Category: STRWC

A MelanieM Review: Cranberry Pi (Linwood Academy #1) by Lee Brazil

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Cranberry Pi coverSaving for a down payment on a house of his own has caused artist Cecil Trace to make a few hard decisions.  He has moved back into his parents house and taken a temporary job as the Art Director job at the exclusive Linwood Academy.  And while Cecil is trying to figure out his students, assistants and life at Linwood, he is also trying to work on a scheduled art show of his own.  To top it all off, Cecil finds out that he is to put on a series of holiday pageants…with the first one celebrating Thanksgiving just three short weeks away.  Cecil needs all the help he can get, whether its from students, parents, and even other teachers.  Except for that cute mathematician.  Everything Cecil does seems to rub that teacher the wrong way, which is a shame because if Cecil was looking for a boyfriend, Reese is cute and different, perfect in many ways except he seems to dislike Cecil.  Good thing Cecil isn’t looking for a boyfriend or relationship of any type.

Brilliant, introspective and socially inept math instructor Reese Cavelli’s world has been turned upside down the moment he saw the gorgeous, long-haired, Art Director Cecil Trace.  Reese is a man who has always colored within the lines and Cecil? Well, lines and rules clearly have little meaning for this man.  He is a source of endless frustration, of many types, for Reese.  To hide his growing fascination, Reese has been abrupt even rude, he just can’t seem to help it.  Reese is quiet about being gay and has little in the way of relationships in his past.  But he just can’t ignore the impact Cecil is having on him.  Good thing Cecil’s position is only temporary.  Or is it?

Conflicts over the Thanksgiving pageant and an all important Math Contest bring the two men together and the sparks are about to fly.  Will their Thanksgiving wishes be answered?

This was such a sweet, heartwarming story, a perfect read for the holidays.  Lee Brazil has captured the stress and strain of the approaching holidays at a influential private school, the Linwood Academy.  Some mysterious goings on have forced the resignation of a popular Art Director right at pageant time and the resentment and confusion is apparent everywhere in the halls and classrooms.

Into this tumultuous mess, Brazil dumps free wheeling artist, Cecil Trace.  I loved Cecil, with his long flowing hair which matches his faded, painted on jeans and artsy shirts.  He’s thoughtful, exuberant, and overwhelmed by the needs of his students and new situation as Art Director.  Cecil also has a limited time frame to get everything accomplished, including setting up his art show.  Brazil completes Cecil’s character by giving him a family anyone would want to be a part of.  They are as warm and welcoming as you could hope for without being saccharine sweet or fake.  But the character who will break your heart a little is Reese.  The more his history and upbringing is revealed, the more his actions become understandable as does his vulnerability.  Reese’s mother is quite the creation, all the more upsetting because the author made her believable although never likable.  We get the impact her actions and behavior has had and continues to have upon her son, even if she will never be able to understand it herself.

Brazil manages to combine the holidays, school pageants and math contests, families of all sorts from the dysfunctional to the loving, and a romance that you will root for between two men you will adore.  I look forward to more stories from the Linwood Academy, so will you. A perfectly heartwarming story for the holidays, one you will want to put on your TBR list or one to give to someone you love.  Cranberry Pi is a Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Warmhearted Recommended Read!  Pick it up today.

 

Cover Art by Laura Harner.  I’m not sure who that model is supposed to be?  Student or either Reese? Eye catching but sort of confusing because that’s just not my mental image of the math instructor.

Sales Links:    All Romance (ARe)            amazon                         Buy it here

Book Details:

ebook
Published November 21st 2014 by Lime Time Press
edition languageEnglish
series Linwood Academy #1

It’s Back! The Texans Are Back in RJ Scott’s Texas Fall! (book tour and contest)

Texas Seris LLB

RJ Scott’s heartwarming Texas family is back in Texas Fall! There’s a wonderful excerpt to read and a contest to enter.   Check it out! 

Texas Fall by RJ Scott

Book six in the Texas series

For all buy links when they become available click here:

http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/texas-fall.html

Texas Fall 400x600Jack is focusing on building an equine therapy school for children with special needs and works hard along side his normal horse training and breeding program. He and Riley have settled into a softer, quieter, kind of family life, but that doesn’t stop them using the barn with the door to the fullest!

But the lull comes before the storm.

Riley and his new assistant travel to Laredo, and across the border into Nuevo León as part of an exploratory team and things very quickly go to hell. Riley is caught in some serious Cartel problems and suddenly everything Jack holds dear is threatened.

Add in Vaughn and Darren’s story, revisiting Robbie, Eli, Liam and Marcus, alongside Sean and Eden and the wedding that never was, and this story promises you everything you want from a Texas series book.



Author Bio:

RJ Scott has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies. She was told to write a story and two sides of paper about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born.

As an avid reader herself, she can be found reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror. However, her first real true love will always be the world of romance where she takes cowboys, bodyguards, firemen and billionaires (to name a few) and writes dramatic and romantic stories of love and passion between these men.

With over sixty titles to her name and counting, she is the author of the award winning book, The Christmas Throwaway. She is also known for the Texas series charting the lives of Riley and Jack, and the Sanctuary series following the work of the Sanctuary Foundation and the people it protects.

Her goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

Contact RJ Scott via:

Contest:  Win a $15 gift card and free e-books, must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the link provided for all additional contest details and for the entry form.Texas Fall 400x600

a Rafflecopter giveaway    oR    http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f922301b41/

Texas Fall Excerpt 1

“You can’t hide the whole night,” Riley said from behind him. Jack turned to face his husband, leaning back against the stable door and waiting for the lecture. Riley was happy as a pig in shit right in the middle of it all: juggling babies, catering, socializing, and hell, everything that Jack was avoiding right about now. “People asked where you were,” Riley added.

Riley sure looked good tonight, his blond hair just this side of bed-head spiky, his long legs in black pants, the dark green shirt so perfect against his warm skin tones, and his hazel eyes sparkling with enthusiasm for life. Sexy. Very sexy, all toned and slim and hard and hot. Jack cleared the thoughts of kissing the life out of Riley from his head. He’d need all his faculties to deal with Riley when Riley wanted him to go back inside and host the party.

Anyway, he was suspicious that anyone really worried where he’d gone. “Who asked?”

Riley stepped right up into his space, close enough so that Jack could inhale the scent of his man. The combination of familiar citrus was underscored by deeper notes of mulled spices from the kitchen and some punch concoction Eden had made.

“Actually, no one asked,” Riley admitted. “Josh mentioned that he was impressed you’d lasted an hour.”

Jack huffed a laugh. He was surprised his brother hadn’t come out and hidden right next to him. Seemed that enjoying socializing skipped the male Campbell line entirely.

“So,” Jack began slowly. “What are you doing out here?”

Riley placed his hands on Jack’s hips, then slid his fingers through belt loops to tug Jack away from the door and flush up to him.

“I was asking myself,” he explained, “just where would my husband be when it’s only ten at night and he was looking for peace. I tried everywhere.” He pressed a gentle kiss to Jack’s lips, then smiled down at him, that few inches in height he had just enough to force Jack to lean his head back a little. “Actually that’s a lie. I looked in the twins’ room, checked in on Max, then came here.”

A MelanieM Review: Radiant Burn (Fighting Fire #5) (Pulp Friction 2014 #17) by Laura Harner

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Radiant Burn coverScott McGregor almost has it all.  He’s finally living with the man he loves, Rob Hammond along with Rob’s children.  And the group of diverse group of people who live at Mountain Shadows Campground have become a family to one another.  But still problems lurk all around waiting to destroy his happiness and new life.  His nightmares are increasing and Scott realizes that he needs to uncover the truth and face his fears before he can put that part of his life behind him.

Twelve years ago, Scott and Rob Hammond’s relationship exploded, and torn them apart. Now Rob and his children are happily living with Scott and Rob is about to leave his job to help Scott run Mountain Shadows. But even as Scott and Rob’s relationship continues to deepen, Rob must help Scott work through his PTSD and the path to recovery leads to Phoenix and the only other firefighter that survived that day.

As Scott and Rob struggle to help Scott finally put his past behind him, another danger appears on the horizon.  Scott and Rob are so close to their HEA.  Can they overcome the last obstacles and finally get the future they want and deserve?

So close. With Radiant Burn (Fighting Fire #5), we are so close to the HEA Laura Harner has been promising us since we first met Scott MacGregor and Rob Hammond in Firestorm (Fighting Fire #1).  We’ve delved into their painful past, watched the tumultuous climb to a new relationship in the present and hoped for a bright future for them all.  Now, its almost here and the anticipation and buildup is enough to make any reader a little crazy.

Why?  Because as we all know, nothing is ever easy or straightforward in a Pulp Friction or Laura Harner series.  There’s never just one barrier to overcome, more a veritable obstacle course of hurdles that the characters must leap over or work through to get to their HEA.  That’s the joy and more than a little of the frustration (in a good way of course) that we find with these stories and characters.

One main element has been Scott’s PTSD.  His days and nights are riddled with nightmares and flashbacks, which are providing a barrier of their own to a happy future. Scott needs to face the truth about that fire and the circumstances that caused his injuries and those of the only other survivor.  Harner has dropped hints and clues about that fatal wildfire and now we are all about to get some answers.  They will be startling, shocking even, while leaving Scott and the readers with a well earned sense of relief and closure.  But as I said, with this series and Laura Harner at the helm, nothing is ever resolved that simply.

Why?  Because there is a larger scheme at work at Mountain Shadows, one that has been alluded to in some scenes, hinted at in others.  This mystery has no shape or definition yet. Instead it has been creeping like a dense fog over the campground and its inhabitants. And with each story and series, it has been gaining in complexity and size. What it is and who is behind it…well, we have no idea.  Just vague suggestions and assumptions, nothing concrete.  That’s to be left to the series finale, the last story to be written by all four authors to pull the myriad plot threads and relationships together in one explosive and ultimately satisfying crescendo of multiple tales.

Laura Harner’s Fighting Fire stories, Radiant Burn among them, has been a wonderful angst filled, sexy, white knuckle ride.  Our companions have been men who have been believably complex human beings who continue to strive for a happily ever after, no matter what wounds life and experience has inflicted upon them.  It’s been a wow of a trip and we are almost at our destination.  One final station to go….I can hardly wait.

Radiant Heat (Fighting Fire #5) and the entire Elemental Connections Pulp Friction 2014 joint series is one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words most highly recommended reads.  They will all occupy a special place on our Best of 2014 List this year.

If you are new to the series or Pulp Friction 2014, run, don’t walk, to the first stories in each series.  I have listed them all below for your convenience.  This is one spectacular journey you won’t want to miss!   Happy Reading!

 

Cover Art by Laura Harner.  Terrific cover that works to brand the series and the characters Scott and Rob.

Sales Links:   All Romance eBooks (ARe)           amazon             Buy it Here

Book Details:

ebook, 69 pages
Published September 12th 2014 by Hot Corner Press
ISBN139781937252892
edition languageEnglish
seriesPulp Friction 2014 #17, Fighting Fire #5
charactersScott McGregor, Rob Ham

About Pulp Friction 2014

Pulp Friction 2014 Authors: Laura Harner ~ Lee Brazil ~ Havan Fellows ~ T.A. Webb
The Pulp Friction 2014 Collection. Four authors. Four Series. Twenty books. One fiery finale. Spend a year with an eclectic group of strangers brought together through circumstances, as they are tested by life, and emerge as more than friends.
The strongest bonds are forged by fire, cooled in air, smoothed by water, grounded in earth.

Although each series can stand alone, we believe reading the books in the order they are released will increase your enjoyment. All stories have been read and reviewed at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words.

The Pulp Friction 2014 series in the order they were written and should be read to understand the characters, events and plot:

Round One:
Firestorm (Fighting Fire: 1)by Laura Harner
Cold Snap (In From the Cold: 1) by Lee Brazil
Blown Away (Whispering Winds: 1) by Havan Fellows
Higher Ground (Earthquake: 1) by TA Webb

Round Two:
Controlled Burn (Fighting Fire #2) by Laura Harner
Cold Comfort (In From the Cold #2) by Lee Brazil
Blown Kisses (Whispering Winds #2) by Havan Fellows
Moving Earth (Earthquake #2) by TA Webb

Round Three:
Backburn (Fighting Fire #3) by Laura Harner
Cold Feet (In From the Cold #3) by Lee Brazil
Blown Hard (Whispering Winds #3) by Havan Fellows
Tremors (Earthquake #3) by T.A. Webb

Round Four:
Flare-up (Fighting Fire #4) by Laura Harner
Out In The Cold (In From the Cold #4) by Lee Brazil
Blown Chance (Whispering Winds #4) by Havan Fellows
Aftershocks (Earthquake #4) by T.A. Webb

Round Five:
Radiant Burn (Fighting Fire #5) by Laura Harner
Cold Day in Hell (In From the Cold #5) by Lee Brazil
Final Blow (Whispering Winds #5) by Havan Fellows
Terra Firma (Earthquake #5) by T.A. Webb

Sixth Book Series Finale Written by all the Authors coming in December.

Side Stories or Interludes:

Taking Chances by Lee Brazil (a In From the Cold story)
Wicked Winds (Whispering Winds 3.5) by Havan Fellows – bonus book, Whispering Winds
Frankie’s Knight (Elemental Connections: IV) (Earthquake #3.5)
Kismet & Cartwheels – bonus book, Fighting Fire

Its Cover Reveal Time for Sloan Johnson’s release “Teach Me”

Sloan Johnson has a New Release!

Teach Me by Sloan Johnson
Goodreads Page 

Out today!

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000446_00066]

 Teach Me Blurb:

Two words stripped Austin Pritchard of the privileged life he’s used to. The moment he uttered the words, “I’m gay,” he realized there is no such thing as unconditional love. Now, he’s gone from traveling the world with his family to living on the streets trying to figure out how he’s going to stay in school.

A chance opportunity changes everything. Austin impresses the foreman and lands a job, but even more, he catches the eye of David Becker, who is determined to teach him that true love doesn’t come with strings.

The only thing David had as a child was love. His family struggled to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. That has driven him to stay focused on his goals; become a tenured professor at a university and save enough money to build a home of his own. It’s not until he sees an insecure college student working on his new house that he realizes that he hasn’t planned on someone to share his life with. He’s about to learn that everything he’s already accomplished is nothing compared to the task of making Austin see that he is worthy of love.

Book Details:

245 pages, self published
Expected publication: November 25th 2014 (first published November 22nd 2014)

Author Bio:

Sloan Johnson is a big city girl trapped in a country girl’s body. While she longs for the hustle and bustle of New York City or Las Vegas, she hasn’t yet figured out how to sit on the deck with her morning coffee, watching the deer and wild turkeys in the fields while surrounded by concrete and glass.

When she was three, her parents received their first call from the principal asking them to pick her up from school. Apparently, if you aren’t enrolled, you can’t attend classes, even in Kindergarten. The next week, she was in preschool and started plotting her first story soon after.

Later in life, her parents needed to do something to help their socially awkward, uncoordinated child come out of her shell and figured there was no better place than a bar on Wednesday nights. It’s a good thing they did because this is where she found her love of reading and writing. Who needs socialization when you can sit alone in your bedroom with a good book?

Now, Sloan is a tattooed, purple haired mom of two kids, one of which was a thank you present to her husband for letting her get a Staffordshire Terrier with more anxiety issues than Sloan has, which is saying something. She’s been kicked out of the PTA in two school districts and is no longer asked to help with fundraisers because she’s been known to lose herself in a good book and forget that she has somewhere to be.

Contact Sloan Johnson via:

On Tour with Aria Grace’s “Choosing Happy” Book tour and contest

2ChoosingHappyBanner300x250

Check out the latest M/M Romance from Aria Grace.  We have an exclusive excerpt for our readers and a contest with several prizes for you to enter.

Book Name: Choosing Happy
Goodreads Link
Author Name: Aria Grace

Author Bio:

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Aria enjoys the year round sunshine and laid back environment of the west coast. She lives with her husband and two children on a quiet hill that gives her lots of time to read and write. Her first series was a semi-traditional look at sexy gigs found online. She has now ventured into the exciting M/M world of gay erotica. She loves to hear from readers so please feel free to drop her a note or visit her at http://www.ariagracebooks.com.

Author Contact:
https://www.facebook.com/aria.grace.37
http://facebook.com/ariagracebooks
@ariagracebooks

CHPublisher: Surrendered Press
Cover Artist: Sexy Men Pix

Sales Links:  Amazon  iTunes    Nook   Smashwords

  Choosing Happy Blurb:

Book 3 of the More Than Friends Series. Can be read in sequence or as a standalone.  (Book #1 is free)

Steve is living in Portland with many regrets. He has alienated the people he cares most about by making bad choices that continue to haunt him. When he meets a kid that’s in a bad relationship and needs some help, Steve reluctantly offers it, knowing it’s his chance to redeem himself. What he doesn’t expect is to find happiness. It’s there, all he has to do it choose to accept it. 

For mature readers.

Categories: Contemporary, Gay fiction, M/M Romance\

Choosing Happy Exclusive Excerpt:

I hit the snooze button for the first time since high school. Always an early riser, I never sleep past six so when I crack an eyelid and see it’s seven fifteen, I groan. After a quick shower to wake up, I step into a pair of old jeans and grab the first t-shirt my fingers touch then run down the steps. The bike needs gas so I get in my truck instead and drive the six miles to work.

Having become more of a slave to technology than I’d like to admit, I’m walking and texting Allen when I hear a tiny voice.

“Hi.”

Startled, I look up and see my little duck huddled in the shadows behind my cart.

He’s curled in a tiny ball against the generator and looks like hell.

“Hey, kid.” I kneel down in front of him. “What are you doing here?”

Tears flood his eyes as he looks away. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

In the dim light, I couldn’t see his battered face but when I brush his hair aside and see a line of caked blood that crosses from the middle of his scalp to his cheek bone, I want to kill someone. “Did that prick do this to you?”

He won’t look at me. By the way he flinches, I know he’s scared. I take a deep breath and lean back on my haunches. “We should go to the police. I’ll take you.”

“No.” He jumps up and backs away, ready to bolt. “I’m sorry I came here. I’m fine.”

The way he’s limping pisses me off even more but I force a steady voice. “Okay, okay. No cops.” I slowly reach forward and hold my hand out to him, praying he’ll take it.

With a tentative step, he walks to me and lets me guide him into the trailer that serves as my shop.

 

 Pages: 36,000 words

2Choosing HappyBadgeTour Dates/Stops:

17-Nov

Parker Williams

17-Nov

The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat

18-Nov

The Hat Party

18-Nov

Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents

19-Nov

Regular Guys, Hot Romance

19-Nov

Amanda C. Stone

20-Nov

MM Good Book Reviews

20-Nov

Molly Lolly

21-Nov

LeAnn’s Book Reviews

24-Nov

Wake Up Your Wild Side

24-Nov

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

25-Nov

Love Bytes

26-Nov

Book Reviews and More by Kathy

27-Nov

  • Contest: Rafflecopter Prize:
    $25 amazon or itunes gift card (sent electronically) and signed paperback of any Aria Grace Book (shipped within US)
  • International winners can receive 2 free Aria Grace ebooks of their choice via amazon.com instead of a paperback.

Rafflecopter Code:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

In the Book Spotlight: The Superstar by Patricia Logan (book tour and contest)

PSuperstarBanner300x250

Book Name: The Superstar
Author Name: Patricia Logan

Author Bio:

Patricia Logan resides in Los Angeles, California along with her husband, four children, her grandchild and ever increasing number of cats. When not being stage mom, baking cookies, or scooping kitty litter, she writes steamy, award winning, gay erotic romance and tries to lead her readers on a journey of discovery with more than a little angst.

Author Contact:

Publisher:The Superstar Cover
Cover Artist: Jeff Adkins: http://www.jpadkinsdesigns.com
Sales Links: amazon

The Superstar Blurb:

Storm Ellison is the sexiest man on two legs. The gorgeous young star of “Trapped on an Island”, the hottest reality show on television, is instantly recognizable the moment he leaves his palatial mansion. Paparazzi follow him everywhere, leaving him no peace or privacy, selling his pictures to the tabloids, and cementing his reputation in the press as a slutty gay playboy. As Storm prepares to sign his first major movie deal, his manager decides he needs protection. What he doesn’t expect, is to be attracted to the cold bastard who’s now running his life.

Balthazar Grant, freelance bodyguard, is a huge, handsome, rough and ready former Marine, trained by the best, and willing to step between Storm and anyone stupid enough to come at him. Always stoic and serious, Taz lends a deadly presence to Storm’s entourage whenever he ventures out in public. Storm doesn’t want a bodyguard, much less one who won’t let him live his fast and loose lifestyle with impunity and he’s certainly not one to be dictated to by an overconfident Marine who has opinions about everything including who he should hook-up with.

When a deadly threat hits Storm’s world, he’s suddenly living his own reality show, only this one has an outcome which doesn’t involve being voted off an island. Will Storm wake up before it’s too late and will Taz be able to fight his attraction to the handsome young superstar while trying to convince him he’s in very real danger? The pair will soon learn that reality is stranger than fiction.

Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, M/M Romance

The Superstar Excerpt:

Jules grinned again. “You like Storm, Taz. You LIKE like him!” she raised her voice and Taz looked around to see who else could have overheard her.

“I like him fine, Jules; I work for the guy,” he replied, intentionally misunderstanding her.

“No, Taz, you are ‘in like’ with Storm,” she reiterated. She reached up and took hold of his sunglasses, dragging them off his face. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t like Storm like that, big guy. Whoa, those are some dreamy eyes,” she sighed.

Taz felt embarrassed and exposed without his shades and hated the fact that she could see the very real truth in his eyes when all he wanted to do was deny it. He averted his gaze, staring out onto the dance floor only to regret it immediately when he noted Storm’s arms wrapped around the twink, his lips being plied by the smaller man’s as their lower bodies ground against each other to the beat of the music. The moment he saw them, he frowned.

“See? That’s what I’m talkin’ about, Taz. You can’t stand the way that other man touches Storm. You want him for yourself,” she said emphatically.

Words: 82,000

Tour Dates/Stops:

PSuperstarBadgeTour Dates/Stops: 

19-Nov

Multitasking Mommas

Michael Mandrake

My Fiction Nook

20-Nov

Tara Lain

Cate Ashwood

Parker Williams

21-Nov

Hearts on Fire

Love Bytes

Queer Town Abbey

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

24-Nov

It’s Raining Men

Velvet Panic

Prism Book Alliance

25-Nov

BFD Book Blog

26-Nov

Inked Rainbow Reads

Molly Lolly

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-book copy of ‘The Superstar’ by Patricia Logan. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the Rafflecopter link provided for the entry form and for all additional contest details.

Rafflecopter Code:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Mika Review: Damaged Package by S.A. McAuley

Rating:  2.75 stars out of 5

Damaged Package coverForced into early retirement from his career as a SWAT officer for the city of Detroit, James Deacon knew that when he failed it would be a fall of epic proportions. He’s been living life by the tips of his fingers for over twenty years, and his new gig organizing a group of misfit military types into a functioning team—including his reluctant ex-fiancée—won’t return him to stable ground anytime soon.

Trevor Barrow has been on the move for the last seven years—hitting the road when relationships became too real or too much work. He’s home now, working in the hazardous world of bike messengers in the Motor City, and the only one of his eight siblings who knows he’s returned is his sister Cat. It’s not as if reconnecting with them matters anyway, because it’s likely he’ll be gone again soon.

Both men are lugging some heavy baggage, but when they chance upon each other in a dive bar it’s hard to deny their flaws are more like symbiotic quirks. Trevor’s backpedaling instincts and Deacon’s dance-dance party past may just be intersecting at a time when things are about to get explosive in Detroit.

I didn’t like this book. I found myself wanting to end it multiple times throughout reading it. I gave these ratings based on the basic level of relationship between Deacon and Trevor. The entire book felt disjointed to me. It was weird, and not believable. I didn’t buy into the corporate espionage angle one bit or that a 16 yr old boy would get emancipated from his mother and for 7 years was able to travel to 93 countries. What did he do to gain money, shelter, protection, and knowledge? I can’t believe that would have unless he had a fairy godmother out here protecting him and supplying him with endless funds. Then after being gone from home from 7 years, he’s able to return and start up a bike messenger service. Really, because it’s that simple? Trevor talks about these friends he’s got, and how he’s able to live in an upscale apartment building and have his own company at 23. He never once talked about formal education, any type of training. The one relationship he held dear to his heart the author decided to make a muck out of it. I didn’t like it, I felt it was too easy to place the blame and take away the only faith and trust in someone.

Deacon character’s threw me off a lot, whereas with Trevor I understood why he was closed off. Deacon’s character seemed unauthentic throughout the entire book unless they were in some sort of physical state. The story seemed to be told out of sequence. They kept referencing the Audra Price incident as his reasoning from getting fired from his job of 20 years? What did he do that was so wrong? From my understanding of what was said in the book was whispering in Miss Price ear about what she did; it felt like a gimmick and not realistic. The crux of the story was basically Deacon working for “The Dictator”, this wsapowerful man in Detroit who owned lots real estate and businesses. Why does one need an paramilitary/ swat team to deliver correspondences all over the city? The corporate espionage plot was so unrealistic for me. I felt like the author spent way to much time on it, and it didn’t solve, answer or satisfy me with the story.

The only plus for me was Continue reading “A Mika Review: Damaged Package by S.A. McAuley” →