Category: Less Than Three Press

A MelanieM Review: The Oracle’s Golem (The Oracle #3) by Mell Eight

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Cover - The Oracles FlameOnce Golem was the proud Dragon of the Earth.  Then the Oracle’s plans for him left him broken and despairing.  In his pain and rage, he left the society he was born into, melding in all ways, including physically, with the mountain they live on. And there the Golem hid deep within its recesses, paying little notice to the passing of years or the actions of the people he came from.

Then one day a child falls asleep in his lap …

That child is Lichen, the gifted problem child of the Earth Caste and he is followed Marl, a lowly Earth caste member who is chosen to look after Lichen and keep him out of trouble.  Marl came out of his testing with only brown dirt and a seed on his back, instead of the more impressive and powerful designs that would have boosted his status and gifts.  Marl has been content to garden and use the gifts he has in gentle ways, including looking after a lonely, intelligent child easily bored with his lessons.

Prodded by the attentions of Lichen and Marl, Golem slowly returns to human form and awareness of the struggles of the people around him.  When the truth of Golem is revealed,  it just might make Marl choose between his duty or the person he has come to love: Oracle or Golem?

Once more Mell Eight has delivered an enchanting fairy tale in The Oracle series, an imaginative and wholly captivating universe.  The Oracle’s Golem is a prequel (in a manner) to The Oracle’s Flame (The Oracle #1)  and The Oracle’s Hatchling (The Oracle #2) as the events that take place in this tale start off in the years preceding those stories.  In fact, Golem is the prime figure in the main drama of The Oracle’s Hatchling, something that the reader will easily recognize early on.

Every part of Mell Eight’s enchanting universe is fascinating and fully developed to include rich details and layers of mythology.  Four castes of Elementals, and which caste you belong to is decided at a ritual testing ruled over by the Oracle.  Where a person falls within the  Caste they are ordained for is revealed by a  tattoo or pattern that appears on their back, much like a tattoo.  Only these tattoos change and come to life.  At the pinnacle of each Caste is a Dragon, whether it be the Dragon of Fire (first story), the Dragon of Ether (second story), the Dragon of Water (still to come) and the Dragon of Earth which is featured here.  Then the levels (and people) drop in status and power and are given names accordingly.

Here is another brilliant element of this author’s universe, the names.  The name corresponds to a element of each person’s caste.  All Earth caste members have names that come from the Earth.  Marl’s name (he is a lowly caste member)  describes the clay and calcium deposits that fertilize soil.  Lichen?  That’s a composite of a number of organisms and has many uses so, yes, high on the scale.  I love how inventive this author is when it comes to naming the characters.  And then there is those fascinating patterns that appear on the back proclaiming each person’s gift and future.  Poor Marl…only a field of brown dirt and a seed, a pattern that makes all the others looks down on him with distain or ignore him all together.  If you find yourself a tad gleeful with anticipation when pondering that design, then this is the book for you.    There are so many layers of meaning to be uncovered and appreciated here.  This is a fairy tale universe for all who love champions, worlds in peril, and unexpected heroes.

Mell Eight’s narrative will draw you in completely into this world and Golem’s pain.  You can almost feel the weight of the earth on top of him as he sits, so a part of the mountain that his appearance is that of stone and soil, just another boulder for a lonely, bored child would use to climb and sit on when escaping his lessons.   Which is exactly how Lichen finds him.   We move from past to present and back again easily, sliding through the years and memories of the characters.

I really have only two issues with this story.  One, it felt that the ending came a little too quickly, and secondly, that rushed feeling made it feel a tad incomplete.  I could have wished for a chapter wherein it seemed like only pages, a slight flaw in my opinion.  But the world and stories Mell Eight has created for The Oracle series is far too rich and complex to let such a small issue pull it down.

You could read these stories out of order but you might find yourself saying things like “pirates? where did the pirates come from?”.  That won’t happen if you read them in the order the author has written and released them.  I love this series and eagerly await the next installment.  Pick them all up today, including The Oracle’s Golem.  It’s the perfect present to give yourself for the holidays.

Cover artist London Burden does a great job of branding this series with the stylized dragons on the covers.  Love it.

Sales Links:   Less Than Three Press  (preorder now)            All Romance (ARe)      links to come      amazon             buy it here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: January 21st 2015 by Less Than Three Press
original titleThe Oracle’s Golem
ISBN139781620045152
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Oracle #3

Book in The Oracle series:

A Mika Review:  The Chase and The Catch by A.F. Henley

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

The Chase and the Catch coverAfter one of his fans committed suicide, John lost everything: lover, confidence, drive. When he is given a chance to get back on his feet, he is happy to take it—even if it’s just writing an actor’s biography. It might not be romance, or even fiction, but it’s something, and there are worse people to work for than the charming, successful Parker Chase.

That doesn’t mean working for Parker is easy, however. A staunch supporter of living for the moment, Parker goes against everything John believes in. He feels out of place in every moment of Parker’s Hollywood life, stuck in a game of wits that at times seems almost contrived…

It took me four days to get through this book. This was a first for me by this author. I was so excited to read this based on the blurb and I started reading. Well among my journey of reading, I can’t tell you why it is a story. She John is an romance novelist who is commissioned to write an autobiography for the worlds’ most famous actor Parker Chase. Yeah okay, that’s all. I understand the title, but reading it didn’t make sense. They had chemistry; it seemed like things transpired under seven days. Parker Chase comes off to be this arrogant, wealthy actor. I can’t give a descriptive vision of him, nor do I remember him. I honestly don’t remember reading anything of truth or wisdom from him.

John wasn’t any better, he had issues. A fan of his decided to commit suicide in front of him and it changed his life. It went from that vision to him deciding to take the job. It was one long winded beginning. There wasn’t any middle or ending for me. I think what is affecting me is the romance.  I couldn’t deduce when they would have been interested, at what point in the story does flirtation happen? So basically, John has to figure out which truths or lies he’s going to get from Parker. It was so disappointing.

The climax of the story to me happened at 89%, and it blew me mind. Really? Are we in high school? How cliché was it to have all non plot based on a bet? It was super childish and just seemed unlikely.

The only interesting part was William Anson, the man servant/butler/Alfred Pennyworths. He might have been memorable  because he told John to leave, and nothing good was going to come from him being there. I understand, if Parker is as famous as it’s put out, then why in the world they would want a romance novelist whose being MIA to write his autobiography. It was one big boys club catastrophe, and not in the good.

Cover Art by: Aisha Akeju.  The spider web was enticing for me, because it seemed like maybe we would be solving a mystery. Well we weren’t, again I didn’t see the romance bloom, or get references. The cover is nice though.

Sales Links:   LT3                  All Romance                    amazon     available here
Book Details:

eBook,
Published November 19, 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
ISBN: 9781620044568
Edition Language: English

A MelanieM Review: The Merman and the Barbarian Pirate by Kay Berrisford

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

The merman and the Pirate coverRaef’s mother brought him up on tales of true love and humans when he was young.  Now grown, Raef, a lonely merman, spends his days watching the dashing Lord Haverford from afar and dreaming of romance.  The current chief of their tribe forbids any contact with humans but Raef refuses to give up his romantic dreams and spends his time watching for his prince. When Haverford is robbed by a pirate, Raef vows to reclaim the stolen goods, hoping his victory will buy him the happiness he yearns for with Haverford.

Jon Kemp is not your ordinary pirate, something Raef finds out when he steals aboard Jon’s ship in an attempt to recover Haverford’s stolen goods. But what happens next is surprising to all and leads the young merman on an epic quest to right wrongs and find true love…for merman and pirate, whether they want it or not.

Truly, this is a tale that should start off “Once upon a time, there was a lonely merman who longed for love” because this story, The Merman and the Barbarian Pirate by Kay Berrisford has all the hallmarks and qualities of the classic fairy tale.  Stories of mer folk, especially gorgeous mermen abound these days and each offers its own take on the mer folk lore and myth.

Rafe in The Merman and the Barbarian Pirate harks back to the littlest mermaid, that timeless story whether it be Hans Christian Andersen’ original fairy tale or Disney’s version.  Here as the story opens we find the young Rafe listening to tales of love from his lovelorn mother.  They enchant him and fill the babe with visions of a forever love and humans, dreams that increase their hold on him the older he becomes.  Those bedtime stories gain increasing value when his mother dies, leaving Rafe is alone in a tribe turned restrictive and cold by a new chief with his own pain and agenda.

I loved that Berrisford captured the spell woven by Rafe’s mother at that young age and the loneliness felt by the older Raef who is unable to let go his romantic yearnings.  This fits so beautifully into the fairy tale trope, from the lyrical quality of the narrative to the “casual adult cruelty” that drives Rafe to break the rules and strike out for love.

You have the beautiful prince observed from afar, someone surely worthy of love or so Rafe thinks with only his stories to go by.  Pirates or Kluggites as they are called by the mer folk are horrible things, to be avoided at all costs.  So when one appears to have stolen something from the beauteous prince, Rafe thinks he must not only get it back but feels he has an avenue made to approach his prince and find true love.  Rafe’s naivete is both charming and typical of the fairy tale hero, who are usually sort of clueless about the realities of the world around them.  Again, Kay Berrisford is sticking to the rules of the classic tales, albeit with a LGBTQ twist or two or four.

The romance is light, fun and frothy.  The adventure they set out on is fraught with peril,  an adorable merman as well as virtuous maidens who need saving (including one that is more than capable of saving herself), cannons firing on the high seas, and more scary rescues and escapes to satisfy those readers who require that in their tales of pirates and love.  I had such fun reading this story.  It was enjoyable quick read and wonderful entertainment.

The only issue that brought it down for me was one that could have been left out all together.  In a fairy tale, I don’t need any mer folk natural history lessons or rational for species.  In fairy tales, they just are.  However, Berresford felt the need to include her take on why they can shift into human form and then back again.  It involves procreation and, quite frankly, makes no sense what so ever.  Look at all the mammals living in the seas.  They certainly don’t need legs to further their species, they do just fine as they are with the appendages they have.  That much detail just doesn’t work in something so lighthearted. Yet, Berrisford returns to this again and again.  And the more she does so, the more illogical her “mer folk biology” created for this story appears.  At certain points in the story, I spent more time mentally poking holes in her world building than I did focused on the story.  Not something an author wants to hear.

But, that aside (and buried deep under the conch shells where it belongs), this is a lovely, lighthearted fantasy escape.  Rafe is a joy and Jon, a charmer who steals the heart of a young merman and readers alike.  The secondary females characters are strong, layered people with surprises of their own for the readers.  I loved them too.

If you are in the mood for a lovely, frothy, fairy tale romance, then Kay Berresford’s The Merman and the Barbarian Pirate is just the story for you.

 Cover Artist Julie Wright.  What a gorgeous cover.  It drew me in with its lush design and wonderful characters. Loved it.

Sales Links:  Less Than Three Press      All Romance (ARe)      amazon      buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 214 pages
Published July 30th 2014 by Less Than Three Press (first published July 29th 2014)
original titleThe Merman and the Barbarian Pirate
ISBN139781620043981
edition languageEnglish