Category: Publishers

A Lila Review: Prince of Seas (Three Brothers Fair #1) by Emily Carrington

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Princes of SeasPrince Hans is the youngest in a set of Kelpie triplets. Their future bound by a prophecy that sees his middle brother, Tian, betrothed to Prince Felimid. As the three brothers talk about their imminent future, Hans only thinks about Prince Felimid.

By chance, Hans had the opportunity to spend some time in private with the Prince he wanted for himself. The attraction seems to be mutual and after they part ways, Hans searches, desperately, for a way to be the chosen one.

Through a series of deceptions, lies, and cover-ups, Hans gets the chance to be with Felimid, but there’s a price to pay for what they found. With the help of his brothers, Hans has the opportunity to prove Felimid how good they could be together, prophecy or not on their side.

Prince of Seas is a short and sweet tale of magic and hope. It’s well written and filled with many characters. There are interesting ideas and the start of a world-build, but not a coherent flow. The story lacks rhythm and felt as if missing chunks of time.

The overall concept of the three brothers and the prophecy was too much for such a short story. The amount of time going over this aspect, took away from the romance between Hans and Felimid.

Also, the reasons why Felimid needed a kelpie and who else was involved were more of an afterthought, added to extend the story. As the start of a series, it gives enough information to get the reader interested in the next one, but not enough to enjoy this installment fully.

It was a good story, just short of being great.

The cover by Fiona Jayde has beautiful colors than bring a fairytale-like sense to it. But the rest seems to depict a contemporary story, not a fantasy.

Sale Links: Loose Id | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 81 pages
Published: January 26, 2016, by Loose Id
ISBN: 9781682520666
Edition Language: English

Series:  Three Brothers Fair
Book #1: Prince of Seas

A Stella Review: Risk Aware by Amelia C Gormley

RATING:  4,25 out of 5 stars

RiskAware_600x900Tattoo artist Geoff Gilchrest is convinced his life is some sort of cosmic joke. Why else would a hemophiliac also be a masochist? He’s given himself more than one elbow bleed since puberty just doing what guys do when alone and bored, so forget about whips and chains. How many partners would contemplate playing with someone even a mild flogging could kill?

Gallery owner Robin Brady knows he can deliver what Geoff needs: to be taken to the edge of danger but never beyond. But Robin came to Saugatuck to get away from the leather scene and heal from a betrayal by his former sub, so he’s not sure he should get involved with Geoff. His ambivalence isn’t helped by the fact that Geoff’s unwillingness to communicate about his well-being hits Robin in some very raw places.

Geoff’s hemophilia isn’t the obstacle he thinks it is. Instead, a lack of trust—on both their parts—is what could end them before they have a chance to begin.

Risk Aware was the first book I read by Amelia C Gormley and from the beginning, it revealed as a lovely surprise. I found it to be easy to read, especially for the great writing style, but it hides a lot.

Geoff and his sister have just lost their mum, he decides to move to Chicago and leave L.A. and its bad experiences behind.  He is ready to start a new life but first a little holiday in Saugatuck with his bestfriend is required. Here at the Mr Michigan Leather event, he meets Robin and a new unthinkable world opens before Geoff and his hemophilia.

Robin spent 5 years in NY. He now lives in Saugatuck where he is working on opening his own gallery. He is looking for a new life too and  his Dom side is soon attracted to Geoff. But when the connection between them will become to hard to ignore they need to try and give it a chance after the holiday ends. And then the struggles with Geoff’s hemophilia and Robin’s trust issue will play a huge rolein the story.

I have to admit, although I already knew what hemophilia is, I never met anyone who has it and seeing and reading all the little and meaningless (to us) things Geoff needed to be careful with, like a simple blowjob for example, was hard and tiring. It gave me some anxiety too, because each time Robin and Geoff played together I was very concerned about his health. But Robin is always caring and mindful of each limit in their BDSM scenes.

I liked them together, I enjoyed how the plot developed almost exclusively around the MCs’ relationship, I like how they act,  sure of themselves and the desire and love they have discovered for ech other. IMO the story was well thought out and researched, but the writing was so much better. I want to highly recommend Risk Aware, it definitely was worth my time and if you’re a BDSM or Amelia fan, you can’t miss it.

The cover art by LC Chase caught my attention at first sight, well done and colorful and fitting. It’s a winner.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 323 pages
Published May 7th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleRisk Aware
ISBN 1626494126 (ISBN13: 9781626494121)
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttp://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/risk-awar

E.J. Russell On Characters, Inspiration, and ‘Stumptown Spirits’ (guest blog and giveaway)

StumptownSpirits_600x900

Stumptown Spirits by E.J. Russell
Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist L.C. Chase

Read An Excerpt/Buy It Here

********

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have E.J. Russell here this morning to talk about her novel, Stumptown Spirits, and the inspiration behind her characters.  Welcome, E.J.!

********

Maybe because I was an actor for years, or maybe because I’m an introvert and all my best conversations occur in my head, my first drafts are always dialogue-heavy. In fact, some **cough**most**cough** scenes might be dialogue only on that first pass. I have to force myself to write description. Consequently, to make that process as easy as possible . . .

I cheat.

It’s a method I use all the time in my day job — copy and paste.

Okay, with descriptions it’s a little more effort than that — I still have to write the words. But if I find pictures of major story elements, I can look at them and just, you know, describe them.

So before I start the actual first draft of any book, I have to find pictures of my main characters. For Stumptown Spirits, I happened on a picture of Dylan O’Brien and Tyler Hoechlin cuddled together on a boat, Dylan’s arm around Tyler’s shoulders, Tyler’s finger on Dylan’s lips.

Hello.

Then I found a picture of Dylan O’Brien in glasses and that was it. Game over.

That’s right—I was totally shipping Sterek—Stiles and Derek from Teen Wolf.

Since this particular ship is extremely popular in Teen Wolf fandom—and the two actors obviously get a huge kick out of teasing the fans along—locating other images wasn’t too difficult. My Pinterest inspiration board got littered with all kinds of fabulous pins. Things like Tyler kissing a smiling Dylan on the cheek. The two of them lying in bed, Dylan’s hand on Tyler’s shoulder and Tyler gripping Dylan’s wrist (with the bonus of the very nice definition in Dylan’s upper arm, courtesy of a rucked-up T-shirt sleeve). Oh, yeah. And that fan art illustration of a shirtless Derek pinning Stiles against the wall, obviously one breath away from a pretty steamy kiss? Unfortunately, I didn’t find that one until after I wrote the book.

But what the heck. I’m always game for another Sterek shot.

Here’s the board, if you’d like to take a look. https://www.pinterest.com/ejrussell/stumptown-spirits/

And that first picture? Dylan and Tyler on the boat (shipping themselves, the sly devils)? The description of that picture makes a cameo appearance in Stumptown Spirits—as the wallpaper on Riley’s laptop.

About Stumptown Spirits

What price would you pay to rescue a friend from hell?

For Logan Conner, the answer is almost anything. Guilt-ridden over trapping his college roommate in a ghost war rooted in Portland’s pioneer past, Logan has spent years searching for a solution. Then his new boyfriend, folklorist Riley Morrel, inadvertently gives him the key. Determined to pay his debt—and keep Riley safe—Logan abandons Riley and returns to Portland, prepared to give up his freedom and his future to make things right.

Crushed by Logan’s betrayal, Riley drops out of school and takes a job on a lackluster paranormal investigation show. When the crew arrives in Portland to film an episode about a local legend of feuding ghosts, he stumbles across Logan working at a local bar, and learns the truth about Logan’s plan.

Their destinies once more intertwined, the two men attempt to reforge their relationship while dodging a narcissistic TV personality, a craven ex-ghost, and a curmudgeonly bar owner with a hidden agenda. But Logan’s date with destiny is looming, and his life might not be the only one at stake.

About EJ Russell

E.J. Russell holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business-intelligence consultant. After her twin sons left for college and she no longer spent half her waking hours ferrying them to dance class, she returned to her childhood love of writing fiction. Now she wonders why she ever thought an empty nest meant leisure.

E.J. lives in rural Oregon with her curmudgeonly husband, the only man on the planet who cares less about sports than she does. She enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.

Connect with E.J.:

StumptownSpirits_TourBanner

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Stumptown Spirits, EJ is giving away $25 in Riptide credit. Leave a comment to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 21, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Legend Tripping

The ghost that walks at midnight . . . The man who transforms into a beast . . . The sinister figure lurking in the shadow of dreams . . .

The door between our world and . . . something other.

There’s a reason why such legends persist in every country, every region, every town.

They’re real.

For most, they’re the stuff of nightmares, terrors to be avoided. But for others, they’re an irresistible challenge—a chance to raise the ghost, stalk the beast, open that inter-dimensional door, and say “It’s all true, and I’ve lived to tell the tale.”

These legend trippers are in it for the thrill, the adventure—and sometimes, when they least expect it, for love.

–