Category: Less Than Three Press

Review: No Ocean Too Deep (A Loose Screw) by Leona Carver

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

No Ocean Too Deep Carver_CoverWhere Amirzade Sharouk, son of the Amirate of Ujmah, his cousin Dastyaf Begzada is sure to follow.  When Sharouk decides that the only way to save his country and his people is to rebel against the Republic, Dastyaf is there to support his efforts and keep him safe.  Their plan? Destroy the Republic’s fleet by allying themselves with the legendary sea folk, masters of the leviathans, immense living weapons born of the sea and magic.  But during the initial battle, something goes terribly wrong and Sharouk goes overboard, taken by one of the leviathans.  Now Dastyaf, warrior and tactician, must rely on one of the sea people to help him get back his cousin, the man he loves and can never have.

Nils is a sea mage, one who controls the leviathans of the deep and knows their secret.  When one of his leviathans goes rogue during battle, Nils is at a loss to understand why.  Furthermore, that action will cost his people their pact with the King of the land people whose prince has been taken by the rogue leviathan.   Now Nils must join forces with a man from the land, Dastyaf, whose disapproval, desperation and need for control, is putting them at odds from the very start of the mission.

Both men will need to work together to save not only Sharouk but their kingdoms as well.  To do so, Dastyaf must agree to transform into one of the sea folk in order to follow Nils through the ocean depths.  For Dastyaf, it means not only the loss of his legs but of control over the situation and his body.  He will be helpless in another’s environment, an unfamiliar feeling he despises. And by saving Sharouk, he will lose him forever to another.

For Nils, it means giving up his perceptions and assumptions, not only of the land people but of the very leviathans he is close to. The journey to save Sharouk, is full of dangers to all involved and time is running out for everyone before all is lost.  Sharouk’s life, Dastyaf’s humanity, and for Nil’s? A love he never expected to feel for a man who loves another….

I love it when I find a book that unexpectedly opens the door into a mesmerizing universe. No Ocean Too Deep is just such a story. It is full of incredible creatures, dynamic characters and a plot as deep as the ocean in which all the events take place. Leona Carver is a new author for me but with this one story she turns into one of my must read authors on the strength of this story alone.

In No Ocean Too Deep, Leona Carver puts her own spin on mermen and the men who fall in love with them.  Carver’s plot is guaranteed to pull the reader down into her universe from the first page.  She sets up a situation in which two widely disparate kingdoms become allies to defeat a common enemy.  One kingdom is human and lives in the desert Amirate of Ujmah, an environment that can be as hostile as it is beautiful.  The other?  Sea folk, mermen, almost mythical in their own right in their watery kingdom also full of its own dangers and delights.  The  two protagonists have more in common then they are aware, especially as neither has any experience with the other’s world.  For Dastyaf, he usually has to deal with an ocean of sand, fraught with extreme heat, a dearth of water and  constantly shifting sands.  His is a world of light and dark where their caravans are guided by the stars above.  Nils is a sea witch merman  who lives in an ocean world of shifting current, little light, and a breadth  and variety of creatures, small to gargantuan, with varying degrees of risk associated with them.  Guided by his senses and shifting currents, darkness is of little concern, especially with his magic to assist him.  Each character is fully formed and feels so believable no matter what world they belong to.

Carver throws her characters into a plot born of desperation.  The kingdoms of a desert people and the sea folk make a pact to take down the Republic, a threat to both with its empire.  The Sea folk will use their leviathans, enormous sea creatures of magic and myth,  as weapons against the Republic’s fleet.  The desert kingdom’s prince, Amirzade (Prince) Sharouk and his warrior/tactician cousin, Dastyaf Begzada, will be aboard one of the enemies vessels under false pretenses.  This will help them direct their armies against the fleet when the battle starts. It’s a desperate and dangerous move made from necessity. Carver does such a splendid job bringing us directly into this precarious situation, a last ditch endeavor for Sharouk to break his people away from the control of the Republic with help from the sea folk.  Waiting back home for Sharouk is his royal family and fiance.  By his side, as always since childhood, stands his cousin, Dastyaf, a great warrior and best friend.  As the ships pitch wildly in the ocean waves, tentacles start to appear over the side of the vessels,the battle is engaged and the reader is thrown immediately into the fray.  Carver’s descriptions are dramatic and stirring, making the scenes scream with the emotions of the men on board.

But that is nothing compared to what happens when the location switches to the ocean depths and the sea folk themselves.  Here the mermen and their watery environment comes vibrantly alive from its many denizens to the myriad ocean landscapes Nils and Dastyaf journey through.  Vast  living carpets of coral, phosphorescent invertebrates, forests of kelp, and dinners that consist of living organisms instead of cooked meat.  Had I been able to stand within the story itself, my head would have been on a constant swivle as it turned here and there to observe all the amazing sights and creatures that Carver has in store for us and Dastyaf.  An ever moving banquet for the senses made all the more palpable as Dastyaf experiences it for the first time in his new temporary merman body.

Nils and Dastyaf’s journey is full of wonder and fears as Dastyaf’s tries to reconcile his human experience with his new merman one.  His frustration and fear as the light  fades into almost constant darkness is tangible, and his emotions become ours. I could go on and on about the sea witches, the canyons, and the leviathans themselves…but the discovery of wonders and suspense of this desperate mission is part of the joy and revelations found in No Ocean Too Deep and I don’t want to spoil them for you.   But I found myself going backwards to reread a description or scene to relive that moment over because it thrummed the wildness and surprise of  life lived under water.

As I said the characters are as wondrous and layered as their environment.  Dastyaf with his doomed love and desperate mission, Nils with his questions and assumptions, both men grow as individuals and together as their journey unfolds.  I grew to love both men and couldn’t figure out how Carver was going to bring this journey to fruition in a satisfactory manner.  She did but it tool me a while to realize that.

The ending is the slight bump in the road, the loose net in the ocean.  It had me a little puzzled, so much so that I needed clarification from the author as to what happened to Nils.  Turns out, I needn’t have worried but it was cloudy enough that others might feel the same way. Had there been a tad more clarity at the end this would have been a 5 star review.  As it is, it comes darn close. Without revealing too much, it turns out that both Nils and Sharouk’s fiance have much the same role to play at the end, and no, its not the one you think it is.  Luckily for us, there will be a sequel coming.  That was the best news yet.

Not familiar with Leona Carver?  Haven’t read No Ocean Too Deep?  Remedy both and grab this terrific tale up and start reading.  Be prepared to fall in love with these characters, their mission and the ocean deep.  It will be an amazing journey you won’t want to see end.

Cover by Tanya Rehulak.  I love this cover, so different and lovely.

 Buy Links:  Less Than Three Press   Amazon    ARe

 Book Details:

ebook, 174 pages
Published April 9th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
original titleNo Ocean too Deep
ISBN139781620043448
edition languageEnglish
urlhttps://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-nooceantoodeep-1466468-153.html
seriesA Loose Screw

Author Spotlight: Leona Carver & her latest release, No Ocean Too Deep (Contest)

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spotlight on books

 

No Ocean Too Deep Carver_Cover

 

 

No Ocean Too Deep by Leona Carver

Begzada Dastyaf, a warlord of the desert Amirate of Ujmah, descends into the deep sea to find his beloved prince and cousin, Sharouk. Not only must he navigate a strange new realm, but he must master an unfamiliar body and learn the ways of the folk who live within that dark and watery place … all while struggling with an unwanted attraction to his resentful sea folk guide, the witch Nils.

 

My name is Leona Carver and I’m here to talk about my new novella, “No Ocean Too Deep”, and the world in which it unfolds. I’m pleased to offer an e-copy of No Ocean Too Deep to give away.

Contest: To enter the draw, please leave a comment and an email address. The contest runs until midnight EDT June 1st, at which point I’ll draw a name from a bonafide hat.

  Where will duty and love take you?

The vastness of the ocean triggers a deep sense of awe. There are a myriad of ecosystems and flora, fauna, and in-between creatures (florauna?), and we know so little about it. Every week there’s some new discovery, an animal or a piece of footage of a place that had never been seen before. It is absolutely stunning. Immersing myself in that world both thrilled and challenged me, making No Ocean one of the most satisfying stories I’ve written.

I’m from the school of, “Write what you don’t know.” I find that I’m most passionate about those stories that challenge me, make me ask questions, make me fling out the long arm of imagination to grab at answers. Dastyaf and Nils travel in a place where there is very little light and the senses are both impaired and enhanced by the characteristics of the ocean. The challenge was to describe actions, emotions, and communication without the use of vision. I drew on research about the abilities of sharks to sense the electromagnetic fields of other animals, and had Dastyaf learn the language of scents and pheromones, which gives the sea folk a nearly telepathic ability to sense the thoughts and feelings of others. If I had had the word count at my disposal, I could have filled entire chapters with Dastyaf learning his new body.

No Ocean Too Deep-Carver_Image 1

In addition to the difficulties of communicating in the sea, sans sight but with enhanced taste and skin receptors, that world adds another complexity: The entire place is alive. Tiny organisms exist everywhere, from harmful, to benign, to beneficial, and the culture of my sea folk needed to reflect that. They depend on their slimy coatings for protection; therefore, touching is limited and, when it does occur, it indicates a deep level of trust. Sea folk healers understand how some organisms can be used to fight malign organisms, how the deeper briny waters can be used to kill weaker microbes. Witches use that thick miasma of life to cast their magic, to the extreme of the leviathans, giant creatures built from the less-sentient organisms.

No Ocean Too Deep- Carver_Image 2

 

The people were adapted to fit the environment, influenced by existing sea creatures. Sea folk come in all forms. The Angler Fish Deep Sisters: mighty huntresses wielding bait made of light, spiky with bone, their males little more than nubs and pustules attached to their skin. The Sirens: though they can be from any species, so long as they are witches, tend to be more vulnerable species. In No Ocean, they are delicate, translucent, highly venomous jellies, and their giant nautilus entombs a leviathan.

Environment is character: Active in the story, equipped with motivations and needs, acting on the other characters and reacting to what they do. In No Ocean, the environment is partially responsible for the existence of the leviathans. They would not be possible without the soup of microbes through which magic travels and acts on the world. When witches die, if they hold onto their lives strongly enough, the sea answers them and weaves them into herself. They are eaten away over time, losing more and more of themselves as their leviathan armour grows, until they become the silent, monstrous guardians of the ocean.

It was my intention to share my love of the ocean and all she holds, and create a new and interesting world to play in. Hopefully, this came through!

No Ocean was inspired by a simple prompt: Write a romance involving mecha. Somehow, that translated into organic armour built from corals, anemones, squids, fish, crabs, etc. Thankfully, Less Than Three Press went along with it. Because, once that seed was planted, it grew into a leviathan of its own. No Ocean Too Deep-Carver_Image 3There are deep seas, deserts, castles, a hostile Republic, and even a distant jungle nation to explore. No Ocean is only the beginning.

 

I’m currently working on the sequel, in which Dastyaf hunts for the ingredients needed by sea folk witches to maintain their sentience and fight their leviathan nature. Once that hurdle is overcome, he’ll need to deal with the Republic. Last we saw them, the Republic had rebuilt their fleet and commenced another invasion.

As well as the direct sequel, there will be a companion series beginning with The Clockwork Centurion. This will be another M/M fantasy/romance set in a Jules Verne-esque version of post-Roman Briton, with the heavier steampunk aspects that No Ocean Too Deep mostly missed out on, other than the Republic’s weaponry. Eventually, the characters from each series will meet and we’ll see what happens.

 

Sword fighting, probably. Topless sword fighting, if I have my way.

Leona Carver

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No Ocean Too Deep Carver_Cover

Book Blurb:

To buck the brutal rule of the Republic, Amirzade Sharouk and his men pull off a desperate plan: Destroying the Republic’s fleet by joining forces with the legendary sea folk, masters of the leviathans, immense living weapons born of the sea and magic.

Though the gamble succeeds, one of the leviathans vanishes with a valuable human, straining an already tenuous alliance. Her caretaker Nils needs to find her as quickly as possible to redeem himself before his superiors. His search is further burdened by Dastyaf, a furious human warlord and liability in the marine realm. But after combing the deep ocean and discovering the dangers it holds, Nils realizes he may need the human more than he thought, to save his mission and himself.

Buy Links:       Less Than Three Press          Amazon             Smashwords             ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 174 pages
Published April 9th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
original title:No Ocean too Deep
ISBN139781620043448
edition languageEnglish
urlhttps://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-nooceantoodeep-1466468-153.html
series: A Loose Screw

Author Bio:

Leona Carver lurks in a Canadian basement with a cat and an aerospace engineer, one of whom helps with the science while the other scratches at the window to get out. She writes novels and short stories with a penchant for genre mash-ups—because fairy tales need space stations, historical romance needs steam powered cyborgs, merpeople should wear mecha, and all of the aforementioned need a little love. Or a lot of love.

Leona has published two M/M romances through Less Than Three Press: Piper, a space age version of the Pied Piper, and No Ocean Too Deep, a deep sea rescue with giant coral monsters and angry desert warriors.

Follow Leona Carver at: Leona can be rousted from her cave via email (leona.r.carver@gmail.com) or on her website (leonacarver.wordpress.com).

 

Review: Haunted Halls by M. Raiya

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Haunted Halls coverEvan is away from home for the first time in his life as a freshman at Rove University.  He  should be excited about being independent and the prospect of meeting new people and making friends.  But  Evan is miserable.  Homesick and feeling more alone than he’s ever been, the only reason Evan is at Rove instead of a commuter college is due to his parents insistence.  Evan is trying but nothing is working.

Then Evan notices a young man sitting high above the courtyard where he is eating.  Long dark hair and lean, the student seems without fear as he leans far out over the ledge.  But at next glance the student is gone and Evan is left to wonder at exactly what he saw.  Then he spots him again when Evan walks down to the pond near the university.  The young man, Gabriel, warns Evan not to fall asleep on the rock,otherwise he might drown. Then with a smile, he vanishes once more.

Who Gabriel is Evan isn’t sure, he only knows that when he is at his most miserable and defeated, Gabriel  appears to talk and make him feel better at being away from home.  His classmates and some teachers say the university is haunted and that the ghost roams the campus at night, playing pranks and sometimes helping those in need.

Evan doesn’t believe in ghosts.  Maybe he should.

Haunted Halls by M Raiya is a sweet, unusual paranormal romance whose characters, especially that of Evan, are the real draw here.  Evan is that true homebody.  He adores his parents and the only place he wants to be is back home in his small town in Vermont.  But his parents worry about Evan limiting himself at this age so they send him off to Rove University hoping that this unwanted separation and independence will be good for him.  They extracted a promise that he will stay there a year.  If he toughs it out and still wants to come home after that then they will let him.  Such a normal situation and the parental concern is so very realistic.  I am a fan of this author and this set up is exactly the reason why.  A typical introverted teenager who is always on the outskirts of high school social circles and with very different interests from the popular kids is leery of the unknown that is Rove University. This starting point is one that almost everyone can relate to.  And then Even arrives at Rove and everything changes.

It’s hard to go into too much detail because of the chance of revealing story spoilers, but to say the least this is not exactly the ghost story  that you are expecting.  M Raiya has a few twists in store for the reader.  Just when you have anticipated the reveal, Raiya shows she have something very different in mind.  And that’s both the best and most frustrating aspect of this story.

Haunted Halls takes its name from the clever idea that a student marked through the words Hallowed on a plaque to change it to read Haunted Halls after the campus ghost that is said to haunt this university.  Raiya has two congruent plot threads going that will eventually converge as the story heads towards its dramatic resolution.  The first concerns Evan during the first weeks of his arrival at Rove.   Depressed and lonely, he is in a delicate mental and emotional place.  And that’s when he meets the mysterious Gabriel.  Each time Evan is at his lowest, the ever elusive Gabriel manages to appear, almost out of thin air, to bring Evan out of his dark place and make it better.  The second thread appears when Evan meets two students who are interested in the campus legends and together the three of them start to investigate in the ghostly appearances and past history of the university and town.  As the story draws down to a conclusion the closer the two threads become until they connect in one shattering moment.

I really loved this short story and only a couple of things kept it from being a perfect little gem.  The first is hard to explain but the reason behind Gabriel’s appearance and the ghostly rumors is one of the most interesting and least fleshed out elements of this story.  The fascinating idea behind it just begs for a deeper explanation for it as well as more plot time.  Raiya only gives out small bits of the past, the pivotal surprise at the heart of this story, and its nature.  So the idea is never framed out completely to the readers frustration, especially as it plays such an enormous role in its impact on all the major characters here.   One of the problems behind that lack of substance to this segment of the story is the word count.  The promise of this complicated story line would be hard to fulfill at a larger page count let alone 21,000 words.  And the fascinating concept here is such a great one that I wish Raiya had given it the spotlight in the story that it deserved.

But those issues aside, I throughly enjoyed Haunted Halls.  Growing up I grabbed up all the ghost stories I could find, and this short story brought back all those happy memories of romance, and ghosts and unlikely endings that would ever be my favorites.  It’s a quick, charming tale of love and the unexpected. Pick it up for a fun, fast read.

Cover art by Aisha Akeju who is quickly becoming one of my favorite new artists.  Great cover.  Its perfect for the story inside.

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: May 7th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
original titleHaunted Halls
ISBN139781620043554

Buy Link at LT3 Press
edition languageEnglish

Now Cut that Out, Winner Announcements and the Week Ahead in Reviews, Author Guest Blogs, & Contests

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Book with Glasses grey scale

 

Now Cut That Out!!!! 

Once again we seem to be on the weather rollercoaster of all time here in the DC area (ok, so much of the country is there with us).  One day 80 degrees, the next day snow and sleet.  No really, that was us last week. The Cherry Blossoms popped out over night and record crowds packed the Tidal Basin to take in the pink beauty and monuments.

For about 2 to 3 days.

And then the snow and sleet and winds and freezing cold set in once more.  I  don’t have to tell you what happened to most of the blossoms do I?  Yep, history.  So now the temps have climbed back to the 50’s and all the plants I moved outside are back indoors until who knows when.

Like me.

Maybe by the end of June I will be able to go outside and plant in the gardens.  I have so many plants that didn’t make it through this winter.  Le sigh.  Maybe I will use this as an excuse to plan some new gardens.  I will have plenty of bare patches to fill that’s for sure.

Now on to the business at hand.  I have several winner announcements listed below, for Abigail Roux’s Ball & Chain book tour . S.J. Frost’s Vampire Prince tour, and Blaine D. Arden’s The Forester II Guest Blog/Contest:

 And the Winners Are……

✪Winners of the Ball & Chain Book Tour and Contest are:

Jessie Miller
Shannonn Vandermark
Melissa Crisp
Denise Smith

Kathy Latimer
Debra Guyette
Laurie Peterson
Cindi Clubbs,
Scarlett Camaj
Nicole Martens

✪Winner of SJ Frost’s  Vampire Prince,  tour is :  A.J.

✪Winner of Blaine D. Arden’s The Forester is: blackasphodel

???????????????????????????????????????Vampire Prince coverThe Forester II- Lost and Found coverThe Forester cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to all the winners.  My thanks goes out to everyone who participated as well as authors Abigail Roux and S.J. Frost for stopping by with such great posts and wonderful giveaways!

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Now on to the week ahead in Reviews, Author Guest Blogs and Contests:

Monday, 4/21:            Haunted Halls by M Raiya
Tuesday, 4/22:            Queens of the Apocalypse by Rob Rosen
Wed., 4/23:                  Back to the Frat with Anne Tenino and her Poster Boy (Contest)
Thursday, 4/24:          Poster Boy by Anne Tenino
Friday, 4/25:               To the Other Side by S.J. Frost
Sat., 4/26:                    Blown Kisses by Havan Fellows

Review: With Pride (Princes of the Blood #2) by Megan Derr

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

With PrideKristof never expected to have to take his brother’s place as betrothed to one of the King’s Princes of the Blood.  But when his older sister became ill, then the eldest son moved forward to take her place, leaving the youngest Kristoff to become the Duke of Stehlmore, and the only one left to marry a notorious Prince of the Blood.  All Kristof wanted was to continue his role as a Paladin and keep the borders of his mother’s kingdom safe but fate clearly has other ideas.

On the journey to Guldbrandsen. Kristoff and his company are attacked by goblins.  Overwhelmed, they are saved by the appearance of two Princes of the Blood.  Kristoff had never met a Prince of the Blood before and now he had two to thank for his rescue. But the two Princes could not be more different in appearance and demeanor.  One is courteous, handsome and tall.  And the other?  Well he is small enough to remind Kristoff of a piskie.  He is also arrogant, insulting, and rude.  And Kristoff can’t wait to be rid of him once they reach the castle.

Unfortunately, upon reaching castle grounds and his meeting with the King, Kristoff finds that the Prince he is to marry is none other than that tiny abomination that rescued him from the goblins.  Kristoff is unprepared for his new life at Guldbrandsen or for all the magical beings and demons that walk the hallways.  As a Paladin, he is overly sensitive to the presence of demons, but the pain he feels in the hallways of the castle or even standing next to his fiance is almost more than he can bear.

Then a demon plot is discovered that  could destroy not only Guldbrandsen but his mother’s kingdom of Stehlmore too. Every warrior, Prince and Paladin is need to find the culprit and save the lands. Kristoff is determined to honor the contract and not to shame his heritage or mother by his cowardly fear of the Princes, especially now that he is needed for the fight. But the pain and stress is increasing daily.  What is a Paladin to do?

I loved the first novel in the series, Of Last Resort.  That story launched us into a dark and tortured world still trying to recover from a centuries old war that shattered kingdoms and loosed all types of evil upon the lands.  Now such magical beings as giants, werewolves, trolls, goblins, necromancers, wraiths, and many other unworldly beings are assisting the humans to search out and  destroy the evil remnants of that war still looking to overthrow human rule. Of Last Resort  introduced us to the Princes of the Blood. Human but with the right amount of demon blood running in their veins through intermarriage, the few found that met the requirements were tested, and if successful were forever changed into Princes of the Blood, supernatural beings that feed on blood and helped protect the King and his realm. It was a powerful tale told mostly from the point of view of Raffe’ who became a Prince of the Blood and his lover Algrin.  Once at the end, the reader just needed to know more.  More about all the characters Megan Derr introduced us to in her story but also more of the ongoing quests to search out and destroy all the leftover demons and evil forces that still remain.

Now ordinarily we might expect the second story in the series to pick up where the first left off, but Megan Derr has something far different in mind for this series. The second story, With Pride, takes place prior to the events in Of Last Resort.  In the first story, Raffe’ meets Algrin, a Dragon, and his mated ,deeply in love friends, Hakon and Kristoff, a totally unlikely couple.   Hakon, a tiny, blond Prince of the Blood, couldn’t have looked any less a bloodthirsty demon if he had tried.  And Kristoff, his besotted husband?  A tall imposing Paladin that glowed with holy fervor!  How did such an improbable pair come about?  With Pride marvelously answers that question as it takes us back to their first disastrous meeting.

One of the first things that charmed me about this story is the change in perspective with regard to the Princes of the Blood.  Raffe’ looked forward to becoming a Prince in lieu of his brother who disappeared prior to the testing. For Raffe, being a Prince meant a release from a life and future he never wanted.  To be a Prince of the Blood if, big if, you passed the test, was the ultimate goal for Raffe, one he never felt he was good enough for.   Definitely not the case for Hakon and Kristoff, a pair of reluctant and bitter participants from the beginning.

Kristoff, again the first point of view here, loves his family, home, and ruling mother.  Kristoff is content with his role as a Paladin as well as that of a lessor son within his ruling family.  He is so happy with his status quo that he knows nothing of his older brother’s future role as fiance to a Prince of the Blood, only that they are somewhat monstrous and drink blood to live.  And as he  fights demons and monsters as a Paladin, his ignorance about  the Princes is not something he is curious to inspect further.  Until a sister’s illness means a shuffle in the expected futures of himself and his siblings.  Now he is the one to marry a Prince and he fears it like nothing else in his life.  Only his honor and that of his family keeps him from fleeing back to his kingdom.   Kristoff is full of complexities, including his belief that he is a coward and  is in constant pain due to an allergy to demons he is not aware of.

And then there is Hakon, your second pov.   Your and Kristoff’s first perception of him is that of a fierce yet supremely offensive mite.  He’s white blond, delicate, and super tiny.  Not one to inspire confidence on first contact.  Yet his overwhelmingly obnoxious demeanor more than makes up for a lack of height.  Like a noxious unassuming weed, there is much more to Hakon than is apparent.  To go into Hakon’s background is to spoil some of the best elements of this story but I will say that like Kristoff, Hakon too was an unwilling participant in this marriage as well as in the choice to be a Prince of the Blood.  By the time the book is halfway through, your opinion of Hakon and his of Kristoff will have done a complete changeover.  Yes, he’s not thrilled about Kristoff being his fiance either.  Misperceptions and misunderstandings abound throughout to our horror and delight.

A story rich in texture and with an almost encyclopedic wealth of details is a hallmark of a Megan Derr fantasy novel.  With Pride is another magical addition to the great fantasy reads that has come from this author.  Inside the pages we meet characters who must dig deep to find the best of themselves in order to triumph over overwhelming odds and almost certain destruction.  There is an abundance of pain, deaths of innocents, and treachery.  And to accompany that all, there will be glorious adventures, powerful battles, a dragon or two, dark magic, and of course, a troubled and tortured path to true love.

Ah, the romance.  Well, to be truthful there isn’t as much of it as I would have loved.  It takes some time for each character to overcome their assumptions and misperceptions about each other.  That’s a great thing because those are some toweringly poor judgements each one of them has made of each other.  And when they finally do get together it ends a little quickly without delivering a little more of a satisfying look at the future of Kristoff and Hakon.

Or least that’s what I thought at first.  Then I realized we already had that.  We just didn’t realize it at the time.  It’s in the first story Of Last Resort!  And that realization sent me running back to that novel and a fully married Hakon and Kristoff.  And its that little detail that made this story and it’s ending all the more gratifying.

Now I have two stories to reread while I am waiting for the author to release the third book in the series, In Despair (Princes of the Blood #3).  At the heart of this story is Prince Telmé Guldbrandsen and  Korin: descendant of the Reach of the House, heir to the High Priest of the Temple of the Sacred Three. In Despair works the series backward even further to the time where Prince Telme’ and Korin detest each other even while being betrothed since birth.  I can’t wait!  After the scenes of them  lovingly together and hauntingly apart in the first two tales, I am left deliciously in suspense as to their beginnings and romance.  It should be quite a tale!

All three books can be read in any order but it is quirky and totally amazing to watch the couples, romances and events move backward.  This and the first story are must reads for me.  If you are a lover of fantasy and m/m romance, they will be a must read for you too.  Consider With Pride one of Scattered Thoughts highly recommended stories and on our Best of 2014 lists.

Stories in the Princes of the Blood series are:

Of Last Resort (Princes of the Blood #1)
With Pride (Princes of the Blood #2)
In Despair (Princes of the Blood #3) expected release July 2014

Cover art by Aisha Akeju.  It really references a major plot of the story.  Dark and lovely.

Book Details:

ebook, LT3 Link
Expected publication: April 16th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
original titleWith Pride
ISBN139781620043202
edition languageEnglish
seriesPrinces of Blood

Covers of the Books in the Series include:

In Despair coverWith PrideOf Last Resort cover

 

Review: The Calm Before by Neena Jaydon

Ratings: 4.5 stars out of 5

The Calm Before coverHalf human, half elf, Elisedd remained behind in the elven city-state of Airgead, hoping to find a place he can finally fit in and perhaps even someone to love . But so far that hasn’t happened as trouble seems to follow Elisedd around.  Only his best friend, Fife, a rent boy, offers Elisedd safety and support when he crashes from one failed romance after another.  Its not just a hookup that Elisedd wants, its love like that of his parents who have fled Airgead. Elisedd had promised his parents he wouldn’t hide his mixed heritage but when neither race seems to want him what else is he to do?  Then Elisedd meets full elf Riagan at a party and everything changes.

In the elven city of Airgead, there exists a rigid class system.  Between different types of elves, as well as between elves and the humans that serve them..  There are the elves that rule, by rigid social caste system and a heavy fist for those that would ignore it.  And there are the low caste elves that exist by the docks and the mean neighborhoods near factories and mines.  Riagan is one of those. He is ruthless, single minded, and a bit of a thug.  Riagen has long formulated a plan to ascend the ruling power structure, accumulating power and wealth as he goes.  And a one night encounter with Elisedd is not going to get in his way of suceess or so Riagan thinks.

Elisedd is determined not to be another easy conquest for Riagan, but staying away from the dark and dangerous elf becomes harder each time they meet.  Riagan too feels almost mesmerized by Elisedd’s present and not just their sexual passion they have for each other.  Riagen is acquired a mine by duplicitous means and he intends to use it in a plan years in the making.  The only thing that might stand in his way is Elisedd, whose mixed heritage he is hiding from Riagan.  Everything is complicated between them and as the political status quo starts to get shaky, so do all the relationships around Elisedd and Riagan.  The rigid boundaries erected by the high elves are starting to crack.  Will the resulting chaos take Riagan and Elisedd down with it?

The Calm Before is the first book I have read by Neena Jaydon but it won’t be the last.  The author’s ability to build such an intricate and believable universe for her story just amazed me.  Jaydon has created a complex social structure for her characters and plot.  There is a rigidly layered society within the Airgead city state that is composed of different types of elves(argent elves, gilt elves, and scorched elves). One such race aggressively entered Airgead, killing and removing all that stood in their way.  Now they rule the city and are at the top of the caste system that regulates professions, holdings and even marriages.  The lowest of  the elves are those that would be the human equivalent of a trade level, or lower.  They have their own neighborhoods and distinct regions within Airgead. Neighborhoods that are found in the worst part of the city, hard, impoverished. and ruled by gangs.  They even have their own dialect that when spoken marks them as a lower caste.  But the lowest of all are humans.  They exist to serve the elves including labor and as prostitutes.  Humans are the miners and the factory workers that resemble sweat shops. It is an existence made frail by its pain and hardships as well as lack of civil rights. Jayden has pulled from many histories to create a realistic totalitarian regime on the brink of social civil rights movement.  It’s believable in the helplessness felt by those in the lower castes and in the urgency and anger that starts to shake the city state’s economic foundation.

Neena Jaydon then does justice to such astonishingly rich world with characters just as complex and compelling as the society they live in.  Alisedd is a half human half elf, a rare being whose sensibilities and own passions have left him almost an outcast to both races.  Alisedd is capable of “passing” as a human, lacking the pointed ears and physiology of the true elf.  He longs for love and has remained behind in the city he loves, even after his  parents fled.   Alisedd is just that one step away from homelessness.  He doesn’t want to  become a prostitute like his friend Fife (a wonderful character too) but now that easy hookup looks to give him the much needed cash he requires and the connections he wants desperately to make with another. And then he meets Riagan.

Alisedd is so easy to empathize with that when Riagan comes into the picture you are more than a little afraid of the impact his arrival will have on Alisedd.  And that is because Riagan is such a powerful, strong character that he exudes a sense of danger and mistrust.  He is an elf fighting his way out of the gutter so to speak. And nothing is going to prevent him from achieving his goals.  The attraction between the two is as combustible as the political changes that start to ignite around them.

Here the author really sinks the reader into her gritty reality.  Riagan has his own agenda and is constantly fighting his attraction to Eliseed.  Elisedd has his own secrets that he is keeping from Riagan.  So the relationship that starts to form between them is one of stress and strain as well as one of emotion and lust.  Heady stuff indeed. And Jaydon starts to amp up the societal pressures, as the streets turn ugly with racial hatred and  humans start to demand their rights.  The very economic foundation of Airgead threatens to crack wide open to the detriment of all who reside within its boundaries.  It’s an explosive time in almost every way and Jaydon’s superb descriptions and crackling dialog serves to bring it all to life in stirring detail.

The Calm Before is told from alternating points of view, mostly Elisedd’s and Riagan’s.  I found this to be absolutely necessary in order to understand all of the intricacies to the plot as well as the interwoven relationships.  The author manages this change of point of views just right so that it never feels uneven or disconcerting.  It did take me a few pages to get pulled into the story but once there, my attention was securely held by the drama and the unfolding love affair between two such disparate personalities.  Really, I just loved this story.  I found it just riveting from the world building to Jaydon’s amazing characters and their slow climb to love.  Consider this highly recommended.

Cover design by Le Burden Designs.  Almost a little too simple considering how lush and textured a story lies behind it.

Book Details:

ebook
Published February 5th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC (first published February 4th 2014)
original titleThe Calm Before
ISBN139781620043103
edition languageEnglish
The Calm Before at Less Than Three Press

Author Spotlight on Mell Eight, author of The Oracle Series (And Book Contest)

spotlight on books

 

 

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 In The Author Spotlight Today:   Mell Eight

 

The Oracle's FlameThe Oracle's HatchlingScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to have Mell Eight stopping by today to talk about The Oracle series:

Contest: Winner will win a copy of The Oracle’s Flame.  To enter please leave a comment and a email address or other method of contacting you. That’s it. Contest closes Saturday, April 5th. 

 

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Mell Eight:

Melanie very kindly asked me to stop by her blog, ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords, to talk a little bit about The Oracle Series. I’m so happy to have this opportunity to share more about the stories I love, so thank you very much to Melanie and her blog for the invite!

One of the most difficult things for me when I start writing a new book is figuring out how to make it completely unique from every other book I’ve written. This was especially true when I began writing The Oracle Series. At the time, I had just finished The Dragon’s Hoard series in which my dragons had a very specific type of society and their magic was tied to their hoarding instinct. I knew I had to go in the exact opposite direction for my new adventure in The Oracle’s Flame. I eventually chose to work inside a Monastery and with the elements of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth for the magic.

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Every single person born in the Monastery has the ability to use each of those elements, called Castes. As children they’re trained in all the basics. I think of it like primary school children who study everything there is to know at an elementary level, but they eventually graduate and go off to college where they specialize in just one degree. When the children in the Monastery turn eighteen they’re eligible to approach the Oracle to ask for permission to take the test that will determine their future. The Oracle is an all-seeing and all-knowing being. She looks into the future of each child and determines if they’re ready for the test. Dragon (Kindle), from The Oracle’s Flame, did not test until he was twenty while Ling, from The Oracle’s Hatchling, tested when he was still eighteen. To continue my metaphor, each student in the U.S. has to pass their SATs in order to get into college and their final grade often indicates what level college they’re able to get into. In a way this is also true in my Oracle Series. The children are tested and they receive power based on their need in the future.

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The testing itself is a mysterious process that only the Oracle really understands. The child enters a dark, magical room where they are imbued with power that takes the form of a tattoo on their back. The tattoo will belong to only one specific Caste—i.e. an Earth Caste tattoo might have a tree in it, but it won’t have a nearby stream or leaves rustling in the wind—and the child would only have the ability to use that Caste.

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I can already hear readers of The Oracle’s Hatching asking me about Ling’s powers. He was able to use all four elements even after his testing! I don’t want to give away too many spoilers for future readers, but there is a very rare fifth Caste where the ability to use multiple elements is possible. Ling belongs to the Ether Caste, which is part of the strife he has to overcome in his story. Because the Ether Caste is so rare, it’s not included in the list of elements.

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Which brings me to my dragons! As I said earlier, the amount of future need determines the amount of power each child receives during their testing. If Dragon’s future only included lighting candles to keep the night at bay, he might have been a Kindle in truth instead of disguise. Instead he had a mighty quest to accomplish and emerged from the testing chamber with a dragon emblazoned on his back. Each Caste has one Dragon who is always the strongest person in the entire Caste. They have the ability to manipulate their element to the highest degree, including transforming into a dragon shape during dire need. Despite their strength, the Dragons are not the leaders of their Castes. The Oracle sends her Dragons into the world to keep it safe, like Dragon’s quest to find the missing Prince of Altnoia. This leaves other high level Caste members, called Masters, to run the Caste from the Monastery.

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Each book in The Oracle Series will focus on one Dragon and his or her Oracle derived quest to keep the world safe. There are five Castes which means I am planning on writing a total of five books for the series. The Oracle’s Flame was about the Dragon of Fire, The Oracle’s Hatchling was about the Dragon of Ether, and the upcoming The Oracle’s Golem will be about the Dragon of Earth. I have future books planned for the Dragon of Air and the Dragon of Water, which I am excited to write soon. Could there be more than five books in the series? Absolutely. I won’t know for certain until the very last word is written in book five and my muses close the door on the Monastery. There are two ways there could be more books: either a new type of Dragon emerges in the Monastery, which is very unlikely at this point, or I expand the world. I have mentioned in the stories that there is an entire world out there, but I have only gone into depth about the Monastery and the country of Altnoia. A sixth book would be a step sideways, a sort of new series connected to The Oracle because it’s set in the same world, but with a new setting and new characters. I won’t focus on the possibility of more books until after book five is completed, but the ideas are percolating!

I put a lot of thought into The Oracle Series as I was creating it and I hope I was able to unravel some of it for you today! Thanks again to Melanie and ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords for inviting me to stop by.

Purchasing information for The Oracle’s Flame and The Oracle’s Hatchling can be found at Less Than Three Press.
For more information about The Oracle Series, including published books and works in progress, please visit the series’ page on my website.

 STRW: Thank you, Mell, for stopping by today! You can find the reviews for the first two books in the series on my website.  And don’t forget to leave a comment and be entered into the contest!

Contact Mell Eight at:

 

Review: The Oracle’s Hatchling (The Oracle #2) by Mell Eight

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The Oracle's HatchlingLing was 18, old enough to be tested no matter his parentage.  Yet the Masters barred his way into the testing chamber when he arrived at the choosing ceremony.  forcing him to steal his way into the Oracle’s chambers.  It wasn’t his fault that his birth killed his mother, but that didn’t stop everyone at the Monastery from reviling him nonetheless. But when Ling is tested, the mark on his back is that of an egg instead of one of the four castes, leaving Ling in a worse position than when he went in.  Mocked and hated and now further separated by his tattoo, Ling obeys the Oracle when she sends him off to find employment and a life in Altnoia.

Once Ling has settled into life in the castle’s kitchen, he accidentally falls into a plot to overthrow King Edan and the Oracle who supports him.  Behind the plot is the son of the man who killed the royal family and  usurped the throne. The twin princes and their dragon killed his father and now Prince Damarion lives alone, angry and plotting in the dungeons below.  But Ling understands the pain behind the mask that  Damarion wears and starts up an unexpected friendship with the vengeful prince.  Neither man is prepared for the relationship that follows.  And where it will lead them only fate and the Oracle knows.

Not quite a continuation of the first story,  The Oracle’s Hatchling, the tale of Ling, the Hatchling of the title, is set after the events that took place in The Oracle’s Flame.  The twin Princes and Dragon now hold the throne of Altnoia but the effects of the treachery by the King’s brother continues to spread throughout the kingdom.  At its center is the son of the man who killed his brother and most of his brother’s family.  Now an orphan, Prince Damarion is the focus of all the rage and hatred the people of Altnoia felt towards his father.  Brooding, sulking, and somewhat petulant, he still remains a sad figure, one who has isolated himself from Prince Edan and the other residents of the castle.

Mell Eight manages to take two young men, different in status but not in the manner in which they both were made outsiders by events outside their control, and make them both realistic and worthy of our compassion.  Ling has suffered the worst, he lost his mother and then any place he might have had in the caste societies that live within the Monastery.  Constantly taunted and belittled, his only hope for something better, goes seriously awry or so the author makes us think.  The descriptions of the relationship between Ling and the Oracle are tender and bittersweet, almost guaranteed to bring forth a tear or two. And the moment in which Ling leaves the Monastery and everything he knows for the outside for the first time is something we can relate to, that first step into an unknown future that requires you to leave home maybe forever.

Damarion is another recognizable character.  And by that he feels like that older teen, twenty something young person, who is angry over the things that have happened in his life, things he had no control over and has acted impulsively to the detriment of all.  Our papers are filled full of these young men.  And Damarion’s anger, and sense of indignant self- righteousness and pain makes him an easy target and tool. Again we can understand his behavior and general outlook. Concentrating on only two characters made Ling and Damarion more fleshed out then the Princes because I felt we got to know these characters better. And how Mell Eight brings those two together seems just right as does the communication that starts the relationship between them.

In The Oracle’s Hatchling, we see the kingdom from the viewpoint of those that serve the most basic necessities of the castle.  The cooks, and household staff which is a nice contrast with those scenes where we are reunited with Dragon and his Princes.  There are some wonderful action scenes.  But my favorite? That has to be when we finally see what is behind that egg on Ling’s back.  That is so magical, so imaginative, that as much as I liked the entire book, that made the story for me because it was so unexpected.

Mell Eight intends to write a story about each caste in the Monastery and maybe one more that contains a surprise.  I really don’t know how she will top the surprise in this one.  I can’t wait.  The first story is obviously the Fire Caste with Dragon.  Ling’s Caste is something of a surprise which takes some explaining (see the author interview later this week). While you don’t necessarily have to read The Oracle stories in order, it certainly helps to understand the events and timelines that occur.  I continue to find the Oracle and her Monastery fascinating.  The Oracle’s Golem is next. What will the Earth Caste bring? I can’t wait to find out what is in store next for this magical series.

The first story was m/m/m, or should that be m/m/dragon?  This one is m/m.  No matter, both are imaginative and wonderful, the descriptions vivid and the action engrossing.  I loved the fantasy and Mell Eight’s world building and think you will too.  Pick them up and start reading.  The third is coming soon.

Cover art by London Burden.  I like the simplicity of the cover and the branding design for the series.

Books in the series include:

The Oracle’s Flame
The Oracle’s Hatchling

Book Details:

ebook, 20,000 words, m/m
Published March 5th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC (first published March 4th 2014)
original title The Oracle’s Hatchling
ISBN139781620043257
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Oracle

Buy Link