Category: Vampires

A MelanieM Review: End Street Detective Agency Volume One (End Street Detective Agency #1-2) by Amber Kell, R.J. Scott

Rating:  3.75 stars out of 5

End Street Detective Agency Vol 1Dragons, vampires, werewolves, fae, witches and one very confused human.

* * * *

Sam, 100% human (no, really) inherits a crumbling building and a private detective agency from his Uncle.

Bob, a brooding stubborn and ancient vampire turns up at his door and refuses to leave.

Before Sam can say ‘I only want human cases’ he’s knee deep in werewolves, dragons, vampires and witches.

Book 1 – The Case of The Cupid Curse

Sam Enderson is a human detective who inherits a building from where his Uncle used to run a detective agency. He finds himself working for paranormal creatures despite his resolve to stick with humans only. To supplement his income as a new PI Sam rents out rooms in the large house.

Bob is a vampire and turns up on Sam’s doorstep to rent a room. Sparks fly and Sam is attracted to the vampire despite himself.

Sam is cursed by a witch, and has two cases landing on his desk. Werewolves, annoying ghosts and a grumpy gargoyle are enough to drive Sam mad. But somehow in amongst all of this he has to find a missing fae and a missing shifter child.

Book 2 – The Case of the Wicked Wolf

Naiads, humans, sirens and a challenge for Alpha make up the intricate story in the race to rescue the missing children.

Sam and Bob have more than just the case of one lost child to handle. Not only is Shelby Hartman missing, but other paranormal children have disappeared. The race to rescue the children is hampered by naiads, humans, sirens and a challenge for Alpha.

Hartman Hunter is desperate to find his daughter. He turns to the demon Danjal Naamah for help. The problem is that Danjal is the only person Hartman has ever loved—the man he let go for the sake of the pack…

NB: Previously released as two separate books.
Word count for End Street Volume 1: 64,500

I started this series at book four and then had to scrabble back to the beginning and start where most readers began.  I’m not sure I made a mistake because I picked out a early pattern that has continued through all the books I’ve since finished.  With each story this series gets progressively better.  The plots deepen and the character drop what qualities I found irritating (and yes, frankly whiney) towards the  beginning of the series.  So it was probably a very good thing that I started with books where the characters had lost some of the attributes and mind boggling naivete found in books 1 and 2.

This mostly applies to Sam, a being who refuses to accept that he’s not human.  Everyone  else knows he’s not, from the fae to the  ever present gargoyle.  But Sam?  Nope, with the stubbornness that becomes highly irritating.  I mean who wouldn’t want to be able to do the things he can do in the world Amber Kell and RJ Scott have built?  And they don’t lay any real reason for Sam’s unyielding prejudice/stubborn unwillingness to see himself as anything other than human, when all the events and his powers say otherwise.

Luckily that starts to disappear somewhat or become palatable after this volume.

But I knew there was more coming.  Plus I got to see how he met Bob the vampire.  I adore Bob.  Plus all the other beings that inhabit his house/detective agency are so cool, with  very distinctive personalities that they make up for the places I want to deliver a “Snap out of it” ala Cher in Moonlighting to Sam.  What saves Sam?  He’s really cares, he’s also just a determinedly stubborn in wanting to do the right thing.  A sort of supernatural knight charging off to fix things, with a whole passel of supernatural beings running after him to help.  That’s charming and each case connects to the next, getting better and better.  You will love what’s coming next in Vol. 2.

These were my rating for the individual stories but really, don’t pass any of them up.  You need them to build, one on top of the other.

  • Book 1 – The Case of The Cupid Curse.  Rating: 3 stars out of 5
  • Book 2 – The Case of the Wicked Wolf. Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Next up, Vol 2, (dragons) and then The Case of the Purple Pearl, that’s a real winner.  I love this series and recommend it.

Art work by Meredith Russell.  Love this cover.  Works beautifully for the characters involved.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 201 pages
Published October 5th 2015 by Love Lane Books Ltd (first published June 28th 2013)
ASINB0168MICJ4
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesEnd Street Detective Agency #1-2

 

 

Law and Supernatural Order? Its Silvia Violet’s Sex on the Hoof! (excerpt and giveaway)

SOTHBlogBanner

Sex on the Hoof

Silvia Violet

M/M Romance

Sex on the Hoof Cover

Cover Design: AJ Corza

Cover Photo:  Stock Photo

Release Date: 12.31.15

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1PeLrl8

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1QD5Y68

Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1J15apd

iTunes: http://apple.co/1QD6gK7

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1NwQj4E

ARe: http://bit.ly/1OEFjzS

BLURB:

 A stag and a vampire. Mortal peril. True love.

Deer shifter, Jason Fleetfoot, has turned his life around. After years of taking chances, he’s working as a crime lab technician, and he’s determined to forgo the risky behavior of his past. Then he meets Drew Danvers, the only undead detective in the city. Jason hates vampires, or does he? Drew defies all the stereotypes of his kind and something about him has taken hold of Jason and won’t let go. Jason might just dare to take a chance on a man others would label a risk to his health if not his very life.

This novella was previously published. It has been re-edited and expanded by over 35%.

TEASERS

SOTHTEas

SOTHTeas1Final

EXCERPT

I’m Jason Fleetfoot. I’ve made a lot of stupid mistakes in my life. The stupidest of all was taking a job with some assholes intent on manufacturing illegal chemical weapons.

My sister, Natalie, lost her job when her company folded, and I lost mine because my fucking boss was a bastard. I’ve got authority issues. And control issues. All right, I’m seriously fucked up, but I wasn’t going to let my sister starve because I couldn’t keep it together.

So I made a deal with the devil and damn near got myself and Natalie killed. She saved me. She and her cop boyfriend, Wolf. The name’s not a joke. He’s a werewolf. Did I mention we’re shifters, Natalie and I? Deer shifters. If you think my human form is impressive, you should see me as a ten-point buck. So yeah, a werewolf and a deer shifter. Somehow they’re making it work.

When I was a kid, we were all in hiding—wolves, deer, rabbits, foxes, and all the other shifters, vampires and demons too. Then the Big Collapse happened. Worst econ crash since the Great Depression. The world was in chaos, the US Government near collapse, the unemployed filling the streets. A bunch of supernaturals said, fuck it, the humans can barely keep themselves together, it’s time we had our day. I thought there’d be a war, but none of us were organized enough to attack and the humans had their own problems so now we all live together.

Peacefully? Fuck no. Most humans tolerate us, just. Some love us only for the thrill we can give them. And others would like to kill us on sight, but at least we don’t have to pretend anymore. I love what my body can do and I’m never going to apologize for it.

But that’s enough history. Let’s get back to the now and my life on the straight-and-narrow, working hard to earn an honest dollar. I fucking hate being beholden to Wolf, but I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for him. Once the Atlanta PD cleared me, Wolf helped me get a job in the crime lab where I can use my knowledge of chemistry and computers for the good guys.

As the newest hire, I work nights, babysitting the equipment and working on what comes in during the wee hours. For the most part, I like it. It’s quiet and I get a chance to play around with new techniques and do a bit of programming. There’s only one problem: Detective Drew Danvers.

He works nights too. Not because he’s new, but because he’s a goddamned vampire. They say he was Changed against his will. But what the hell was he doing picking up a vampire at a bar? I certainly have no intention of fucking a vampire. No matter how damn fuckable Drew is. Yeah, I like men, what of it? And Drew is a fine specimen of a man, like some Viking warrior. He’s at least six three with sculpted arms and pecs that make him look like he could lift a truck one-handed. Considering he’s a vamp, he probably can.

Getting involved with Drew would be stupid on too many levels to count. And I’m finished with making stupid decisions. So why does my body want so desperately to be impaled on him—his cock, his fangs, anything he’d like to stick in me. Natalie’s right, my dick really doesn’t communicate with my brain. I don’t just want to fuck him, I want to be taken by him, and I never want that. Like I said, I have control issues. But with Drew… No, there’s never going to be anything with Drew.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Silvia Violet writes erotic romance in a variety of genres including sci fi, paranormal, alternate history, and historical.

She can often be found haunting coffee shops looking for the darkest, strongest cup of coffee she can find. Once equipped with the needed fuel, she can happily sit for hours pounding away at her laptop. Silvia typically leaves home disguised as a suburban stay-at-home-mom, and other coffee shop patrons tend to ask her hilarious questions like “Do you write children’s books?” She loves watching the looks on their faces when they learn what she’s actually up to. When not writing, Silvia enjoys baking sinful chocolate treats, exploring new styles of cooking, and reading children’s books to her wickedly smart offspring.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Newsletter: http://silviaviolet.com/newsletter

Facebook: http://facebook.com/silvia.violet

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Silvia_Violet

Tumblr: http://silviaviolet.tumblr.com

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/silviaviolet/

 

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A MelanieM Review: The Case of the Sinful Santa (End Street Detective Agency #4) by Amber Kell and R.J. Scott

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The Case of the Sinful Santa Zephariel, the Angel of Vengeance, Nick Klauson, nephew to Santa, Christmas magic, zombies in the school and a necromancer causing chaos…and at the center of it all—Mal.

Zephariel is the Angel of Vengeance and is tracking down his cousin Danjal for misuse of brimstone. When he walks into a bar and finds Nick Klauson drowning his sorrows, he is instantly drawn to him. Could this be his fated mate?

When Nick and Zeph join forces to deal with zombies in Mal’s school, sparks fly. Add in a demon, a wolf and a necromancer, and Sam and Bob have a hunt on their hands.

When I started reading this story, I had three books of the series in my possession and somehow I must have thought (I mark it up to holiday stress) that this was the first.  Uh, no.  Of course, I jump into the series at book four and once I started, I couldn’t stop. Why? Because if the rest of the stories are anything like this one, then Amber Kell and RJ Scott have an engaging cast of characters and an apparently intriguing linked group of mysteries at the heart of the End Street Detective Agency.

The Case of the Sinful Santa comes to the End Street Detective Agency,run by Sam, a man who refuses to accept his clearly paranormal genealogy and the many endearing, scary and wild beings that revolve around him, including his vampire lover, Bob.  One of the things about coming into a series so late is that so many things are already established.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing here. Sam and Bob are an official couple (not so in the beginning of the series) and have a vampire child, Mal (will backtrack to that story).  This tale starts out with the focus on Zephariel (angel) and Nick Klauson, one of the many Klausons,  Santa Claus is his Uncle and he is part of the family business.

Amber Kell and RJ Scott come up with an intriguing job for Nick that sort of makes sense, in a fantasy kind of way. Nick is in town because of a darkness that Santa noticed along his flight plan. Nick is there to take care of it. But there’s more to come. Up pops a ghastly disappearance/murder mystery to solve that brings not only Zeph and Nick together but the rest of the End Street Detectives into the case. I thought there was a nice balance between the fear/mystery and the love/romance going on here.  Plus its not just the romance between Zeph and Nick but the ongoing issues that continue between Sam and Bob.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and characters, Zeph and Nick get their HFN which means we will probably see them again in this series and we get a peek at the next book to come…dragons my favorite.  Only now I need to  go backwards and see where it all started.  Stay with me, I’ll be filling you in.  Until then, if you are a lover of the supernatural or the paranormal, throw in a mystery or romance or two, this has the making of a series to delight you on every front.  I know its doing that for me.

 

Cover art by Posh Gosh. I love the cover.  It works mostly for Zeph.  Nick is missing the frosty white hair and white complexion so that is a fail.

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

Book Details:

Book Four in the End Street Detective Agency series

ebook, 1st Edition, 94 pages
Published November 29th 2013 by Totally Bound (first published November 28th 2013)
Original TitleThe Case of the Sinful Santa: End Street Detective Agency Series
ISBN 1781848548 (ISBN13: 9781781848548)
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesEnd Street Detective Agency 

 

A Stella Review: Vampire Prince (Paranormal Nobles #1) by S.J. Frost

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Vampire PrinceThree years ago, Sebastian Beaumont, was starving and struggling on the streets. An offer for safety and shelter was nothing but the lies of a vampire. Since then, he’s been trapped, surrendering his blood and body as a blood slave to vampires, all for the hope of gaining one more day of life and maybe, someday, his freedom.

Having crossed more than three hundred years of life, Valentin Wyndham, is a prince among vampires. Memories of betrayal still haunt him and love isn’t something he seeks. When his need for blood becomes too strong, he breaks his usual habits and visits a blood house. Though he tries to resist, he can’t help but be captivated by the beautiful Sebastian.

Unable to deny the intensity between them, Valentin frees Sebastian from the blood house, but danger follows them both from those who don’t want to let Sebastian go.

Vampire Prince is the story of Sebastian, a young man taken from the streets three years ago by Wesley with promises of a better life (or at least some food) and brought in his blood house as a blood slave, where people like him, runaways and people no one is going to miss, are used and abused by vampires. This mansion is become his prison, but he has no choice, he needs to stay safe and play the good boy, pretending to enjoy the entertainment he provides vampires. But Sebastian is really tired, three year in this life are really too much and he knows the time for his death is near.

Prince Valentine has just moved to Savannah from England. He doesn’t like the kind of blood house he’s going to, but it’s his only choice at the moment to not become a danger with his thirst. There he meets Sebastian and the insta-attraction will bring them to a sweet and steamy relationship.

I enjoyed this story a lot, I haven’t read the previous edition so I’m not sure about differences or changes SJ Frost made in the plot/writing. I found the writing good and I was surprised by the plot, I was waiting for the usual “vampire story”, instead I got an interesting and original book, light and funny. I felt soon a connection with Valentine and Sebastian, both well developed and likeable.

I can say I am particularly curious to read the next books in this series. Sal and Basil, Valentine’s friends, were both so well done, sometimes took away attention from the MCs.

The reason why I can’t give Vampire Prince an higher rating is that I often found myself bored by too many sex scenes and sugary sentences  (a little too much even for me). Still I can’t wait for the next one.

Cover art by Scarlet Tie designs. I really like this cover, it’s mysterious and dark, and it soon caught my attention.

Sales Links:  MLR Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon |

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 236 pages
Published November 28th 2015 by MLR Press (first published March 7th 2014)
Original TitleVampire Prince
ASINB018GKSB74
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesParanormal Nobles #1
CharactersSebastian Beaumont, Valentin Wyndham settingSavannah, Georgia (United States)

A Paul B Review: Branding An Icy Heart (Wolves of Stone Ridge #32) by Charlie Richards

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Branding An Icy HeartWhen a self described homophobic asshole vampire meets his beloved, a man who is still recovering from a gay bashing a couple of years ago, can the men work through their pasts to get to their happily ever after?

Aleksei Kuznetsov decided to stay in Europe instead of following his family’s coven when they moved to America.  It was bad enough when his brother Tullion found his beloved in a male.  But his older brother and coven leader Borscht then found his beloved in the form of a male fruit bat shifter.  Missing his family/coven, he decides that a trip stateside was in order.  Having come so far, Aleksei begins to leave the bar to see his family when a man using a cane enters the bar.  He is alarmed when he recognizes that this man might actually be his beloved.

Remy Smithson is out with his friends.  After attending the trial that put the man who beat him to within an inch of his death, they decide to commemorate the guilty verdict.  However, his leg that was severely smashed in the incident is acting up on him.  So, he decides to get away from the dance floor and go to a local pub.  A strange man with a foreign accent chats him up while he is sitting at the bar.  Remy explains that he is in pain due to a gay bashing incident a couple of years back and that he and is friends were out celebrating the end of the basher’s trail and guilty verdict.  When this handsome stranger finds this out, it appears that the stranger cannot leave fast enough.  When Remy relays what has happened at the bar, they suggest that they could set him up with one of Tullion’s single brothers.   So they arrange a party to do just that.

At the party, Remy is introduced to Vadim, one of the Kuznetsov brothers.  They seem to be hitting it off when Aleksei comes over and informs them that he believes that Remy is his beloved.  Remy does not know how to react finding out that he is the fated mate of a man who has shown homophobic tendencies in the short time he has know Aleksei. Aleksei must wrap his head around that just like Borscht and Tullion, his mate is male.  To complicate matters further, Remy has been receiving harassing letters saying that next time he will die.  Can both men move beyond their pasts to prevent Remy from being hurt again?

In this thirty-second book in the Wolves of Stone Ridge series, Ms. Richards brings some history in the series back to the present.  The bashing that is referenced in this book actually occurred twenty books ago in this series.  I have always enjoyed the author’s ability to bring in new characters to this series and tie then to others that have been mention maybe two or three years previously.  It is another enjoyable story in the series.

The cover art by Angel Waters depicts our vampire Aleksei standing in front of a forest filled with fall foliage.  It is a good solid cover for an autumn book.

Sales Links:  Extasy Books  |Amazon | Buy It Here

Book details

EBook 108 pages

Published November 15, 2015 by eXtasy Books

ISBN:  978-1-4874-0552-6

Edition Language:  English

Series:  Wolves of Stone Ridge

https://www.goodreads.com/series/63445-wolves-of-stone-ridge

A MelanieM Review: The Devil’s Due (Pulp Friction 2015 Book 19) by Parker Williams

Rating:  5 stars out of 5   ★★★★★

The Devil's Due coverArtie Middleton and Ben Nelson have faced everything thrown at them and come out stronger individually and as a couple.

They’ve lost friends, and learned the painful lesson that nothing good comes without a price. Now, Artie’s unwitting part in an insane plan to destroy all supernatural beings has pulled him front and center into a battle for survival.

When Ben becomes a pawn in the scheme, Artie must decide what he’s willing to risk to protect his family. It’s a question that must be asked when the devil finally demands his due.

Four books have seen Artie Middleton and Ben Nelson come together in love and devastating loss, find a new family in a strange group of supernatural friends, along with their human families that remain alive.  Now everything they have, their love, their lives, everyone’s future has been threatened and they must destroy it once and for all.  Now we find out how high the cost will be.

Parker Williams has the ability to wring the emotions out of a reader by the end of a story.  It didn’t matter that the last one, High Stakes, was only 40-some odd pages, I felt limp as a dishrag from all the sobbing and loss.  This story makes it all worthwhile.  This is the grand finale and Williams makes all the heartbreak, all the angst that has gone before not only palatable but, I can’t believe I’m saying this, meaningful and right.

Wonderful, absorbing plots need equally great characters and here we have a marriage of both.  Williams has developed the characters of Artie and Ben over four books, giving each man more interesting layers and depth to him, letting the readers watch them grow together and sort of grow up as the relationship developed.  We committed to them as they committed to each other. And that made the danger and pain that happens to them far more real and heartbreaking.

Terrific characterizations extend past the main couple to stellar secondary ones such as Tempeste and even a flatulent ghost dog who hogs the bed.  There are so many here to give your heart to, including a new one at the end of the story.

No details (as much as I would love to reveal them), that wouldn’t be fair.  But the author sets Ben and Artie on the road to finally confront the demon behind all the fiendish events and deaths that have been happening all over New Orleans.  But nothing goes as planned.  With all their friends involved, strategies are hurriedly devised, and moment by moment the suspense and absolute horror is ramped up until you are sure all is to be lost…

I was tucked into my bed with the popcorn, and dogs, and yes, glass of wine and didn’t touch any of it until the book was done. What a thrilling ride of a story!  Yes, the devil got his due and then some.

And then there was that ending. How I loved this story and series.  Artie and Ben, and yes Tempeste too.  They stole my heart.  Pick up this series and let them steal yours too.

Need a new addiction?  Grab up Parker Williams’ Four of Club series (Pulp Friction 2015).  Read them all at once in one major binge read or one at a time, either way, you will find yourself hooked.  I highly recommend this book and series. Happy Reading.

Cover art is lovely and perfect for the story.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 66 pages
Published November 13th 2015
ASINB017ZBD120
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 ~ Blind Stud ~ The Devil’s Bedpost ~ Diamonds and Dust

Round Two:
Dead Blind ~ Stud Player ~ Up the Ante ~ Diamond Draw

Round Three:
Dead Button ~ Blind Man’s Bluff ~ Devil’s Playground ~ Diamond Edge

Round Four:
Dead Man’s Hand ~ Blind Hearts ~ High Stakes ~ Diamond Flush

Round Five:
Dead Money ~ Under the Gun ~ Devil’s Due ~ Diamonds Down and Dirty

A Paul B Review: Curling Up With His Critter (A Loving Nip #7) by Charlie Richards

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Curling Up With His Critters coverGypsum Vereen , second of the Amarillo coven of vampires, is tasked to transporting a group of Angus cattle shifters to their new lodgings.,  They are headed toward a diverse pack filled with displaced and abused shifters who are trying to assimilate to a world without abusive alphas and pack members.  When they arrive on pack land, Gypsum is invited to lunch

Lucius and his half brothers have been staying at the pack for rehabilitating shifters since their rescue from their former alpha.  Kept as sexual slaves in cages, they are just now getting around to a normal life.  However, the damage done psychologically is still being healed.  After coming home from a pack run, Lucius goes through the dining room to get to the staircase leading to his room.  He notices the tall blond stranger who smells incredibly good to him.  When this man, who turns out to be Gypsum the vampire, informs Lucius that he is Gypsum’s beloved, Lucius goes into a panic as claiming a mate involves sex, which he has sworn off.

Gypsum must go about wooing his beloved.  First Gypsum must convince Lucius that the sex between them will be nothing like the past sexual abuse he suffered from his previous pack.  He must also explain to Lucius that a vampire needs his beloved to survive.  The next obstacle would be convincing Lucius that the vampire master (the vampire’s alpha equivalent) is nothing like his former alpha.  And knowing how close the brothers are, he has to show Lucius that the brothers will come with them back to his coven.  Just as things begin to go Gypsum’s way, the former leaders of the Angus cattle pack escape and head toward the rescue shifter pack.  Will they interfere with this new mating?

I enjoyed this seventh book in the Loving Nip series.  Lucius and his brothers have been beaten down for most of their lives.  The three have relied on each other in order to survive their ordeal.  I could understand Lucius’ reluctance to mate given all that he has been through.  I was glad to see that Gypsum took his time (at least in shifter mating terms) to convince Lucius that mates are nothing like what was done to him.  Seeing Lucius protect his packs brought home the fact that this man is a survivor.

The cover art by Carmen Waters depicts the blond Gypsum standing in front of a bonfire.  It is a serviceable cover for the story.

Sales Links:  eXtasy Books |  Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details

ebook, 85 pages
Published November 1st 2015 by Extasy Books
ISBN139781487405502
edition languageEnglish

Series:  A Loving Nip

A Nip of Good Cheer (A Loving Nip #1)

A Rose for Paul’s Protector (A Loving Nip #2)

An Unforgettable Bite (A Loving Nip #3)

More than Patient (A Loving Nip #4)

Sharing a Demon’s Blood (A Loving Nip #5)

Not a Line of Bull (A Loving Nip #6)

Curling Up with His Critter (A Loving Nip #7)