Category: Vampires

More Winner Announcements and this Week’s Schedule

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We have more winners to be announced from our Down Under Author Showcase:

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Authors                                             Winners

Penny Brandon                                Julie Small
Pelaam                                             H.B.
Renae Kaye                                      Michael Thompson
N. R. Walker                                    Lesi Koho
L.J. Harris                                        Serena
Michelle Rae                                    Ashley
Isabelle Rowan                               Jen F
Lily Velden                                     Alaina
Maggie Mitchell                             Sula Holland
Ellen Cross                                     Paul Wright
RJ Jones                                          Sula Holland
Nic Starr                                         Roger Grace
Bette Browne                                 Michael Thompson
Cecil Wilde                                     Gigi
Wayward Ink Publications          ardent ereader,Amanda Raifsnider, Dawn Mayhew

 This Week’s Schedule at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, February 8:

  •  Cover Reveal for Con Riley’s True Brit!
  • More Winner Announcements and This Week’s Schedule

Monday, February 9:

  • Love is a Mess Anthology Book Tour
  • Lights Camera Cupid – Bluewater Bay Anthology Book tour and contest
  • A Stella Review: Drive Your Truck by Julia Talbot
  • A Sammy Review: Take the Long Way Home by J. A. Rock
  • P.D. Singer’s A New Man Book Tour and Contest

Tuesday, February 10:

  • AM Arthur’s The Truth As He Knows It Book Tour and Contest
  • A Stella Review: Neon White 3 by Wulf Francu Godgluck
  • A PaulB Review: The Vampire’s Geek (Wolves of Stone Ridge #26) by Charlie Richards
  • A MelanieM Review: Chance to be King by Sue Brown

Wednesday, February 11:

  • Cover reveal ‘Everything Changes’ from Melanie Hansen
  • Pat Henshaw ‘What’s In A Name’ Book Tour and Contest
  • A PaulB Review: Spearmint Warning by John Amory
  • A Stella Review: The Biker’s Pup by Sean Michael
  • AF Henley’s Road Trip – Blog Tour & Giveaway

Thursday, February 12:

  • Rare by Garrett Leight Audiobook Tour and contest
  • Series Banner Reveal:Storming Love: Blizzard from MLR Press
  • A MelanieM Review: The Truth As He Sees It by A.M. Arthur
  • A Sammy Review: The Way Things Are by A.J. Thomas
  • A Stella Review: Wrong Number, Right Guy by Mia Watts

Friday, February 13:

  • Journey to England for Trowchester Blues by Alex Beecroft (tour and contest)
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Take Heart by Willa Okati
  • A MelanieM Review: Shadows and Ashes PF2014 Finale Novel
  • A Mika Review: The Lion and the Crow by Eli Easton
  • A Stella Review: A Fighting Man by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

Saturday, February 14, Happy Valentine’s Day:

A MelanieM Review: Conscious Decisions of the Heart by John Wiltshire

Down Under Author Giveaway Winner Announcements #2

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  G’Day!  Happily we have more winners for you!

More Winner Announcements!  Both winners and authors have been notified.  Congratulations and our thanks to these wonderful authors for their participation and contests!

Author/Giveaways                     Winner

Christian Baines                        Waxapplelover

N. J. Nielsen:                             Julie Small

Beany Sparks                            Denise Duchene

Toni Griffin                               Alaina

A MelanieM Review: The Beast Without by Christian Baines

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

The Beast Without coverReylan, a Blood Shade, the correct term for vampires,, likes being on his own.  He is wealthy, gorgeous,  sexy and particular in who he eats.  He picks out his prey from the popular gay clubs of Sidney, on Oxford Street.  Reylan is always careful not to take too much, just enough to last a few days  before he has to feed again.  So when a crazed werewolf kills his latest companion, Reylan is not happy.  He is even less so when the werewolf, young Jorgas, seems to have developed an obsession with him.  An obsession that puts Reylan and those he cares about at risk.

In order for Reylan to take care of the situation, he finds he must work with a mysterious supernatural organization  called The Arcadia Trust and its leader Patricia Bakker.  The Arcadia Trust has its own agenda and wants Reylan to deliver the werewolf to them alive.  But things change when Reylan hunts down the young werewolf in question.  In a moment of intense need and hunger a tenuous relationship is formed between vampire and werewolf, a relationship neither wants.

As more people are murdered around them, Reylan, Jorgas and The Arcadian Trust must look further than Jorgas for the cause while trying to protect the ones inside their circle.  Reylan soon realizes that the civility he has cloaked his life in is no longer enough.  Its time for his true predator nature to come out and stay out if he is to stay alive and locate the true murderer among them.

What an excellent take on vampires and werewolves.  The Beast Without is such a far cry from the Twilight movies and other more current representations of these two supernatural beings. The werewolves and vampires of The Beast Without are not the benign creatures of the night that we see in popular movies and books these days.  No, the supernaturals of this novel, The Blood Shades and the Flesh Masters (werewolves) are apex predators, vicious and superior to humans who are regarded as food.  It’s actually kind of refreshing.

The vampires, werewolves and other supernatural beings like Cloak Masters (invisible beings) are genetic by nature.  All come from families where the various genes for each type of creature runs in the family.  It can skip generations and then, right around puberty, those that carry the gene mutate into the creature whose genes they carry, whether it be vampire, werewolf, or something quite different.  Christian Baines is developing a great back history for these supernaturals, a history that is being revealed slowly throughout the book.

Along with his impressive world building, Baines takes particular pains to make his characters complex, otherworldly and sometimes cruel in their outlook.  Take Reylan.  He is not human and revels in being a Blood Shade, finding the term vampire to be distasteful and tawdry. An asexual being, at least in the beginning, he dines on men, preferring the power and vigor in their blood to the caution and other traits that occurs in female hemoglobin.   As created by Baines, Reylan is a loner, a predator and absolutely absorbing.

I can’t  say enough about the characters i found here.  Whether it is Jorgas, a confused, raged filled werewolf, Father Isaac O’Baer of Saint Barnabas Church, a Father handy with advice or a knife, or Patricia Bakker, the enigmatic leader of The Arcadia Trust, these beings are intricately layered, wildly unpredictable in nature, and totally absorbing to read about.  I can’t get enough of them or anyone else that pops up in this story.  It’s really just a roll call of strange and wonderful creatures, each more exciting, dangerous and complex  than the one before.   They may not be real, but they certainly feel that way.  Here is Reylan’s thoughts on Cloak Walkers:

It’s said, perhaps cruelly, that you can smell a Cloak Walker long before you hear him – such is the inevitable toll of invisibility on personal hygiene. It’s even been claimed that the condition brings on leprosy, and that a Cloak Walker may be tracked by the body parts he leaves behind. I find what this theory lacks in credence, it makes up for in originality.

I love that wry, amused tone.  A little mean and deceptively mild. Perfect.

The plot is just as twisted and deceptive as the characters.  Baines has really done justice to each element here.  Both the story line and supernatural beings are totally worthy of each other, working their magic on the reader from page one.  Baines’ style of writing is smooth, his descriptions vivid and sometimes almost graphically realistic.  Here is our introduction to Reylan as he heads out to hunt at night:

 I’m not human, but even so, this is a reality I can’t ignore. If I’m not careful when I feed, when I take my fill of blood, I can quickly become the wrong one-nighter.

I’ll thank you not to use the ‘v’ word.

Given my proximity to Oxford Street, the sleazy, pulsing artery of Sydney’s nightclub district where I’ve lived for the better part of thirty years, I try not to visit any club twice in the same week. It’s safer that way, particularly for a man whose lifestyle depends on discretion. Barely two nights ago, I’d graced Fantasy, a club full of pretty, if flighty young things – some gay, some straight, most happily open minded on the subject. So the following night’s destination was Blaze, a club currently serving as de facto cathedral to the Church of Saint Muscle Mary, where the buff and beautiful took time out of their forty hour a week gym schedules to model, preen and occasionally dance the night away for the slack-jawed ogling pleasure of curious onlookers.

For hunting clothes, I chose a pair of tight leather trousers, an equally tight lycra vest and a silver-studded belt. A little attractive, a little sexual, and a little ridiculous. The perfect human mix I’d developed over the years. Not the epitome of modern style, but on a healthy twenty-four-year-old man, which is what I appear to be, it did say ‘come hither and bed me,’ which was the whole point.

Then, there was the pill. I rarely use them, but if options are lacking and I get too impatient, a little chemistry in a capsule can seal the sumptuous fate of any prospective companion. You needn’t judge me. You do a lot worse to your food. Besides, it’s not as if I’ve had to use it – recently.

There he is, all deliciousness in tone and outlook.  But soon Reylan will demonstrate just exactly how good a predator he is.  How I came to love him.

I should make one thing clear.  This is not a romance.  There are m/m relationships, there is sexual need, blood lust and heat a plenty.  But if you are looking for roses and candlelight dinners, this is not the story for you.  A convoluted relationship does develop between Reylan and Jorgas, but it is just at the beginning stages and it is certainly not based on love or even affection.  A bond certainly, but of need and blood and baser emotions.  It is realistic and involving as any I have read, and I love it.

Incredibly, The Beast Without is Christian Baines first novel. I came so close to giving this  remarkable story a 5-star rating but there are just too many loose ends that remain unresolved at the end of the story to go that final inch.    Christian Baines lays out a mystery for us, several in fact but nothing more.  Just speculation and insidiously addicting clues to a larger mystery looming behind the smaller ones. Everything about The Beast Without cries out for a sequel and I can only hope that one is in the works. At any rate, I highly recommend this rich and rewarding take on vampires and werewolves, especially for those of you tired of sparkle.

Cover art and design is terrific. Cover Images: Ivan Bliznetsov (front); DSNR (back) Jacket Design: David P Reiter

Afternote:  Christian Baines has indicated that a sequel to The Beast Without is planned, very good news indeed.

Sales Links:     All Romance (ARe)          Amazon      buy it here

Book Details:

Paperback, 234 pages
Published March 27th 2013 by Glass House Books
ISBN 192212043X (ISBN13: 9781922120434)
edition language
also eBook edition

A MelanieM Review: Altered States (Altered States, #0.5) by Laura Harner

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Altered STates coverNew Orleans Police Detective Sam Garrett is having a bad day.  Sam can’t stand working with partners, yet he’s been assigned an aggravating, hot, and most-likely-straight partner, Travis Boudreaux,.  Travis pushes all his buttoms, including the one that says Sam finds Travis seriously attractive, not good when the man in question is straight.

When Sam and Travis are assigned to investigate a string of gay-bashings turned deadly in the French Quarter, the last thing Sam expects is that Travis plans to use him as bait. The worst part? They’ve got no back-up because the rest of the city is preoccupied by another series of killings — the victims drained of blood.

It should be a simple thing to close this case…but this is New Orleans where the deadly, the mystical, and the unknown can combine in lethal ways as Sam and Travis are about to find out.

Altered States started out as a story prompt in the Goodreads M/M Romance’s Love is Always Write, Don’t Read in the Closet Events.  But Altered States was to be a springboard to an addictively absorbing new series from Laura Harner and T.A. Webb.  It all starts with the wonderful creation of New Orleans Police Detective Sam Garrett.  Sam is gay, biracial, and physically slight, or should that be wiry.   He’s complex and not terribly popular down at the Precinct, which is a mixture of characters, not all of which are exactly upstanding representations of the law.

Adding to his woes of too many hours, not enough sleep, and aggravation at work is the fact that Sam has been assigned a new partner.  Travis Boudreaux is more of an enigma, a question mark of a persona that looms larger at the shocking end.  The case they are assigned too is horrific in nature.  Young gay men are being tortured and killed and its up to them to stop it.

Harner and Webb weave a fascinating tale of wary men, unacknowledged appetites, and murder.  Then they overlay it all with a touch of the supernatural when victims in another salacious crime spree start turning up dead, drained entirely of their blood.   It’s a great plot, and that twist at the end is shocking.  I loved it!  So will  you.

The kicker comes at the beginning of the next story that really starts this series, Deep Blues Goodbye (Altered States #1).  That one?  Oh my!  This series is like a bowl of bon bons, once you start in on them, they are so delicious and rich that you won’t be able to stop.  I quite happily read my way through all three available stories and am now anxiously waiting for the next.

Altered States is one of my highly recommended reads as is the series.  Grab it up, along with all the others and drop yourself in the New Orleans world of crime, passion, and the supernatural!

Cover Art by Laura Harner.  Dark, kind of noirish.  Perfect!

Sales Links:     All Romance (ARe) (free)         amazon             get it here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 41 pages
Published May 27th 2012 by Hot Corner Press
ASINB0086Y9MM4
series  Altered States

Books in the Altered States Series:

  • Altered States (Altered States, #0.5)
  • Deep Blues Goodbye (Altered States #1) by L.E. Harner, T.A. Webb
  • Deadly Shades of Gold (Altered States, #2) by L.E. Harner, T.A. Webb

 

A MelanieM Review: The Circus of the Damned (Deal with a Devil) by Cornelia Grey

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

TheCircusoftheDamned_500x750Magician Gilbert Blake has spent his entire life hiding the fact that his power is real.  Instead, Gilbert journeys from town to town, along with his patient companion, Emilia the mouse, trolling for easy marks in the worst of places and pubs along the way.  Gilbert’s love of drink and quick temper has often gotten him into trouble but  never like the hornets nest he stirred up in the town of  Shadowsea.  A dark, disreputile place, home of  the infamous slumlord Count Reuben,   who gets wind of his abilities after a fight in one of his pubs.  Gilbert’s flees with Emelia until his only option to survive is hiding within the Circus of the Damned .

Only the Circus of the Damned isn’t merely an unusual name but a unique circus with dark secrets of its own.   It’s handsome ringmaster Jesse’s responsiblity to make sure their numbers stay the same.  And when a performer dies, a new replacement must be found within 24 hours or all is lost, including their souls.   A recent death in their ranks makes Gilbert exactly what they need.  A soul in exchange for safety inside the Circus as a performer.  Only Gilbert doesn’t exactly believe in the pact or the Circus for that matter.  For Gilbert expediency is everything until its not and reality sets in.

But something far darker looms on the horizon, for Gilbert and the Circus of the Damned.  For Count Reuben hasn’t forgotten about Gilbert and is pursuing him still.  As the danger grows all around them, and other mages start disappearing, Gilbert, Jesse and the Circus of the Damned  place everything on the line for survival and for love.

Just the blurb for The Circus of the Damned was alluring enough for me to pick up this story and start reading.  Never quite the fan of clowns and circuses, the premise was one I found easy to believe in, a company of damned souls and supernatural talents who journeyed around the world holding special shows whose audience was often as unusual as the performers themselves.  Yes, I was hooked well and good.

But Cornelia Grey’s marvelous execution of this premise and the complex,haunting universe she has created for The Circus of the Damned exceeded all my expectations and then stomped them into the dust.  Part steampunk , part hellmouth, always fascinating, from the miserable town of Shadowsea to the encircled caravans of the Circus of the Damned, no little detail goes unnoticed or fails to enchance Grey’s tale of magic, devilry, and romance.

Circuses as I have said, are the perfect devil’s playground, From the garish makeup, tents, trailers and oddities of the side show, this venue lends itself to otherworldly elements like a duck does to water.  And the foundation is always in its performers, as it is with the characters Grey has created here.  But first, let’s start with Gilbert Blake, an often drunken mage with anger issues who often takes the  easy road in life.  He drinks, cheats, and scurries along, accompanied by only the most tolerant mouse alive, Emilia.  Gilbert is everyone’s problem at the beginning, including the readers.  He’s just not that likable to start off with.  Luckily that will change once he is forced to enter the Circus, but even then he can be a problematic leading man.  Only as he starts to accept his fate and really takes notice of his fellow performers and situation does this character grow and our liking of him along with it.

But even as we are having problems engaging with Gilbert, there’s Jesse, Dora, Ramona, and Constance.  There’s the remarkable Olivia, and Mildred, and of course, Farfarello, to delight, horrify, and pull us forever into their stories and lives.  It’s that damned Circus of the Damned that’s so mesmerizing and fanciful that you just can’t get enough of the place or people (or beings for that matter). Here is Cornelia Grey’s Pinterest Inspiration board, as scary and haunting as you will find.  That circus and the history behind it is the hook that will pull you in and keep you enthralled while you are waiting for Gilbert to develop into a character you and Jesse can love.  Yes, that happens, along with so many other startling plot threads that I remained happily ensconced in this world 347 pages to the end.  And then wanted more.

And I do want more.  I want to see what happens next, I want more backstory, and definitely more of their future.  Another story perhaps?  That would be delightful and satisfying.  Of course, Farfarello appears in other tales, Devil at the Crossroads, the first in Cornelia Grey’s Deal with a Devil series.  And by the title here, it would appear that more Deal with the Devil tales are coming.  Now only if they can include a certain circus….

Make your introduction to these devilishly entertaining group of performers and the fantastical world Cornelia Grey has created for them here with The Circus of the Damned.  It delivers a new perspective from which to view the big top, magic, and captured souls looking for love.  It’s a recommended read here at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words.  Grab it up today.  Happy Reading.

Cover art by Kanaxa.  Oh! How I love that cover. Spooky, haunting, and totally captivating.  If the title didn’t already pull you in, that cover would.  One of the best of the year.

Sales Links:    Riptide Publishing      All Romance eBooks    amazon    The Circus of the Damned

Book Details:

ebook, 347 pages
Expected publication: November 3rd 2014 by Riptide Publishing
original titleCircus of the Damned (A Deal with a Devil Story)
ISBN139781626491656
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://riptidepublishing.com/titles/circus-of-the-damned
seriesDeal with a Devil

It’s Hellish Great Times on Tour with Cornelia Grey and The Circus of the Damned !(contest)

 SteampunkWeek_150x300Introducing into Center Ring, Cornelia Grey and The Circus of the Damned!

Cornelia Grey is here to tell us about the chracter inspiration for the supporting folks in her captivatingly scary new story, The Circus of the Damned.  And don’t forget to follow along on the tour for more chances to win a $250 gift certificated to Harlots and Angels Steampunk Corsetry!   Take a look at these items that could be yours if you won!

promo_pattern_pack

 

The Circus of the Damned – Character Inspiration Pics Pt. II

Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for having me – happy to join you to talk a bit about my newest release, the paranormal novel The Circus of the Damned!

I love supporting characters, love making them interesting and colorful and, with the circus setting, I was really looking forward to working with an ensemble cast. My characters tend to be underdogs, living at the margins of society, relying on their wit and abilities to scrape by in a hostile world, and the perforrmers of the Circus of the Damned are just that – a ragtag crew of odd creatures, people with supernatural abilities that they cannot reveal to the world, hiding in plain sight under a circus tent…

As I was toying with a few ideas about their ideas and their performances, I decided to look for inspiration browsing vintage photos and cabinet cards of acrobats and assorted artists, that would be a perfect match with the Victorian-esque, slightly creepy atmosphere I had in mind… while I didn’t have much luck finding photos matching my guy performers, let me introduce you to the ladies of the Circus of the Damned!

First, I knew I wanted a strong woman, who would be beautiful and confident and unstoppable, with a taste for elegant earrings and dainty plumed hats… and I came across this gorgeous lady, who instantly became my Constance!

Then, I wanted an aerialist – slash – contortionist, who would swing from the trapeze and stroll around on stilts. This young lady was a good inspiration for Miriam…

When I came across this elegant woman, instead, the opposite thing happened – I was captured by her expression, her posture, her dress, and instantly knew Dora inspiration for the Circus of the Damnedshe had to belong to the Circus of the Damned, and set about discovering just who she might be. By the time we meet her at the Circus, Dora is elderly, but she is still just as intriguing and magnetic as she does in this picture…

The same happened when I stumbled across the picture of this young acrobat: I was instantly struck. I had been struggling, trying to zero in on the character of Olivia and on what her performance would be like and, when I saw this girl – with her curls, and her piercing, knowing eyes – I knew I had found her.Olivia image pinterest

And, last but not least, a character that has already made a brief appearance in another of my stories (you win a cookie if you recognise which one!). I am fond of scattering ‘Easter eggs’ here and there in my books – subtle references to another story, for example, or maybe a song… and Ramona’s appearance is one! There was no chance to talk about her backstory in this book, but she Ramona Circus of the Damned inspiration photosis from Genoa, Italy. Give her some basil and percorino cheese, and she will prepare a mean pesto sauce!

If you’d like to see some more inspiration pics – for the setting of the Circus itself, and the general atmosphere I had in mind for the story, you can check the Circus of the Damned board on Pinterest!

And speaking of atmosphere, I will be chatting about the music that inspired me in my next stop on the Gaslamp Fortnight tour!

If you’d like to see some more inspiration pics – for the setting of the Circus itself, and the general atmosphere I had in mind for the story, you can check the Circus of the Damned board on Pinterest!

And speaking of atmosphere, I will be chatting about the music that inspired me in my next stop on the Gaslamp Fortnight tour!

Now onto the story details from Cornelia Grey and The Circus of the Damned available for preorder now!

The Circus of the Damned Blurb:

TheCircusoftheDamned_500x750

Magician Gilbert Blake has spent his entire life conning drunkards in the seediest pubs in the darkest towns, careful to hide the true depths of his power. But when he spends a little too much time in Shadowsea and the infamous slumlord Count Reuben gets wind of his abilities, hiding within the Circus of the Damned may be Gilbert’s only chance at survival.

But there’s more to the Circus than meets the eye. Every time a performer dies, a new one must take his place, or the entire circus suffers the consequences. And while the handsome ringmaster Jesse isn’t one to coerce unwilling performers into giving up their souls to the devil, a recent death in their ranks makes Gilbert exactly what they need.

Yet the longer Gilbert stays with the Circus, the more danger he seems to bring them. Being with Jesse is more than Gilbert could have hoped for, but as Count Reuben’s men continue to search for Gilbert and the Circus loses another performer, they all face running out of time long before the Devil claims his due.

– See more at Riptide Publishing!

Author: Cornelia Grey
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62649-165-6
eBook and print release: Nov 3, 2014
eBook Formats: pdf, mobi, html, epub
Print ISBN: 978-1-62649-166-3
Word count: 91,500, Page count: 322
Type: Standalone
Cover by: Kanaxa

This title is part of the A Deal with a Devil universe.  Read an excerpt here.

more goodies from Harlots and Angels Steampunk Corsetry!

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A MelanieM Review: Midsummer Law (Midsummer #3) by Megan Derr

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

midsummerlaw400Kirby Hindon is Sheriff in MIdsummer, a magical, supernatural town.  On the easiest day, the job carries with it a almost constant list of surprises and supernatural  happenings that most Sheriffs never have to deal with.  But one of the toughest parts of his job is notifying the next of kin when someone is killed.  That’s the Kirby is facing now. Hobgoblin Kerry Greyling is dead and Kirby needs to contact his brother as next of kin.  The biggest surprise appears when Kerry’s brother, Merry, shows up to collect his belongings.

Merry is Kerry’s twin brother but they were alike only in appearance.  Where Kerry was dark, Merry is light as well as powerful.  In fact, Merry shimmers from head to toe.  He is a well respected and sought after clothing designer whose clothes are just as unique as Merry.  What happens when a lonely Sheriff  who also happens to be a witch meets up with an equally lonely hobgoblin?  Anything is possible in the town of Midsummer.

Midsummer Law picks up after the events of Midsummer Curse.  All the towns people are dealing with the aftermath of Ferdy the gremlin’s curse and the death of Kerry Greyling, Ferdy’s ex and all round rotter.  It’s been left to witch and town Sheriff Kirby Hindon to notify the closest kin of the deceased and depose of the body and personal belongings.  But what happens next is as unexpected to those involved as it is just what they need.

I love the town of Midsummer that Megan Derr has created.  A place where all the paranormal and supernatural belong, its both a haven and locus for events and relationships of all types.  We’ve had werewolves and kind of weres, weres and gremlins, vampires and vampire hunters and now a witch in search of love in the most unlikely of places.  Kirby Hindon has always existed on the secondary layer of the other stories as a character.  He arrives to haul off the culprit or at the ending of a nasty culmination of events.  Now he’s at the front of his own story and we get a better look at a lonely man with never enough time to practice his magic.

Merry Greyling, twin brother to the nasty Kerry Greyling, is a lovely delight of a character.  A sought after clothes designer, he wears what he makes, along with artfully applied makeup in unusual color combinations.  He’s powerful, quixotic, and lonely.  Hmmmm, where can a partner be found for him?  Derr brings these two together over the death of Merry’s brother and let the rest of the journey to love fall gently into place.

I say gently because there is no drama to be found here, that occurred in the previous story.  This is just two beings trying to work out a long distance relationship and it contain the commonplace errors and miscommunications  one would expect of such an attempt.  It gradually works itself out along the way as Derr starts to fold in the characters for the next short story in the series, Midsummer Baker.

This is a very quick read with none of the depth of the first  two stories.  There is no mystery involved, just two beings in search of love.  I did love the surprise that was Merry and wish we had much more of him and Kirby’s relationship.  We get a few answers to some left over questions but that’s it.  I missed the variety of characters and the layers to the plot that the other stories had, although the romance is a lovely one.   There were also one or two editing issues.  A moment where Kirby looks at Kirby (it should have been Kelly), easy enough to catch and fix but wasn’t.

Midsummer is a town guaranteed to pull you into its stories and relationships.  There is so much to discover here and so many more beings to meet.  I hope Megan Derr continues to develop stories in this series.  I can’t wait for more to come.

Cover art by Megan Derr.   She does a terrific job in branding the series and yet makes each design relevant to the story within.

Sales Links:     Less Than Three Press            All Romance eBook (ARe)        Amazon            Midsummer Law

Book Details:

ebook, 46 pages
Published July 2010 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781936202294
edition languageEnglish
seriesMidsummer #3

Midsummer Series in order they were written and should be read (available in print, ebook and audio):

Midsummer Moon
Midsummer Curse
Midsummer Law
Midsummer Baker
Midsummer Days (Print collection of all stories)

A MelanieM Review: Midsummer Curse (Midsummer #2) by Megan Derr

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Midsummer Curse coverBrayton’s a lone wolf.  He’s also a “jack of all trades”, roaming the country fixing  problems for the supernaturals who call on him.  A call from a friend sends Brayton to supernatural town of Midsummer’s Night where a curse on the town’s gremlin threatens all things mechanical and worse in Midsummer’s Night. It should be a easy job, find the person responsible, have them break the curse and the gremlin and the town’s problem is fixed.  But nothing is ever so simple in Midsummer’s Night.

Ferdinand (Ferdy to friends), the town’s adorable gremlin, is miserable. His passion and nature is to fix and tinker  with all manner of things mechanical.  But someone or something has put a curse on him and now everything he touches falls to pieces…coffee pots, cars, clocks…everything.  His only hope lies in the gorgeous werewolf who has just arrived in town to fix his problem.  Ferdy has just broken up with his boyfriend and doesn’t want another.  So why can’t he get Brayton out of his head and heart?

Brayton’s stymied.  Everyone seems to love Ferdy and no one can figure out why he’s been cursed.  Something peculiar is going on and Brayton is determined to get to the meaning of it all.  But all he can think of is Ferdy, how the endearing pint sized gremlin smells and giggles.  What is happening to them both? Only time and a keen nose will sniff out the cause of their problems and much, much more.

Who knew gremlins could be so endearing?  Obviously Megan Derr, because with Ferdy she has created a pint-sized character full of vulnerability, sweetness, and a innate need to tinker with everything that has gears and mechanical moving parts.  With Ferdy and the reader its love at first sight.  For others it might take a sniff or  two before a powerful connection is made.  That’s where the other wonderful character of Brayton comes in.  Brayton is the odd were known as a lone wolf.  He wanders without a pack on business brought to him by word of mouth (or whatever parts necessary).  Brayton is snarky, self assured, and powerful in his own right.  Ferdy’s  total opposite or is he?  That’s one of the real delights of this story.

The chief plot of Midsummer Curse is a mystery.  Who and why cursed Ferdy so that everything mechanical he touches falls immediately to pieces?  As he is the town’s chief mechanic and handyman, this poses a huge problem for all.  That is hurts Ferdy horribly only gradually comes out as well. There are other small plot threads woven through this story that are equally enjoyable and twisty.  I love it when that happens.

Midsummer Curse may just be my favorite of the series.  A romantic duo of werewolf and gremlin?  Be still my heart and let my feet find a path to Midsummer’s Night and more stories to come.

Cover art by Megan Derr.  Love the car, now where’s my wolf?

Sales Links:    Less Than Three Press          All Romance eBooks    Amazon    Midsummer Curse

Book Details:

ebook, 57 pages, also available in audio
Published January 2010 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781936202157
edition languageEnglish
seriesMidsummer #2

Midsummer Series in order they were written and should be read (available in print, ebook and audio):

  • Midsummer Moon
  • Midsummer Curse
  • Midsummer Law
  • Midsummer Baker
  • Midsummer Days (Print collection of all stories)

Midsummer MoonMidsummer Curse covermidsummerlaw400midsummerbaker400