Category: Less Than Three Press

A Lila Review: Ravenhearth by Lotus Oakes‏

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

RavenhearthEvery ten years, a letter arrives at Ravenhearth’s Abby requesting a companion for the town’s Keeper– a powerful mage that keeps the town safe from a deadly miasma. His only request is that the person comes willingly into the castle.

 Ten years before, Ash touched the last letter and felt the need to learn more about it. Over the years, he did nothing more than to survive in hopes to have a chance to be the next companion. When the next letter arrives, he’s the first one to volunteer to be sent to Ravenhearth’s Keeper.

 He’s a twenty-one-year-old orphan, interested in learning magic, and volunteering is his only chance to achieve his dream. He loved the town he moved in with his mother sixteen years ago, but he doesn’t have anything left holding him back. After convincing the Council about his desire to be the Keeper’s companion, they agreed, and a week later, Giles, the castle’s butler comes for him.

 The rest of the story takes place at the castle and expands about a year. During this time, Ash meets several characters that would play an important role in his life. He learns more about himself and the real reasons he is drawn towards magic. And he does all this under Giles’s guidance. In the end, Ash’s dreams come true, and he gets his HEA.

 Ravehearth is a novel that has the potential to be considered high fantasy if push further than its romance element. The world the author created is flexible enough to house multiple stories in its different cities. The diversity of the cast, their gifts, and their personality give this story the possibilities to being remarkable.

 We get little background information about the miasma, the magic, the mimics, the clockwork, and the world itself. Enough to feel comfortable with the things happening around the MCs, but not enough to be invested in anything else than the possibilities of a relationship between Ash and Giles or Ash and the Keeper.

 Ash life hasn’t been easy since the passing of his mother, but from an early age, he felt the calling to become the Keeper’s companion. We see him struggle with his decision and what he found when he arrives at the castle. He is a loving character that will steal a piece of your heart.

 The limitations of Ash’s POV made connecting with the other characters difficult. The readers want him to get happiness, but we don’t have a way to know if what’s happening in the castle would be enough to fulfill Ash’s expectations. I’d had like to read Giles’s POV or perhaps to have the Keeper as an omniscient narrator.

The beginning and the end of the story moves at a steady pace, but the middle drags with nothing more than Ash’s musings and dreams. Very sexy dreams, but not enough to take the plot forward. The story line is predictable, but even so, it was engaging enough to keep reading. And the magic studies are nothing more than a footnote to the story. We get more details about plants and food that the magic lessons.

 This story has great potential, but it felt short in its current incarnation.

 The cover, by Kirby Crow, shows Ash looking towards the Ravenhearth castle– the miasma visible between them– matching one of the scenes in the story.

 Sale Links: Less Than Three Press | Amazon | ARe

 Book Details:

ebook, 204 pages
Published: February 17, 2016, by Less Than Three Press
ISBN: 9781620047149
Edition Language: English

A MelanieM Review: Sharing the Pond by Alex Whitehall

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Sharing the Pond by Alex WhitehallBrent shows up on Corey and Shane’s doorstep in the dead of winter needing a place to stay—and hopeful his mates will provide it, and not mind he’s a frog shifter.

Being a shifter is nothing new to Corey and Shane, but neither is being mates. They’ve been together since before they first met Brent ten years ago—back when Brent was Brenda. Bringing a third into their relationship is more than a little complicated, but they’re willing to try.

But change is always easier said than done, and Brent wonders if he ever really stood a chance at being happy with the men he has always loved and admired.

So much wrong with this story, its hard to know where to start.  Maybe with the things I did like. The cover was cute.  And Whitehall’s use of a female transitioning to male but in an entirely different biological take was imaginative and full of possibilities.

None of which really worked well here unfortunately.

Reading through to the finish was actually a fight.

I found the characters of Corey, Shane and Brent blurred together, so similar in tone narratively speaking, that after certain plot points were made, they became interchangeable in my mind (especially two of them),   But Whitehall asks  so much from his readers, those already arriving expecting a shifter story true.  But one where a frog comes from wolf shifter parents?   Hmmm, without much back-history or biological groundwork laid-out?  Then he expects us to believe there is a pull of a mate bond between these two men as well when one is already happily mated?  And doesn’t make a case for it in the interactions between them in the scenes that play out.

With all my diminishing interest in the story playing out, I started to notice other things…such as the huge difference in species. Corey and Shane are Northern Leopard frog shifters. Brent is a Common Reed Frog, a west African frog species that have been known to spontaneously change sex from female to male. A plot element that makes sense, but why did Whitehall have the other two be a pond species?If you are going to go to the trouble to  give your shifters specific frog species you ought to make them compatible.  Green frogs and Bull frogs,  Northern Leopard frogs with Pickerel or Wood frogs, and most certainly a Common Reed Frog with fellow tree frogs like even a African foam-nest tree frog or green Congo tree frog?

But a Common Reed Frog and two Northern Leopard frogs.  Now that might present a problem right there.  the Common Reed Frog?  A small tree frog, found in Burundi (I just love saying that name) and other parts of Africa.  The Northern Leopard  frogs? A once common and now rapidly disappearing pond frog of Northern America.  So yeah, that’s not really happening in a splash about in a bathtub.

Why all this preoccupation with the natural history of the frogs?  Because my mind and interest needed something, anything to grasp onto.  The story wasn’t doing it for me, neither were the characters.

Let’s just  say this was one tough read, from shifter history I couldn’t wrap my head around to characters I just couldn’t connect with.  Even the plot was one tough slog, narratively speaking.  And I love shifter stories.

But that cover was really darn cute.

Sale Links:  Less Than Three Press |   Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 154 pages
Published November 16th 2015 by Less Than Three Press
ASINB0184EQ5BG
Edition LanguageEnglish

A MelanieM Review: Dragon Deception (Supernatural Consultant #2) by Mell Eight

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Dragon DeceptionA life full of children and mysteries to solve doesn’t leave much time for relaxation or each other, something Lumie wants to help fix for Dane and Mercury by way of arranging a picnic. But good intentions and life rarely cooperate, and Dane knows it’s only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.

Hell turns out to be someone using Quicksilver’s name to destroy buildings, but there’s no way to tell whether the enemy is an impostor or a trap—and only way to find out. Hopefully it won’t mean missing the picnic.

Dragon Deception is the 2nd in the Supernatural Consultant series but it flows so smoothly from Dragon Consultant‘s events and timeline that it hard to realize that it takes place five years later.  Mercury and the dragon kits are now at home with Dane, making them quite the family.   Mercury has a new job as an agent with the SupFeds, also known as the Federal Bureau of Supernatural Investigations,and a new abrasive partner whose on everyone’s bad list.  Their first case?  A new investigation of arson with someone using the name of Quicksilver, a name with huge ramifications for Mercury, the kids and Dane.

Meanwhile, brilliant kit Lumie wants his “dads” to go on a special picnic for some alone time, something Lumie thinks they need and never gets with their jobs and kits always under foot.  I loved the interplay between growing dragon children and the way that their needs are being met by Dane and Mercury under one roof.  Mell Eight creates a wonderfully traditional dragon culture and then devises creative methods in which Dane actively works to meet those need in a modern world.  Her own version of setting them up and knocking them down and it working perfectly.  The family interactions and relationships are so strong and remain among my favorite parts of this story.

But there’s still that heinous organization to be tracked down that’s still kidnapping young dragons and they continue to play a huge part here.  I’ll say no more, but these mysterious scientists and the conspiracy around them is a thread that runs from book to book, that with each revelation sees deeper, more serious consequences for Mercury, the dragons kits and in fact all dragon kind if not stopped.  Its this element that makes me wish the books were longer.  There just isn’t enough room to explore all the events that happen so quickly here to the full extent I would like to see happen.

Mell Eight packs her stories full of excitement, imaginative elements, gripping storylines and characters you need  to know more about.  This is especially true of the dragon kits that have come about due to the nefarious government experiments like Lumie and Alloy, just a few to make mention of.  As they grow, so do their strange powers, and there are dragons we have just to meet.

When the book ends, I think some readers unused to Mell Eight’s stories will be perplexed as to the lack of any traditional ending.  Its one of the reasons I think this series would work more as a serial than as a series.  A mission comes to an end but not everything is wrapped up.  Pretty much status quo for this author.  Those of us familiar with her style know to just sit back and wait for the next one to arrive.  If you find this frustrating, you might want to wait until the series is done and then binge read through. But if this doesn’t bother you, than powered by a love of dragons, mystery, and terrific characters, grab up this series and get started right away. So far its only two short books, it’ll be a breeze to catch up before the third arrives.

I can’t wait.

Cover art by Aisha Akeju.  I love the artist but her covers for this series are still something of a disconnect.  They are too bright and happy for some of the very serious themes encountered inside the books, including dragon kit experimentation, kidnapping, and more.  Its cute with the dragon prints and its a part of the plot, still…

Sales Links:  Less Than Three Press | ARe | Amazon will be coming

Book Details:

ebook, 111 pages
Expected publication: February 10th 2016 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620047125
Edition LanguageEnglish

Series Supernatural Consultant :

A Paul B Review: Dangerous Territory by Cari Z

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Dangerous TerritoryIn an alternate reality where shifter natives inhabit the Wild West, Carter Bly cannot believe how things have gone so wrong since his father’s death.  Having inherited half of the family ranch, Carter faces paying a dowry for his sister’s upcoming wedding.  Because of this and laws where the husband actually controls his wife’s property, Carter must face the fact that he is now a minority owner of the family ranch with no real say in how things are run.  Rather than live under these circumstances, Carter decides to buy himself out of the ranch.  However, his new brother in law is trying to make this impossible.  In order to pay for everything, Carter must get his part of the cattle herd to auction before his unscrupulous relative.

A family friend contacts the local shifter tribe to help Carter drive his herd through the canyon before the rains come.  The chief sends his son Rani as the man to help Carter.  The man states that he will walk his way, which will not be a problem with his shifter stamina.  As the two begin their two-week trek through the canyon, Carter becomes attracted to his guide.  However, Carter reminds himself it is better to be alone than to possible face rejection or worse from the man.  The men must survive the weather, snakes, and a crippling injury in their race to beat Carter’s brother in law to market.  But they must first survive the trip and each other in order to do so.

I found this to be an interesting twist on the shifter story.  This is not the old west as we know it.  The story is set in the late 1800’s in the Oklahoma Territory.  However, we have a Republic of Texas, a Dukedom of Louisiana and mentions the original thirteen colonies.  So it is definitely not our timeline.  The native tribes are all shifters.

I thought the pacing of bringing Carter and Rani was well done.  Carter tells himself that the feelings he beings to have for Rani are probably misplaced.  Rani on the other hand knows that Carter is attracted to him from the beginning but basically ignores the fact until later in the drive.  When Carter’s life if threatened is when Rani begins to show his feelings toward Carter.  The care Rani shows Carter gives Carter hope that there might be something more there than he realizes.  Cari Z once again comes through with this book.

The cover art by the author Cari Z shows a cowboy holding his lariat at sunset with a snake that appears to be coming out of the clouds.  It is a fitting cover for the book.

Sales Links:  Less Than Three Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

Ebook, 56 pages
Published:  January 12, 2016 by Less Than Three Press
Edition Language:  English
ISBN:  9781620046937

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Dangerous Territory by Cari Z

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Dangerous TerritoryWhen Connor’s spinster sister, Millie, marries a scheming money-hungry man who immediately takes steps to control the ranch Connor and his sister inherited when their father died a month ago, there’s little he can do to hang on to his share of the ranch. His only choice is to get his share of the cattle to market before his scheming brother-in-law, Percy, takes the rest of the herd. And Percy has already secured passage on the barge that goes to the town where the annual auction will take place, so Connor’s only choice is to take his cattle through Mason Canyon. The problem is that it’s in the territory of the local shifter clan, and the canyon is heavily populated by very large, very venomous snakes.

Keena, his father’s longtime foreman, is half shifter and arranges for the son of the new clan chief to accompany Connor and get him through the canyon safely. Shifters aren’t known for being helpful to others but the new chief sees this as a test for his son’s abilities and finds it an opportunity to help a neighbor who has coexisted peacefully with the clan for years.

Along the journey, the very quiet Rani finally opens up to Connor when Connor offers to teach him to ride his stallion. Can the two men ever find a common ground when it becomes obvious they are attracted to each other? Can they get the herd through the canyon without casualties from snakes or flooding? And more importantly, does Connor have any future without his ranch but with the possibility of having Rani at his side?

It’s amazing that the author was able to build a complex story which took place in multiple locations and still build three-dimensional characters, who were tough, yet gentle, and apparent enemies who manage to become lovers—all within a short 56 pages. All of the above questions are answered and there’s even more drama than what’s mentioned. The shifter population was different from the usual, and the form Rani shifted into is quite unexpected and unique. I really enjoyed this couple and would like to read more about them in the future. This novella could easily serve as the first book in a very interesting series, and if it does, I hope we get to see more of Connor and Rani as they make a commitment to remain together against all odds.

~~~~~~

Cover art by Cari Z is a very clever depiction of a cowboy silhouetted against a cloudy, orange-tinted sky. When one looks closely, a very long snake can be seen in the background of the clouds. This is the perfect depiction of Connor who has to make his way through the dangerous snake’s territory.

Sales Links:   Less Than Three Press | ARe | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 56 pages
Published January 13th 2016 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620046937
Edition LanguageEnglishsettingOklahoma Territory (United States)