Category: Publishers

Review: The Rusted Sword by R.D. Hero

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The Rusted Sword coverAfter ten years of marriage, Lord Raleigh’s union to the vicious fighter Prince Moshe has become mired in endless arguments, uncertainty, and finally separate chambers.  A love once hot as the fire is now becoming cold and Raleigh is afraid for their future.  A proud man, Raleigh is now beset by pain from old injuries, unable to wield his swords as he once did, the same swordwork that captured the heart and passions of his husband Moshe.

After yet another argument ruins the moment between them, Raleigh learns that Moshe has accepted an invitation to participate in a winter sword fighting tournament.  It will take place in the castle on order from the king, a ruler overly fond of Moshe from Raleigh’s perspective.  Fearing that Moshe will away rather than return to the small holdings deep in the mountains, Raleigh chooses to accept as well.  Raleigh believes might be his last chance to win back Moshe’s love.  But can a man bound by pride and age find it in himself to win one more battle?  That of the only thing he wants….Moshe’s love.

The Rusted Sword by R.D. Hero is a well written short story that encapsulates the problems of one couple’s marriage.  That the couple is located in a fantasy world of snowbound keeps and a kingdom where swordplay and tournaments go hand in hand doesn’t alter the fact that most couples issues stem from the same problems.  A lack of attention to each other, a shutting down of communication and a walling away of self from your partner.  Those relationship truths exist no matter the genre or couple or even universe.

Raleigh (cousin to the King) was once a heralded swordsman.  He was famous for winning battles and tournements and by his talents, he won the heart of Moshe, a prince sent to the King from another country as hostage/good faith.  A playmate and friend of both the King and Raleigh as children, Raleigh loved him from the start and pursued him relentlessly once they were grown.  It’s been 10 years since Raleigh won Moshe’s heart and they were married and their marriage is now cold , filled with self imposed loneliness and pain.  The author makes us feel every bit of Raleigh’s years.  His aching knee, his age, and his fears that being less than what he once was has cost him Moshe’s love.  That it’s Raleigh’s pride that is also pushing Moshe away is apparent to the reader although not Raleigh himself.  Hero makes us hurt for both men even as we are exasperated by Raleigh’s actions.  It is a poignant picture Hero paints of a union in trouble, realistic in the pained dialog and long awkward silences.

An invitation acts as the impetus for a change in the relationship.  A trip, a tournament and an old friend’s actions brings about a sea change.  How that happens and the world building by Hero are some of the real joys of this short story. I thought everything here was so well done from the characterizations to the plot to the visualizations of the halls and trappings themselves.   While I wish I had a little more of the history between Raleigh and his cousin, it still came across as a  complete story instead of an interlude pulled from a much larger tale.

The Rusted Sword was a first story for me by R. D. Hero but it won’t be the last.  It’s tiny gems like this one that surprise me and makes me seek out more from an author.  That will happen here.  Love fantasy and short stories too?  Grab this one up, its just the thing for you.

Nice cover art, not sure who the artist is.

Buy Links:  Less Than Three Press               All Romance (ARe)    to come                Amazon  to come

Book Details:

ebook, 14,000 words, approx. 31 pages
Expected publication: August 27th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
original titleThe Rusted Sword
ISBN139781620044049
edition languageEnglish

Review: Strength of the Mate (The Tameness of the Wolf #3) by Kendall McKenna

Rating: 4.5  stars out of 5

Strength of the Mate coverAdam Madison, convoy driver for the military contractor Ares in Iraq, is a good man suffering under a ton of issues.  Younger brother to Major Tim Madison, a officer assigned to werewolf military, Adam has long association of resentment of his brother and poor judgement calls he has made throughout his life. Plus the death of his youngest brother has continued to haunt him. Now assigned to Camp Fallujah, Adam is driving supply trucks for the Marines.  But things are tense at the camp.  The werewolves stationed there lack discipline and the Camp Alpha seems to reward bad behavior instead of controlling and dispelling it with his authority.  It’s affecting morale and their mission.

When Noah sends his Omega, Dawson Rivers, to get the camp and the shifters under control, Dawson finds that Adam helps him understand the conflicts inside and out of the camp.  Their old attraction flares up again as they work closely together to bring order back to Camp Fallujah.  But Adam has had little contact with shifters before and he lacks the necessary information and back history to understand all the issues at stake, including what Dawson’s actions towards him means.

As their relationship strengthens into a bond, the insurgents up their attacks on the Camp and the convoys.  When one such ambush succeeds, the end result is devastating. Only through Dawson and Adam’s bond might their relationship and each other survive.

Strength of the Mate, the third in The Tameness of the Wolf series by Kendall McKenna, brings back a divisive character from the previous stories, Adam Madison, Tim Madison’s younger brother.  In the last story, Strength of the Wolf, Adam’s scenes with his brother were full of anger, jealousy, and pain.  Long estranged from Tim, Adam’s actions were often petulant and explosive.  And while the reader was given part of the back history of Adam’s problems, it didn’t exactly make him a likable character.  Now he gets his own story and the switch in perspective changes everything.

I love Kendall McKenna’s characters.  Steeped in military tradition and settings, they always come across as gritty and real.  Adam is no exception.  He is cool under fire, fueled by adrenaline, and proud of his capabilities.  Adam has grown up in Iraq, and the long distance and his missions have given him a new slant on his brother and their relationship.  But the one thing they do not have in common is Tim’s close association and knowledge of shifters..  Adam works with them at Marine Corps Base Camp Fallujah, Fallujah, Iraq but the Camp Alpha has everything in such turmoil that Adam isn’t sure what and how a were should act.  As seen from Adam’s eyes, the Camp is as dangerous a place as the insurgent controlled outskirts of town.  Weres are fighting other weres, and harassing the human Marines as well.  It’s a horrible situation, one that Adam flees while he drives his truck.

Into this mess strides Dawson Rivers, the True Alpha’s Omega.  Sent to get the camp under control, what happens almost instantaneously is that the attraction between Adam and Dawson reignites as soon as they do.  Having met previously back in the States, working together to restructure the Camp and  out on the convoys, their attraction deepens into first a connection and then a bond.  It’s sexy, complicated and at times, uncertain but the author  always lets the reader know  that these men are intended for each other.

With Kendall McKenna, its hard to separate her men from their locations as it is so much a part of who they are as Marines or in Adam’s case, a military convoy driver.  McKenna’s descriptions are tight, gritty, and authentic in detail and atmosphere.  You can feel the blazing sun and the dust from the desert sands of Camp Fallujah.  The small showers, the cots and mess, they all are so vividly described that scene after scene pulls you down into their experiences and makes it yours.  Going about their duties in camp are a host of human and shifter Marines that play a number of important roles in Strength of the Mate.  Whether it is Corporal Jason Rodriguez, the young shifter who rides guard with Adam in the truck or Private First Class Roger Allen, as well as Lance Corporal Will Borovec, a shifter who gets picked on, you embrace these young Marines the more  you get to know them.  Kendall McKenna has paid as much attention to getting these  secondary characters right as she does to her main ones. Each is a marvelous portrait of a youngster at war. Some are cocky, a little arrogant, some like to kid around, others not so much.  But their actions and reactions to the situations they find themselves are recognizable and it makes them all easy to relate to.  How I love these guys, every single one.

The romance and bonding of Adam and Dawson is the center thread of this tapestry and it runs passionate and bright through all the turmoil at Camp, the insurgents whose actions are increasingly putting the convoys and the Marine’s mission in danger, and all the other elements McKenna has introduced into the plot.  It helps to introduce Adam to more of the shifter history, it gives him a better perspective on Tim and his mate, Jeremy, and it provides a needed solace to his old pain.  I wish we had a little more of Dawson’ s internal thinking and emotions but I loved what the author delivered to us.  Dawson is amazing.  Although, I did find myself wishing that his “violet eyes” had been mentioned a little less throughout the narrative.  That was my only issue here. Had the author cut back on the epithets for Dawson’s eye color, than this would have been a five star story.  As it is, that issue is a minor irritation, nothing more.  And others may find it doesn’t bother them at all.

There is already another story in the works, Strength of the Warrior (The Tameness of the Wolf, #4).  I can’t wait for that to come out.  Kendall McKenna has created an amazing soldier shifter universe here and with each new story, she strengthens and deepens her world building and the incredible characters that are so much a part of this series.  I loved Adam and Dawson.  Their story was alternately, gripping, suspenseful, lusty, and romantic.  Or sometimes all at the same time.  I couldn’t put it down.  Strength of the Mate is one of ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Favorites and Most Highly Recommended Stories and Series.

Cover Art by Jared Rackler.  Love this cover, hot, hot, hot!

 

Buy Links:      MLR Press            All Romance (ARe)                Amazon      Strength of the Mate

 

Book Details:

ebook, 356 pages
Published June 20th 2014 by MLR Press (first published June 2014)
original titleStrength of the Mate
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Tameness of the Wolf #3
charactersAdam Madison, Dawson Rivers, Tim Madison, Lucas Young, Noah Hammond

Books in The Tameness of the Wolf series include in the order they were written and should be read:

Strength of the Pack (The Tameness of the Wolf, #1)
Strength of the Wolf (The Tameness of the Wolf, #2)
Strength of the Mate (The Tameness of the Wolf, #3)
Strength of the Warrior (The Tameness of the Wolf, #4) coming soon at MLR Press.

Book Blast: Diana DeRicci’s Not Quite Broken Book Tour/Contest

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Not Quite Broken New sq bannerOn Tour with

Diana DeRicci’s Not Quite Broken

 

 

Diana DeRicci’s is here today with an excerpt and contest for her new release “Not Quite Broken”.  To enter to win an eBook copy of Not Quite Broken and to read the blurb and excerpt, keep reading!

 

 

 

 

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Book Name: Not Quite Broken
Author Name: Diana DeRicci
Author Bio: Diana DeRicci is the sexy, flirty pen name of Diana Castilleja. A romance author at heart, DeRicci’s writing takes you into a saucier spectrum of sensuality and sexual adventure, where a happily-ever-after is still the key to any story. Diana lives in Central Texas with her husband, one son and a feisty little Chihuahua named Rascal. You can catch the latest news on all of Diana DeRicci’s writing and books on her website. Feel free to drop Diana an email. She’d love to hear from you.

Author Links:

NotQuiteBroken_432Cover Artist: Lex Valentine
Publisher: MLR Press

Sales Links:   MLR Press LLC

“Not Quite Broken” Blurb:

Can Dex survive a nightmare that won’t let go?

Dex’s life has gone into a tailspin. One night that ruined his entire world. He can’t sleep, he can’t eat. He’s lost his job, and is about to lose the last of his sanity. When the world crashes down around him, he’s ready to let the world win.

Dex has friends, though, who are determined to not let him self-combust.

One man will be there to guide him through his nightmare, to hold him to keep the demons at bay, and still let him be strong enough to find the strength to love after his darkest hour.

 

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Excerpt:

Brian tempered his smile at Dex’s miffed tone. There was still a spark of the man he was before the night of his attack. He’d seen it in snatches for a few days when Dex was trying so hard to pretend that night hadn’t happened at all, especially when they were at Chad and Sonny’s. He knew with good insight Dex didn’t want either of them to worry. Then life started to return and invade and the nightmares began. Doctors, police, therapy. He couldn’t outrun them. The stress of it caused nightmares. He didn’t know if any of Dex’s other friends, who seemed to be sparse, were equipped to help him handle the aftermath.

That lack of family or friends in his life was partly why Brian had taken such a personal interest in Dex’s recovery.

He was being devious about it, taking Dex on these little errands, putting him in situations where he couldn’t evade. Brian wasn’t going to allow anyone to hurt him, least of all Dex himself, by hiding.

He opened the glass entryway door and Dex obediently followed.

“Hi, Samantha,” Brian called to the girl behind the counter. He got a wave and smile, though he didn’t slow down to talk.

“It’s loud in here,” Dex complained.

“It’s a gym, not the ballet.”


NQBBadge RevisedTour Dates: 7/18/14

Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Cate Ashwood, MM Good Book Reviews, Havan Fellows, Reviews and Ramblings, LeAnn’s Book Reviews, Smoocher’s Voice, Prism Book Alliance, Tara Lain, Love Bytes, Hearts on Fire, Fallen Angel Reviews, Wicked Wolves and Dreaming Dragons, It’s Raining Men,  Because Two Men Are Better Than One

 

Contest:  Rafflecopter Prize: E-book of Not Quite Broken.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Use the Rafflecopter link below for all the contest details and entry form.  Contest and prizes provided by Pride Promotions and the author.

Rafflecopter Link:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In the Author Spotlight: Chatting with Angel Martinez on Writing, Endangered Fae and Much More! (contest)

spotlight on booksDiego Endangered Fae coverFinn_432(1) coverSemper Fae cover

ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Sits Down with

Angel Martinez to chat about  her Endangered Fae series, writing, and 

much more!

 

 

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I fell in love with Angel Martinez and her Endangered Fae series from my first introduction to Finn, the Fae in question, and his lover Diego in Finn (Endangered Fae#1).  A first interview with the author followed, as did the second book, Diego (Endangered Fae #2).  By now I was captured up in the universe Martinez had built for her series and the characters involved.  So  when I heard the third  novel was coming out, I knew that a second interview was needed to learn more about the author and the series as it evolves.

Contest: Angel Martinez has brought along a copy of  Finn (Endangered Fae #1) to give away.  To enter to win an eBook copy of Finn, leave a comment below, along with an email address where you can be contacted.  In addition, STRW is offering up a eBook copy of Semper Fae as a prize as well.  Two Endangered Fae books, two winners! You must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Contest ends midnight EDT on July 25th.

 

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍Now on to my interview with Angel Martinez:
STRW:  Endangered Fae combines a number of mythologies. Native American, Irish…what prompted that combination and which ones to choose from?

Angel Martinez: Myth and folklore are passions of mine, from when I was very young. Part of that probably stems from the leftover bits of the old ways in my mother’s and grandmother’s kitchen wisdom, (Stir that in one direction! You’ll upset the kitchen spirits!) and partly from a fascination with fairytales that morphed into something more.

The Irish/British Isles mythology stems right from the pooka himself, who is a mostly Irish spirit. In the second book on, Finn’s associations extend to more of the creatures of that myth/folklore region since those would be the people he knew. Later on, the world expands further as we travel further, so we run into creatures of Arabian myth as well.

The Algonquian mythology was also a matter of geography. Finn and Diego travel to Nova Scotia, so what they met there needed to be local as well.

STRW:  The Fae continue to fascinate and they appear in many forms from the elegant “human” type to the alien and frightening “Good folk” in the old tradition. Which appeals to you?

Angel Martinez: I actually like both, and pookas, while they can appear as handsome humans, are more “good folk” than Tolkien elvish. For the purposes of romance, the fae I’ve chosen throughout the series as love interests are ones who are more humanoid and beautiful, but our heroes encounter many different types along the way, some lovely, but some alien and strange.

STRW:  Did or do you have a muse for this series? If so, what was it? Or who?

Angel Martinez:  I don’t often have muses, but Finn insisted on taking the job. He’s more real to me some days than the people in my neighborhood (and often more sensible.) Authors often talk about characters communicating with them or demanding things. It often seems a silly conceit, but Finn’s been beside me, whispering in my ear, for many years now.

STRW:  You write in a number of genres. Do you feel that is important for you as a writer to continue to do so? Do you have a favorite?

Angel Martinez:   I think it’s important for an author to have a recognizable milieu. You pick up Anne Rice, you’re pretty sure what you’re going to get. While I’ve done a couple of short contemporary pieces, I concentrate on Science Fiction and Fantasy because that’s what I love, as a reader and as a writer. I’ve set myself up so that readers (I hope) will see the name and make that instant connection (Oh, yes! She writers SFF.)

Mind you, I’m adamant about the fact that Science Fiction and Fantasy are *not* the same thing. There are distinct differences that shouldn’t be muddied if you want a believable story and when I write, I feel that they use different parts of my brain. SF uses that more rational side of the brain, even when I’m writing SF humor, and Fantasy uses that more fanciful, surreal side of the brain. (SF = plan, build, measure Fantasy = wheeee!)

I do write both adult SF and all ages (under my given name) as well, though I don’t really consider those different genres, just different focuses of story arc.

STRW:   How long have you been writing?

Angel Martinez:  Writers get asked this a lot. Most of us will tell you we’ve been telling stories all our lives, whether we wrote them down or not. I’ve written stories from the time I could write, but didn’t finish my first novel (that will never see the light of day) until the late 1990’s. My first published work was picked up in 2006 and my first gay romance published in 2007. So I’ve been around the block a few times 😉

STRW:. How long does it take you to research a story? Have you ever traveled for your research or folded your experiences into a story?

Angel Martinez:  It depends what I’m trying to do. If the subject matter is something I have a lot of experience with and a lot of source material lying around, research might take a couple of days. If it’s something I’m struggling with, it could take weeks to hammer out the basic points (as in a new interstellar spaceship propulsion method.)

I wish I had the money to travel just for research. That would be lovely. But I do often use places I’ve been in stories: New York, Nova Scotia, Los Angeles, Wilmington. I sometimes do rough sketches of things I see to get the details right later. All of us pick bits and pieces of our experience out of our brains and use them for our stories, whether it’s conscious or not.

STRW:   What’s next in the series?

Angel Martinez:  Semper Fae, the third Endangered Fae book, just released from MLR Press on 7/11/14. That one’s Zack’s story, for all my readers whoSemper Fae cover said the Marine needed his own story. But never fear, Diego and Finn (especially Diego) play a huge part in the plot still.

After that, I’ve just finished No Fae Is An Island, in which we have Diego and Finn traveling farther than ever and getting into just as much trouble as usual, and some new characters, one of whom we’ve met in Semper Fae, get to be the heroes.

Here’s a sneak peek blurb for No Fae Is An Island:

“Three years ago, Danu banished Diego for a time from the human world. Three years and three days doesn’t seem that long to be away from home but time among the wild fae can change a man and the human world returns the favor by changing while he’s away. Human governments haven’t all had humane reactions to magic users. There’s a vampire on Tearmann Island’s security force. A curious selkie’s followed him home. So much to do to keep the world safe…but Diego’s no longer sure he has the right to interfere.

Theo Aguilar started his vampire life on the wrong side of the law. He’s killed and knows how dangerous he can be if he doesn’t stay in control every moment of every day. But the fae took him in and Prince Lugh has given him a position of trust. He owes them more than gratitude, so when Diego and Finn are arrested on a diplomatic mission far from home, he knows his duty. He’s striking out on his own to rescue them, a lone vigilante once again, though this time for the good guys. The only glitch? The selkie, Limpet, can’t seem to understand the alone part.”

STRW: Do you write one story at a time or have several at different stages at one time?

Angel Martinez:  Ideally, I have one at a time. I’m not one of those writers who can switch back and forth from one story to another. But I do, sometimes, start a story and then have to set it aside for another deadline. At one point this year, I had three stories started and had to work on a fourth. We’re now down to one at the edit stage, one started and set aside and one that needs immediate attention.

STRW:   Finally, why do you write?

Angel Martinez:  *tortured, dramatic sob* Because I must! Seriously, though,I enjoy it. It’s what I love best. And if you find something you love, why would you do anything else?

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Thank you, Angel Martinez, for stopping by and sitting in the Author’s Spotlight chair for a moment.  I can’t wait to read the next two stories in the Endangered Fae series.

For those of you new to the series and, perhaps, the author as well, be sure to leave a comment below and be entered to win an eBook copy of Finn (Endangered Fae #1) from Angel Martinez and a second winner will be chosen to win a eBook copy of Semper Fae from ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords.  Happy Reading!

Stories in the Endangered Fae series are to date:

Finn (Endangered Fae #1)
Diego (Endangered Fae #2)
Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3) released 7/11 (5 stars review to follow!)
No Fae Is An Island (Endangered Fae #4) to be released

Author Bio:

Angel Martinez currently lives part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware and full time inside her head. She has one husband, one son, two cats, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.

Angel’s alter ego writes the all-ages science fiction – Sandra Stixrude.

You can contact//follow Angel Martinez at:

It’s Whistle Stop Time On the Riptide/L.A. Witt Noble Metals Book Tour (contest)

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Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/L. A. Witt blog tour for Noble Metals! Thank you to Scattered Words and Roque Thoughts for hosting me.

Contest: Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding Noble Metals) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern Time, on July 19th, and winners will be announced on July 20th. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. 

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L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer currently living in the glamorous and ultra-futuristic metropolis of Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, two cats, and a disembodied penguin brain that communicates with her telepathically. In addition to writing smut and disturbing the locals, L.A. is said to be working with the US government to perfect a genetic modification that will allow humans to survive indefinitely on Corn Pops and beef jerky. This is all a cover, though, as her primary leisure activity is hunting down her arch nemesis, erotica author Lauren Gallagher, who is also said to be lurking somewhere in Omaha.

L. A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her website, blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).

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NOBLE METALS Blurb:
NobleMetals_500x750Ever since Robert Belton gambled away the money to stake his claim in the Klondike gold fields, he’s been stranded in Seattle working as a prostitute. When an attractive customer needs help hauling provisions to the frozen north, Robert eagerly volunteers.
Dr. John Fauth is only searching for one thing, and it isn’t gold. He needs platinum for the prototypes of his revolutionary inventions, and if he doesn’t find it in the Klondike, his university career—and his research—is over.
Getting to the Klondike is a grueling, dangerous journey, and just hours after leaving Seattle, John and Robert find themselves in over their heads. John is carrying an invaluable device that his competitors will do anything to get their hands on. And as the cold nights and mutual desire pull John and Robert closer together, they discover that they have much more to lose than gold or platinum.

(Publisher’s Note: This book was previously published by a different press; it has since been edited extensively and expanded by over 10,000 words.)

Noble Metals is available July 7th from Riptide Publishing. Precious Metals, a novel set in the same steampunk/Klondike Gold Rush world, comes out this fall.

 

NobleMetals_150x300(2)Visit here for all the Noble Metals Tour dates and websites.

Buy here at Riptide Publishing

Book Details:

Author: L.A. Witt
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62649-143-4
eBook release: Jul 14, 2014
eBook Formats: pdf, mobi, html, epub
Print ISBN: 978-1-62649-144-1
Print release: Jul 14, 2014
Word count: 52,500
Page count: 204
Type: Standalone
Cover by: April Lee

This title is part of the Metals universe.
– See more at: http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/noble-metals#sthash.ISolyTFN.dpuf

 

Review: Noble Metals by L.A. Witt

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

NobleMetals_500x750When  Robert Belton and his brothers left home  to make their fortune in the Klondike gold fields, they never imagined where their gold fever and poor judgement would take them.  Amid betrayals and gambling debts, only Robert is left to survive in Seattle and he does so by becoming a prostitute.  Robert hopes to save enough money to make it over the Chilkoot Trail into the Yukon and join the hunt for gold.

Dr. John Fauth is on sabbatical from his teaching post at the university in Chicago.  Dr. Fauth carries a precious machine with him to Seattle, one he developed and built himself.  With it, John hopes to find the platinum deposits he needs to further his experiments.  But first he needs to hire someone to help him make the journey into the Yukon, for where there is gold, there is also platinum.

When the only room available in Seattle happens to come with an attractive young man attached to it, John hires Robert for the evening and finds more than he expected.  In the morning, he offers Robert a job.  One man cannot haul the equipment needed for mining by himself, so when John offers Robert a job to join him on the trail going north, Robert eagerly accepts.

Even in ordinary conditions, the gold trail into the Yukon and Canada is fraught with dangers.  But John’s machine and the purpose for which it was built is drawing predators of its own.   The long nights, tough journey, and common enemies bring John and Robert together in passion and friendship.  As the danger mounts, both must decide what is more important to them…noble metals or love.

L.A. Witt takes a gripping period in history and gives it a steampunk twist in Noble Metals.  Just the mention of gold rush brings all manner of images and references to mind.  A huge human migration built on greed, adventure, and the hope of a quick fortune to be made saw towns and small cities spring up around the locations near to the mines or close to the heads of the trails into the gold fields.  Those towns quickly filled with  the unfortunate, the desperate, the opportunists, dreamers, the predators that fed on them, and everything in between.  L.A. Witt brings that Seattle to life here in Noble Metals.

Seattle is the center of the mining explosion.  A port bringing in supplies, hardened men and the unwary, people are arriving by boat, horse and carriage and airship if you have the money to afford it.  Yes, airship as in blimp.  For in this universe, its the blimp or zeppelin or airship that is the highest mode of transportation.  Electricity is still largely undiscovered with Edison, Tesla, and Fruth in the race to develop semi conductor technology.  Until that happens, everything mechanical runs on steam.

I love the ingenious twists and inventions that L.A. Witt brought into her Steampunk Gold Rush.  The Golden Staircase, the fifteen hundred steps carved into the ice from Chilkoot’s base to its peak, a treacherous ice stairway that all and their provisions had to climb if they wanted to reach Dawson City and the Yukon.  Vivid descriptions of the biting cold, sliding mechs, and a slow climb upwards in pain, fortitude, and numbness makes this trail feel like the hell it would have been to all those that attempted it.  Right down to the cannibalized structures of abandoned, broken down machinery that littered the landscape around the Golden Staircase, Witt’s scenes immediately bring to mind the litter and dead bodies left on Mt. Everest, making the connection to each climb clear.

Ah, the mechs.  Steam powered, eight legged, mechanical beasts of burden.  What a great contraption for L.A. Witt to invent for her story!  A new fangled piece of equipment used to convey supplies needed by the miners to dig for gold, they are a quixotic wonder.  Here is L.A. Witt’s description of the beasts:

“…mech, a spidery brass machine that would carry the ton or more of gear over the rugged terrain…I watched an empty mech limp past us. The valves on the front-mounted engine coughed little puffs of steam out the top, and the whole thing rattled as one leg landed badly with every step. I couldn’t tell if the leg was bent or if one of its joints was damaged, but something was definitely wrong.”

Amazingly, lives depended on such a strange walking machine.  And the fight to get it to function and walk properly is as nearly entertaining and fraught with peril as is the rest of Robert and John’s journey.  I really loved those mechs and could picture them quite clearly in my mind as I read.

Then there is the romance between Robert and John.  It found them endearing and their relationship moving.  While unequal in social status, John recognizes a kindred mind in Robert’s.  John values Robert’s intelligence and honesty as much as Robert’s good looks.  They bond over books, and the cold solitude of their tent along the trail on the slow journey to Dawson City.  Nary a case of instant love in sight, I loved how slowly their feelings for each other grew. Not only do they question their feelings for each other but what future, if any, was possible for them.  Great job by the author on making this element feel as real as the situation they find themselves in.

The story is told from Robert’s point of view but John’s side of the story is inserted here as well via journal entries in the diary John is keeping.  I loved seeing Robert and the trail from John’s perspective.  It also widened our view of the universe the author created by getting glimpses of John’s life in Chicago and the world in general.

My only wish was that the journey had gone further and the story continued on longer.  I’ll say no more.  But the world that L.A. Witt build with its tent city at the border, filled with miners, mechs and run efficiently by the North West Mounties (instead of the Royal Canadian Mounties today), along with the rough and tough city of Seattle made me want more of the stories of the people passing through and what if any fortunes they found along the way.

I love Nobel Metals and highly recommend it to all lovers of steampunk, m/m romance and adventure.

Cover art by April Lee.  Love this cover, perfection in every way and one of the best of the year.

Buy Links for Noble Metals:               Riptide Publishing                     ARe (All Romance)                Amazon      Noble Metals

 

Bool Details:

ebook, 1st Edtion
Published January 2nd 2012 by Carnal Passions
ISBN139781926996752
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.loriawitt.com/Books_by_L.html#nobleanchor

Publisher’s Note: This book was previously published by a different press; it has since been edited extensively and expanded by over 10,000 words.)

Review: Running Wild (Havoc #1) by S.E. Jakes

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

RunningWild_400x600Sean Rush is a mess and he knows it.  Born from a union between a sociopathic killer and a mother hooked on drugs and sex, Sean escaped his violent home life with his two best friends and their mutual love of cars.  Too bad that included stealing cars and street racing them.  Hauled before a judge atfter being caught, Sean and his friends chose the Army over jail and went to war.  But that just piled more bad issues on top of a heap of bone deep problems Sean carries within him.

Now out of the Army, Sean’s energies are looking for an outlet and finds it at Bertha’s, a Havoc MC hangout.  Trouble finds Sean in the form of Ryker, a Havoc Motorcycle Club lieutenant, a bad boy among bad boys.  A gorgeous hot man, Ryker represents everything Sean wants and should stay away from.  And not only does Sean want Ryker but Ryker wants him as well.  Bad enough to break into Sean’s apartment night after night for 8 months for the best sex of Sean’s life.  The problem is that Sean is starting to want more from Ryker and Sean doesn’t do relationships even if Ryker does.  This leaves Sean feeling scared, edgy and more stressed out than ever.

Then his best friend Noah calls. Noah’s in bad trouble and needs Sean’s help to steal an expensive car to save Noah’s hide.  Things go from bad to disastrous almost immediately.  It’s Ryker who saves Sean but that act puts the Havoc MC and Ryker in danger.  Cracks and crevices are appearing everywhere on the road ahead for Sean and happiness, including a relationship and love with Ryker.  But first Sean has to save Noah, outrun the thugs after them, steal a few cars and maybe, just maybe save himself along the way.

Just the name S.E. Jakes is enough for me to buy a book.  Jake’s stable of bruised, and damaged men always make for a memorable read and absorbing tale as her characters fight for love and a future for themselves and their lovers.  You can count on their journey being a hard one, full of illegalities, covert operations and bloody fights.  Running Wild, the first in Jakes new Havoc series,  falls definitely along those standards for an S.E. Jakes action romance, starting with her main character and story narrator, Sean Rush.

What a perfect name for a character on the run from his past, his pain, and his desires.  Sean is in a rush to get somewhere if only he knew where he was going.  Sean’s is a voice of a man in constant pain and confusion.  He fights against his impulses to steal and the adrenaline rush it provides. He fights against a need for love and stability, falling back on his old friends whose decision making processes are no better than his.  Really, Sean is just one pretty mess of a man in need of help and more. The choice of making Sean Rush the “voice” of her story is a risky one.  If you love Sean or can at least commiserate with  a man haunted by his abusive background and how it impacted his teenage/adult years, then you are going to love this story.  On the flip side, if you find that unapologetic thieves that keep making the same mistake over and over unappealing, then Running Wild will make you want to run the other way.

Much like Sean, I think it will be a love him or leave him attitude here for all readers.  For me, I remain a little ambivalent about the character of Sean.  Every part of Sean’s life is a sinkhole of problems.  A father in jail for murder,  guilt and PTSD over his Army experiences, a compulsion to steal that lies close to the surface, and a loyalty to a few who keep pulling him back into the world of thugs and car thefts.  Sean is a realistically crafted character that you will want to shake  some sense into at least every five minutes or  so. He is that person you care about but are not sure you want to let him into your home.  A little of him goes a long way and when he is the narrator of the story that becomes an impossibility.  What saves Sean and the reader is the arrival of Ryker, a Havoc Motorcycle Club lieutenant who falls hard for Sean perhaps to the club’s detriment and his own.

Ryker is tender, brutal, and unwaveringly loyal to a club that took him in and raised him.  Ryker made the story for me and he made Sean palatable.  I have to admit that I would have loved viewing this story through Ryker’s eyes instead of Sean’s.  Both came from turbulent, abusive backgrounds.  Ryker was saved and Sean was not.  That fact dictated the manner in which each boy developed, again another  realistic plot choice from Jakes.  But Sean’s voice is so out of control, so wild that he needs Ryker to rein him in narratively speaking and we don’t get enough of that control here.  But what we get of Ryker, the Havoc MC family and his tenuous relationship with Sean smoothes out the clatter enough to make this a really enjoyable story.

Noah is a terrific side character as is Sweet, Casey, Jethro and others.  Many, many others as there are two motorcycle clubs in town to deal with here. The love and rush of stealing and racing cars comes across perfectly.  I totally got the appreciation of a finely crafted machine and the need to take it to its limits on the road (I am a fan of Top Gear British Edition after all). That element is telegraphed in scenes and descriptions that pulls in the reader and makes them understand the nature of Sean and Noah’s obsession with cars.  Loved that about Running Wild!

Aside from Noah, I think my other real issue with Running Wild is that S.E. Jakes had a huge list of elements she wanted to include in this story in order to set the stage for her series.  By trying to tie in numerous plot points, multiple complications from the characters pasts, side storylines that vied for top billing with the main plot…after a while it just felt a tad too ambitious and a little overwhelming for this story and characters.  They have a lot thrown at them while already dealing with a plethora of pain and problems that would drown a superhero.  At one point, I wanted to wave a flag to slow the action down and sort out the who, what and where.  No matter, S.E. Jakes pulls it all together at the end for a resounding ending with a touch of the supernatural thrown in.  I did say there were a ton of elements here didn’t I?  That includes a supernatural or haunted hill  with a mind of its own.

So. Running Wild and the Havoc MC series.  Do I recommend it?  Yes.  It’s exciting, fast paced, and gripping.  It may drive you a little nuts at times as will Sean.  But stick with the story, finish the race with them and enjoy the outcome and the winner’s lap.  See what I did there?  Blame Top Gear!

Aside from Ryker and Sean,  there are a number of characters I want to see get their HEA or at least HFN.  So I will be waiting for the next Havoc story to arrive, along with new installments from the other S.E. Jakes series I am hooked on.  If bad boys on bikes and sexy, angsty tales of love are your thing, grab up a copy of Running Wild and start reading.  Let me know what you think of Sean and Ryker.   Happy Trails!

Cover art by L.C. Chase.  Love the cover and the motorcycle.  Feel the need for a little Steppenwolf coming on…”like smoke and lightnin’,Heavy metal thunder,Racing in the wind, And the feeling that I’m under…”*

*Read more: Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Buy Links:          Riptide Publishing                 All Romance (ARe)              Amazon               Running Wild

 

Book Details:

ebook, 280 pages
Published June 28th 2014 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626491533
urlhttp://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/running-wild
seriesHavoc #1

Who’s “Running Wild”? S.E. Jakes on Tour with Her Newest Story and Series! (contest)

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RunningWild_TourBanner(1)

 

A favorite author  here at ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords, S.E. Jakes,  is stopping by today with a snippet from the first book in her  Havoc series, Running Wild. What’s the series about?  The Havoc Motorcycle Club!  Sexy bikers….I can’t wait.

Contest: To help celebrate, Riptide and SE Jakes is offering the chance to win an $100 Riptide Gift Certificate to one lucky winner.  To enter to win visit here to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.  Entries close at midnight, Eastern Time, on July 20, and winners will be announced on July 21st. Contest is valid worldwide.

Here’s S.E. Jakes with some more teasers on the new story…

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RunningWild_150x300(1)Thanks so much to Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for hosting me on the tour for Running Wild: Havoc Book 1. This is the start of a brand new series, with different heroes for each book and HEAs at the end of each book. Sean Rush and Ryker stole my heart a long time ago, and I’m excited for you guys to meet all of them.

***
Here’s a snippet from a scene toward the middle of the book. Ryker has just proved to Sean that he doesn’t mind his MC knowing they’re together — by kissing the hell out of him in front of everyone. And then he tells Sean to get on the back of his bike, so he can take Sean home. Sean has objections…

 

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Still, I kept my voice down so no one could hear when I told him, “I’m not riding in the bitch seat.”

He was trying not to grin, but failing. “Why not?”

“I know exactly what it means when you ride on the back of a guy’s bike.”

“Really?”

“It means you fucking own me, Ryker.”

“Don’t I?”

His words were a low rumble that shot straight to my dick and holy fuck . . . I had no answer. Well, obviously I did, but I refused to put voice to it.
I was out—that wasn’t the issue. And obviously being out wasn’t an issue for him either. But the MC shit, we’d never talked about it, what it meant for us. All these men knew about our relationship, knew he was looking out for me. Knew he considered me his

I swear I had to remind myself to breathe.

“Get on the bike, Sean.”

This time, Ryker’s tone left no room for argument. If anything, it made me harder. I stopped thinking—par for the course when I was around Ryker—and I got on the bike behind him.

 

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RunningWild_400x600RUNNING WILD: Havoc Book 1

Embrace the danger…

Sean Rush is an adrenaline junkie. That’s why he was in the Army, why he steals and races classic muscle cars . . . and why he can’t stay away from bad boy Ryker, a Havoc Motorcycle Club lieutenant. Fortunately, Ryker can’t seem to stay away from Sean—he’s spent the last eight months breaking into Sean’s apartment and stealing into his bed, leaving Sean physically satisfied but increasingly restless.

Sean has always avoided relationships. He likes to come and go without being controlled. And Ryker is possibly the most controlling man he’s ever known. Still, he finds that he wants more from Ryker than their silent nighttime encounters.

Then one of Sean’s thefts goes bad, and Ryker’s protective instincts kick into overdrive. He takes Sean to the Havoc compound, determined to keep him safe. But Sean’s past threatens the safety of Havoc—and everything Ryker holds dear. Worse, Ryker’s hiding secrets of his own. Soon it’s obvious that the adrenaline rush can’t keep them together anymore. But maybe love can.

*Read an excerpt
*Order Running Wild

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FYI, I’m also writing a m/f MC series under the Steph Tyler name—the first book of that series, Vipers Run is out now as well. And there’s a very light crossover in that you’ll see names of MCs that are main characters in my Vipers series—namely Vipers MC, along with the Heathens. Havoc’s friendly with Vipers, not so much with Heathens (they seem to be everyone’s enemy at the moment).
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SE Jakes writes m/m romance. She believes in happy endings and fighting for what you want in both fiction and real life. She lives in New York with her family and most days, she can be found happily writing (in bed). No really…

You can contact her the following ways:

  • Website
  • You can email her at authorsejakes@gmail.com
  • Facebook Page  Facebook.com/SEJakes
  • Twitter  Twitter.com/authorsejakes
  • Goodreads Group  Ask SE Jakes
  • Tumblr   sejakes.tumblr.com
  • Instagram  instagram.com/authorsejakes
  • Truth be told, the best way to contact her is by email or in blog comments.

She spends most of her time writing but she loves to hear from readers!

SE Jakes is the pen-name of New York Times Bestselling author Stephanie Tyler (and half of Sydney Croft) — please go to my media kit to learn more!

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Contest:   Enter to win an $100 Riptide Gift Card. Entries close at midnight, Eastern Time, on July 20, and winners will be announced on July 21st. Contest is valid worldwide.  Visit the link below to enter to win and for further contest details. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway