settingMontana (United States)
Otherworld

A MelanieM Review: Infinite Blue by Natalina Resia

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

 

When a shifter and a human are bound by fate, neither man knows if their connection will be enough to save not only their growing love, but their lives.

Shahin Halcón has been taught that if and when he meets his soul mate, he’ll know immediately. Always the rebel, he doesn’t believe it until the day he crosses paths with Cai, a full-human.

Plagued by unsuccessful relationships and heartache, Cai Banes’s life is quiet and unexciting. When he meets young and wild Shahin, his life is turned upside down, and he’s not sure he likes it.

But neither can deny the powerful pull that draws them together.

Old secrets and ancient myths about cross-species relationships plague their romance and threaten to put their happiness and lives at risk. Will their love for each other be strong enough to survive?

Sometimes it just comes down to the fact that a story and a reader just aren’t a good fit for one another.  I think that’s pretty much what happened here with Infinite Blue by Natalina Resia.  We got off on the wrong cover, uh um, start and never quite recovered.

I love shifter stories and grab them up immediately but, if I’m honest I’m also picky because of my wildlife biologist background.  Those predator/prey couples?  Always bother me, kept thinking one day, one was going to end up an appetizer.  And the ones where the authors are really loosey goosey with naturali history. Hmmmmm. Ok, I get it, they are shifters got to be pretty relaxed over the natural history bits with that in the mixture but some authenticity and research is nice (and appreciated).

That especially comes into play here with an author who uses scientific names and takes the trouble to obviously include some correct details of a certain raptor species natural history into her story.  So why right off the bat am I faced with a blue eyed hawk shifter?  Seen many blue eyed hawks these days? Nope.  Just look at that cover. So immediately that was an itch I couldn’t scratch.

Throw in instant love between Cai and Shahin, that, yes, is explained by a mate bond, but their chemistry is something I never felt. Again, I will totally own up that I could be my fault here.  But these characters just didn’t ring true. Hospital visits, blood and shifters wouldn’t be an issue? Plus I won’t go into migratory patterns.   The writing and author was working on doing her part but right from being dropped into a “stalker like” situation with Shahin without any back filler, it just felt odd and disconnected from their relationship and the storyline.

It didn’t help that a family drama further into the book was resolved far too easily given the severity of the crime.  I was, to use one of my favorite words, gobsmacked!

No, Infinite Blue and I were not a good mix.  There was a possible explanation for the eyes at the end but by that time, my irritation had set in, Cai’s occupation as an  anthropologist never felt believable, and I just kept waiting for more feathers to sprout.

I’m sure other readers will love this romance.  They will find it sweet, the hawk shifters fascinating, and the whole mate bonding journey one to love.  Sometimes it is oil and water.  Check it out and find out for yourself.

Cover Art would be dramatic excerpt for those darn blue eyes.

Sales Links: Hot Tree Publishing | Amazon | Amazon Paperback | Amazon UK | Amazon CAN | Amazon AU | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

Book Details:ebook
Published September 8th 2018 by Hot Tree Publishing
ISBN139781925655841
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttps://www.hottreepublishing.com/infinite-blue

 

 

Blog Tour for Infinite Blue by Natalina Resia (excerpt and giveaway)

COVER - Infinite Blue

Natalina Reis has a new MM paranormal shifter book out: Infinite Blue.

When a shifter and a human are bound by fate, neither man knows if their connection will be enough to save not only their growing love, but their lives.

Shahin Halcón has been taught that if and when he meets his soul mate, he’ll know immediately. Always the rebel, he doesn’t believe it until the day he crosses paths with Cai, a full-human.

Plagued by unsuccessful relationships and heartache, Cai Banes’s life is quiet and unexciting. When he meets young and wild Shahin, his life is turned upside down, and he’s not sure he likes it.

But neither can deny the powerful pull that draws them together.

Old secrets and ancient myths about cross-species relationships plague their romance and threaten to put their happiness and life at risk. Will their love for each other be strong enough to survive?

Hot Tree Publishing | Amazon | Amazon Paperback | Amazon UK | Amazon CAN | Amazon AU | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

Giveaway

Natalina is giving away two prizes with this tour – an eBook copy of “Lavender Fields” (backlist, m/m paranormal romance) and a $10 Amazon gift card. Enter via Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Direct link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d4725/?

Excerpt

MEME - Infitinte Blue

Cranky didn’t even start to describe how Cai woke up that morning. The day ahead loomed over his horizon like a large bird of prey ready to pounce on him. Why hadn’t he said no? Why was it always so hard for him to say no to his sister? All she had to do was bat her thick lashes and he was lost.

A little witch is what she is.But he loved her and he was hopeless against those baby blue eyes of hers.

He was going to suck it up and be a man. How bad could it be? He would go to the assigned meeting place, meet this guy his sister was so excited about, and if he was as bad as Cai thought he was, all he had to do was make some excuse and flee the scene. Memories of the last time his sister tried to set him up with someone flooded his mind. He remembered a red-purplish face as his date emphatically declared himself “very straight” many times over. Lyra had assumed the man to be gay and had been determined to pair them together.

Oh shit. This could be bad.

By the time he left his house, his bad mood had reached fever pitch, and if anyone was unfortunate enough to approach him, he was afraid he would eat them alive. There were very few things he hated more than blind dates. He was not exactly someone who qualified as a hot number. Even though he was in his midthirties, his hair had gone silver many years back and he wore it as a protective shield against possible disastrous relationships.

On his way to the restaurant where he was to meet the amazing Shahin—his sister’s words—he decided he needed some strong coffee if he was to survive the humiliation of another failed attempt at romance. It hadn’t been a bed of roses for him since Jack, his boyfriend of many years, had made the startling announcement he’d met the love of his life. As if the shock of betrayal had not been enough, Jack announced—shortly after the breakup when Cai’s heart was still hemorrhaging—that he was marrying his high school sweetheart, a woman Jack had frequently referred to as only a friend.

Starbucks was on the way, a beacon of promised comfort and relief. A cup of good coffee had always been his self-medication—nothing a good cup of java wouldn’t cure. The line was long and the room was packed with the usual crowd, a mixture of college students, writers, and a few moms with their toddlers in tow. As Cai waited for his turn, he scanned the room. He loved people-reading, a term his sister had coined a few years ago after realizing that was one of her brother’s favorite pastimes.

“You should talk to people, interact,” she had said, her protective sisterly claws fully out. “Instead, you sit there watching them.”

“Anthropologists have been doing it for a long time.” His usual comeback.

“Anthropologists actually interact with the people they’re studying, bro. What you do is just a bit creepy. And definitely sad.”

She wasn’t wrong. It was a little pathetic that a thirty-five-year-old would be satisfied to sit in a coffee shop observing people and life happening around him without ever stepping in to participate. Satisfied was not the right word for it though. Cai feared what may happen if he stepped out of his comfort zone. He had taken a chance with Jack and look what it got him—nothing but heartache.

A deep blue caught his eye from across the coffee shop. A pair of amazing eyes met his scrutiny with a take-a-good-look-I-dare-you glint. Cai’s first instinct was to look away, but he couldn’t, captured and paralyzed by the electrifying vibe the man with the deep ocean eyes was emitting. The man—younger than him—had short honey-colored hair that spiked slightly on top and left his face and neck exposed. An intricate black ink tattoo stretched down the side of his neck to hide underneath the plain white T-shirt he was wearing, only to emerge again from below the short sleeves and down his well-defined biceps.

Were those roses?  Cai’s body caught on fire as the desire to trace the edges of the tattooed flowers grew to alarming heights. He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets, trying to control the itch on his restless fingers. The strange man with the bottomless eyes was still staring at him, caressing without touching, tender and passionate all at the same time.

“Can I take your order?”

The voice startled him and Cai looked away momentarily, placing his order for a flat white. When he looked back, those eyes were still glued to him. Cai swallowed hard as his admirer licked his lips.

I need a cold shower right now.

The phone vibrated in his pocket. Reluctantly, he pulled it out and answered. “Yes?”

The other man was still staring at him with a fire that defied the laws of physics, for it soothed as much as it burned.

“Are you there yet?” It was his sister. There where? Then he remembered.

“On my way,” he lied. “Stopped for liquid courage.”

“For God’s sake, Cai. You sound like you’re walking to the gallows.” Sometimes he wished Lyra didn’t read so much. She didn’t talk like normal people her age.

“I might as well be, Lyra.” He stole a quick glance across the room to check if the handsome stranger was still there. He was. God, Cai was the arrow in a compass and he was the North Pole. Irreversibly and powerfully attracted.

“Don’t embarrass me by not showing up, Cai.”  He had almost forgotten about his sister on the other end of the phone line. “He’s my coworker’s cousin. Please, bro. I promise I won’t ever try to set you up again.”

Not that he believed her, but it was a very tempting proposal. “Okay, I promise. I’m leaving right now.”

Hanging up, he took a couple slow breaths, trying to get in control of his body. Good thing he was wearing a long duster coat he could use to disguise how much the stranger affected him. Cai held the coat by the edges, wrapped it closely around him, and grabbed the coffee cup to leave. As he walked by the object of his sudden madness, the other man’s sexy full lips stretched into a wicked smile, releasing a million butterflies in Cai’s chest.

How would it feel to touch my lips to his?The coldness of the silver snake bite he wore on his lower lip rubbing against Cai’s unadorned mouth and tongue would be as thrilling as exploring the muscles barely hidden under the T-shirt. Cai shook his head and made himself lower his eyes to the floor. Like it or not, he had committed to this blasted blind date, and he was not one to renege on his promises.

Just as he was about to walk past, the stranger reached out quickly and handed him a business card. “Call me.”

Author Bio

AUTHOR PHOTO - Natalina Reis

Natalina wrote her first romance at the age of 13 in collaboration with her best friend, Susana. Since then she has ventured into other genres, but romance is first and foremost in almost everything she writes. She’s the author of seven romance novels that reflect the amazing diversity of humankind and the universal power of love.

After earning a degree in tourism and foreign languages, she worked as a tourist guide in her native Portugal for a short time before moving to the United States. She lived in three continents and a few islands, and her knack for languages and linguistics led her to a master’s degree in education. She lives in Virginia where she’s taught English as a Second Language to elementary school children for more years than she cares to admit.

Natalina doesn’t believe you can have too many books or too much coffee. Art and dance make her happy and she is pretty sure she could survive on lobster and bananas alone. When she is not writing or stressing over lesson plans, she shares her life with her husband and two adult sons.

Author Website: https://catarinadeobidos.wordpress.com/

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/natalina.bell

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/authornatalinareis/

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/TichaB

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14883335.Natalina_Reis

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/natalina-reis/

Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B01ADQ9FJW/

LOGO - Other Worlds Ink

A MelanieM Review: In This Iron Ground (Natural Magic #1) by Marina Vivancos

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

 

Damien is nine years old when his parents die. What should have been the worst moment of his life begins a journey shadowed by loneliness and pain. The night of a full moon, four years and seven foster homes later, Damien flees to the forest, desperate to escape everything.

Instead, he finds the Salgado pack, and the earth beneath his feet shifts. Damien has seen the Salgado children in his school: Koko, who is in his class, and Hakan, two years older and infinitely unreachable. Damien is suddenly introduced into a world that had only ever existed in his imagination, where there is magic in the forest and the moon. He meets creatures that look like monsters, but Damien knows that monsters have the same face as anybody else.

Over the years, Damien and Hakan grow closer. First, just as friends and foster brothers in the Salgado house, and then into something heated and breathless when Damien joins Hakan at college. Despite what he may yearn for in the darkest part of the night, Damien knows, deep down in that bruised and mealy part of his core, that he’s not good enough to be part of the Salgado family, their pack. He’s not worthy of calling Hakan his home.

Even though he knows in the end it’ll hurt him, he’ll hold onto this for as long as he can.

In This Iron Ground (Natural Magic #1) by Marina Vivancos is as hard a book to review as it was at times to read. It’s also a magical, beautifully written, moving, and literary novel.  Full of unbelievable torture and pain and yet still manages to include flights of hope and passages of teenage normality and then flights of wooded spirituality.  And all the time it’s flowing out from the  wounded soul and form of Damien who ages throughout the story starting from the age of nine when he enters the foster system an orphan.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from that blurb but what I got was an  almost epic exploration of Damien’s journey through life. We jump into Damien’s life with a harrowing look at the  foster system.  Then we and Damien plunge into hell when he is delivered into the  horror of a  foster home and  its carers that will set a pattern for him for the next years that will have you wanting to scream. It’s here, listening to Damien’s “voice” as he suffers, withdraws, and internalizes the messages he’s hearing that the book becomes almost unbearable to read. The abuse he’s suffering during these chapters are the ones that warrants the notes at the bottom of this review.  The damage done, not physically, but mentally and emotionally to Damien is such that he carries it with him through the story, not dealing with how much it has truly affected him until 3/4 of the way through.

But while he’s enduring this, mind you he’s only 13, there’s also hope in the form of a pack of shifters unlike any I’ve read about in other stories.  Vivancos brings in a pack that  is layered with a Earth  religion, a spirituality you can feel amazingly, a pack family that comes forward to rescue, support, and finally welcome the human child.  I won’t spoil how incredible a job the author has done with the Soldado pack but for me they became as alive as a walk in the woods.  They  breathed life and that made their connections to Damien even more magical.

The book is broken up into two parts and yes at times is felt a little long as Damien and Hakan went off to college but this is still such a journey for Damien I can see why the author wanted to include each and every scene.Special details were giving to Damien’s emotional and mental health recovery which is an important element here.  Damien could not recover from the horrific abuse he suffered on his own.  He needed professional help, and with the gentle assistance of his friends, lover and pack, he gets the therapy he needs. Some of his session scenes make a powerful but quiet impact.  It’s a responsible thing to do, in my mind, after reading all the scenes in the beginning, for the reader to see Damien finally emerging into hope and light.

Yes, I loved this story and the amazing characters in the pack.  I see that the author is turning it into a series and can’t wait to see where it’s going next.  I do recommend it but please do pay attention to the warnings below.

 

Cover art: Natasha Snow.  That is a gorgeous cover by Natasha Snow.  The mountains, woods, and wolves.  Perfect.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 325 pages
Published September 3rd 2018
ASINB07GNS5MZ4
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series Natural Magic #1

CONTENT WARNING: This book contains themes of emotional and (nonsexual) physical child abuse and the subsequent emotional, cognitive, and behavioural impacts.   Trigger warning also includes scene of suicide attempt by minor, physical and  sexual child abuse.

This story contains sexually explicit scenes between consenting adults and is meant for an adult audience.