Check Out the latest release : Fayette by Tim Rayborn , 7 Day Blog Tour and Giveaway

Tim Rayborn has a new queer fantasy book out, Qwyrk tales book 4: Faytte. And there’s a giveaway.

As Halloween draws near, Qwyrk and company are abruptly reminded of just how screwed-up everything can get. Qwyrk and Holly are literally being driven apart by magical forces they don’t understand, and their friends are in disarray.

Then Holly goes missing and Qwyrk loses something else that’s almost as important, while the behind-the-scenes scheming and shenanigans come to the fore at last. And who is the mysterious, ancient figure in red that seems to know all and see all, but annoyingly, won’t talk about it?

Traitors abound, old friends return, sides will be picked, and the final battle between good and evil will rage. To stop the actual end of the world from happening, Qwyrk might have to make a decision that will change her life forever.

Faytte is the final book in a series of four novels about the comic misadventures of a group of misfits at the edge of normal reality in modern northern England, a world of shadows, Nighttime Nasties in a bakery, a mysterious key, every monster you can imagine, an abundance of sarcasm, and the answers to all the questions. Oh, and Qwyrk is going to definitively prove that she’s not a bloody elf; they’re just silly!

About the Series

Join the adventures of a group of misfits at the edge of reality in modern northern England, a world of shadows, Nighttime Nasties, sorcery, witchy magic, philosophical speculation, every monster under the moon, an abundance of sarcasm, and even elves… though they are a bit silly.

Universal Buy Link

Giveaway

Tim is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour:

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Excerpt

Jilly was skeptical. And grumpy. Skrumpy? In any case, having watched her friends abscond to various places without giving her any details was more than just annoying; it felt rather like a betrayal.

“It’s like they don’t even trust me. Now that I’m learning all about witchery and can finally hold my own, they don’t even want me around anymore. Yeah, really nice, thanks everyone.” She brooded. “Oh, calm down, Jilly, it’s not like they haven’t done rubbish like this before, and there’s always been a good reason for it. And they’ve let you know when the time was right. It’s probably just that again.”

But something about Blip’s behavior in particular bothered her, nagged at her. It had been going on for too long, and he was not one to be secretive. As she sat stewing over it, a thought came to her.

“What if I could spy on him? Check out where he’s going without him realizing? I wonder.” She peered out the living room window across the street. Granny wasn’t home as usual, but Jilly had complete run of her house while she was away. She checked the time: 8:00 pm.

“Mum and dad aren’t going to be home until at least ten, so that only gives me a couple of hours to go on over and poke around. Unless, what if…”

She went back upstairs to her room and found a small book she’d been reading recently: Fludd’s Phenomenal Grimoire of Useful and Slightly Annoying Enchanted Distractions. Leafing through it, she found the page she’d recalled, in a section about how to divert attention from oneself.

“Here it is, brilliant!”

She noted a simple little apotropaism to buy her some more time away at Granny’s. Speaking the two-line spell, she waited just a short while, and sure enough, the sound of mild snoring began to drift through the bedroom. She smiled, satisfied.

“With the light off, they’ll never even think to check in on me! Still, better pile up a few pillows under the duvet, just to be sure.”

Once she’d created a convincing snoring dummy of cushions, she turned out the light and shut the door. Going back downstairs, she grabbed her coat, and hopped off to Granny’s for a good evening’s snooping.

Author Bio

Tim Rayborn has written a rather ridiculous number of books over the past several years (about fifty!). He lived in England for quite some time and has a PhD from the University of Leeds, which he likes to pretend means that he knows what he’s talking about. His generous output of written material covers such diverse topics as music, the arts, history, the strange and bizarre, fantasy and sci-fi, and general knowledge. He’s already planning on writing more books, whether anyone wants him to or not.

He’s also an internationally acclaimed musician. He plays dozens of unusual instruments that quite a few people of have never heard of and often can’t pronounce, including medieval instrument reconstructions and folk instruments from Northern Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East.

He has appeared on over forty recordings, and his musical wan- derings and tours have taken him across the US, all over Europe, to Canada and Australia, and to such romantic locations as Marrakech, Istanbul, Renaissance chateaux, medieval Italian hill towns, and high school gymnasiums.

He currently lives in Washington State, surrounded by many books and instruments, as well as with a sometimes-demanding cat. He is rather enthusiastic about good wines and cooking excellent food.

Author Website: https://www.timrayborn.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/timrayborn

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/TimRaybornMusicandWriting

Author Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@timrayborn

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rayborn.esoterica/

Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/tim-rayborn/

Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tim-Rayborn/author/B00DWY5J8E

Check out the latest Carnival of Mysteries novel, You Can Do Magic by R. L. Merrill (tour and excerpt)

R.L. Merrill has a new MM rock ‘n roll fantasy/paranormal romance (bi, gay) out in the Carnival of Mysteries shared universe: You Can Do Magic. This is also book three in Merrill’s Summer of Hush series. And there’s a giveaway.

From the author of Foreword Indies Finalist Summer of Hush and BookLife Prize Quarterfinalist Brains and Brawn comes a new installment in the series, a contemporary gay romance with a side of time travel and magic.

Musical prodigy Kallos Alexandrou has played his calliope for countless visitors at Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, but his one-year residency has come to an end. Scars from a terrible tragedy in his past are the only explanation he has for his loss of speech and memory, but it’s time to move on, so when a music festival sets up next to the carnival, Mr. Ame sends him off with identification, a bottomless billfold, and a set of new clothes. Outside the carnival’s perimeter, Kal finds himself in an unfamiliar world surrounded by strange instruments and vibrant people like nothing he’s ever seen.

Ryan Wells is the troubled and celebrated lead singer of the metal band Backdrop Silhouette. He’s brought more than his share of baggage on the last cross-country Warped Tour, including harsh restrictions placed on him by his parole officer and the band’s label, but it’s the treatment from his bandmates that have him feeling unsettled. After a tough morning, he spots a strange young man playing carnival music on a keyboard backstage, and the sound takes him back to a particularly vulnerable time in his youth. Intrigued, Ryan asks the young man’s name, but he flees only to appear later as a replacement stagehand for the tour.

An invitation from the band Hush to ride on their bus gives Ryan and Kal a welcome distraction. They find the camaraderie and support they’ve both been craving…as well as a little magic and a fresh new romance. But the music business makes personal relationships difficult to maintain, and when the tour ends, Ryan and Kal will have to make a choice: move forward together on an uncertain path, or let fear keep them from trusting that sometimes you really can have everything you desire.

You Can Do Magic is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains a Depression-era calliaphone, a Ouija board with a purpose, and tour bus hijinks that will warm your heart and make you gigglesnort. Reading Summer of Hush and Brains and Brawn before this book will give you the full Warped Tour experience, but You Can Do Magic can be read as a standalone as well as the other books in the shared universe. Recommended 18+.

Warnings: Mention of prior sexual abuse, off-page, no descriptions

About the Series

Welcome, everyone, to the Carnival of Mysteries! In this shared element multiverse, we invite you to partake of an array of stories by an eclectic group of authors. You’ll find action, intrigue, mystery, danger, sweetness, and sorrow, but, above all, true love! So grab your ticket, indulge in some treats, experience a few thrills, maybe have your fortune read… there is something for everyone at the Carnival!

Get It On Amazon

Giveaway

R.L. is giving away a $30 Spotify gift card with this tour:

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Excerpt

Chapter One
Kal

A new day breaks
Under the blue skies above
A new crowd waits
All they need is a little shove
The Carnival is here
With mysteries galore
To satisfy your cravings
To leave you wanting more
We’re here today, gone the next,
Taking along our magic and song.
Come inside, take a peek
Surprises like these won’t wait long
Here we have the fantastical calliope,
come dance with our talented Kal
His music will delight and seduce you
With the power of the siren’s call
So step right up, and don’t be shy
For his time is coming to a close
Come shimmy and shake with this talented guy
And celebrate the last of his shows…

I’d memorized the ringmaster’s introduction, though it was more sensational than I deserved. And last night’s version had a new ending, one I’d been expecting, but hearing it brought a sliver of anxiety to my bones.

The instrument I played was actually a calliaphone—a more efficient and portable version of the forced-air organ—and I’d built it myself, that much I knew. It was my voice. It spoke all I knew to say, my own words lacking. I possessed the ability to speak, but I’d mostly forgotten how, therefore I preferred to let my music speak for me. I played for the crowds. I smiled for them, but I was transparent to the onlooker.

One year had passed in this way, one year of my life, and I had nothing of my own. No friends to help, no family to love, and no safe place to lay my head away from the carnival. What would I do, where would I go, and would someone see me for me?

The boss, Mr. Ame, told me soon it would be time to move on to the next phase. I’d no clue what that meant other than I would no longer travel with the carnival. There was nothing to pack, nothing to carry, only the clothes—and the scars—I wore on my body. I would miss my calliaphone and the crowds, but I knew it was time. My stay had been healing, educational. My time taught me plenty. The carnival would go on without me and my music, on to the next place to entertain…and seduce the locals. They’d fall under the spell of my fellow travelers. Some might even be chosen to come along.

I remembered little from my time before I, too, had joined the carnival. Humiliation and regret reverberated within the structures of my cells, but I didn’t recall more than that, much less the reason for the debt that forced me into servitude. The boss took me away from the darkness, and promised to set me free one day. But what was free, what would it mean, who would I be? A musician, a man, alone? I’d forgotten my past. I’d learned all I could in this place. Would I survive what lay ahead?

I took my questions to the man in charge, the one they call Errante Ame, and he confirmed that my time with the carnival was at an end.

“My dear, Kallos,” the boss said to me. “The world has done you wrong, not the other way around. You have been a part of something important here, and we shall never forget the joy your music has brought to our clan and our guests. But now it is time for you to move on, as all in the crew must do.

It is your choice where you’ll go once you leave the perimeter, what you will do with the time you have left.

“You have been invisible to our guests for so long, adored for your playing, of course, but who you are remains unseen, unspoken. A blank canvas, a puzzle. Only you can solve the riddle of your life. The time is near when you will set out on your greatest adventure, the journey to find your purpose. Being reborn can be frightening. You will have questions, but the answers you seek can be found within yourself. All you must do is follow your instincts, and your heart’s desire. Do what you feel is right and true. Be good to yourself and your fellow creatures, and walk the path of least harm.

“When the next sun rises, you will step outside the bounds of the carnival. You will have all that you need to begin anew. By the following sunrise, our carnival will have moved on. A traveling music festival will share these grounds with us tomorrow. Perhaps you can start there.”

I knew down deep in my bones that he was correct, that something momentous was about to occur.

Author Bio

Whether she’s writing swoon-worthy contemporary romance featuring quirky, queer, and relatable characters or diving deep into the supernatural to give readers a shiver, R.L. Merrill loves creating compelling stories that will stay with readers long after closing the book. Ro writes inclusive romance for the Happily Ever After collective, contributes paranormal hilarity to Robyn Peterman’s Magic and Mayhem Universe, and pens horror-inspired tales and music reviews for HorrorAddicts.net. A mom, wife, daughter, and former educator, you can find her rocking out in her Bronco with Great Dane pup Velma, being terrorized by feline twins Dracula and Frankenstein, or headbanging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area! Stay Tuned for more…

Author Website: https://www.rlmerrillauthor.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/rochellerlmerrill/

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/rlmerrillauthor

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rlmerrillauthor

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9828914.R_L_Merrill

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/r-l-merrill/

Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/R.L.-Merrill/author/B00PI6Q1LI

Check Out the latest Release from M. D. Grimm! A Priest, A Plague, and A Prophecy!

M.D. Grimm has a new MM fantasy romance out (ace, bi, demi): A Priest, a Plague, and a Prophecy. And there’s a giveaway.

“Orcs are the answer but what is the question?”

Elias is a priest at the Temple of the Divine Sibyl. When he becomes lost in the woods after his brother’s hunting party abandons him, it’s just his luck that he’d stumble upon an angry orc caught in a trap. Unable to stomach the suffering of others, Elias throws self-preservation to the wind and frees the orc. Then Gurrkk—that’s a name?—ends up leading him to safety.

Gurrkk finds himself rather smitten by the sweet, awkward human. He’s always been fascinated with his people’s sworn enemy, and now he has a life debt to fulfill to maintain his honor.

Hiding an orc among the temple’s crypts wouldn’t have been Elias’s first choice but Gurrkk is stubborn about leaving. As they learn each other’s languages and spend more time together, Elias realizes they’ve become friends… and maybe more. And when the dying sibyl gives her last prophecy, Elias knows it wasn’t chance that brought them together, it was the gods.

But why?

This is a sweet, ace romance, so no sexy times, but plenty of snuggles and cuddles!

Universal Buy Links | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Giveaway

M.D. is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card with this tour:

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Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47285/?

Excerpt

Elias closed his eyes and clasped his hands under his chin, sending a fervent prayer to the gods, asking for a sign. Any sign that would lead him home. Seconds passed. Minutes. He cracked open one eye to look around. Seeing nothing, he glared and set his fists on his hips.

So much for divine intervention.

“I’m one of your priests, and you don’t give me the time of day,” he mumbled as he set off down the left-hand path.

He was hungry again.

Even as he was contemplating the pros and cons of eating one of his last apples, he stumbled around a thick tree before halting in shock.

An orc sat on the ground, his greenish-gold skin glistening with sweat and his coal-black eyes glaring with menace. He was almost bald, except for a spiky strip of green hair running from his forehead to the back of his skull. The lack of hair accentuated his large ears that moved independently of each other. Two pronounced fangs jutted up from his lower jaw, which was square and blunt, and more sharp teeth showed when he growled.

Elias stayed frozen, taking in the long black tunic cinched at the waist by a gold cord. The short sleeves were trimmed with gold thread, baring muscled arms. The stately garb struck Elias, making him wonder as to the status of the orc. Did they have hierarchy as humans did? The tunic ended around his knees, leaving the rest of his muscled legs bare. Also, this orc wasn’t of monstrous size, so he couldn’t be of the mountain variety. He was certainly taller and broader than Elias, but also leaner, corded with muscle, like that big cat Elias had spotted earlier. And his face was… not horrible. Brutish and sharp but not hideous or even ugly. Those illustrators of tomes really set out to depict orcs as the most horrific creatures ever to grace the earth.

The urge to run made his palms grow damp and his breath to quicken. Not that he could run for more than a few steps before wheezing because he was so damn out of shape, and why the hell didn’t he train with his brother? I’m going to die, I’m going to die….

Then his gaze traveled down to the reason the orc was sitting on the ground and not eating his face. Vicious steel jaws had the orc by the ankle, piercing deeply into his flesh. The jaws were attached to a chain that was buried into to the earth. The fact the orc hadn’t freed himself meant this was one of the trick jaws. One specifically made for capturing orcs. The scoured earth around the chain proved that the orc had tried to dig himself free but clearly hadn’t succeeded. His ankle was a mess of torn flesh and caked blood, and only then did Elias notice the buzz of flies.

How long had he been sitting there, in pain? In fear?

Sympathy rose with anger not far behind. Elias and the orc stared at each other, and Elias found himself stepping closer without consciously deciding his actions. The orc growled deeper, eyes narrowed in warning. Elias stopped again, wondering what he was doing. This was an orc! The enemy! The beasts that kept trying to take their lands. Attius’s tirades whirled through his mind even as the battle songs about marauding orcs jangled in his memory.

He’d never joined in. He’d never had anything personal against orcs. He never thought one way or another about them. Fighting them wasn’t a part of his world. Most of his life had been spent ensconced in the Temple of the Divine Sibyl, which was safely behind fortified stone walls and separated from the general populace of the city.

He was sheltered and he knew it. To see such ugly pain in another living creature struck him to the core. That was one of the reasons he didn’t eat meat. He couldn’t reconcile killing just to feed himself when there were plenty of other things to consume if he simply looked.

At that moment, this orc was no different than any other wild animal caught in a trap. And would he let such a creature die so horribly? No, he would not.

Taking a deep breath, and with more courage than he would profess to have, Elias crouched before slowly pushing off his pack. He kept his eyes on the orc and opened the top flap before tilting it to show the orc that it only held medicines, plant samples, parchment, and ink.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said gently. “Can you understand me?”

The orc made no indication either way. He continued to growl and glare.

“I want to help you.” Elias took the one weapon he had, a long dagger, and showed the orc the blade before tossing it away. The orc stopped growling and blinked in apparent surprise. Elias shuffled closer on his knees, keeping his demeanor as non-threatening as possible. He almost snorted—as if a soft priest like him could be threatening. He kept speaking in low tones as he would to a frightened animal. He kept his pack held out in front of him, hoping the harmless items would convince the orc he wasn’t a hunter.

The orc’s large nostrils flared, and he squinted into the bag. He must have smelled the remaining apples, the plant samples, and the few healing ointments Elias carried with him everywhere. Elias set the bag within easy reach of the orc just in case he wanted to investigate. Then he took a good look at the steel jaws and winced.

The orc didn’t wear shoes, his sturdy, rough feet tough enough not to need them. His nails were more like claws, almost identical to those on his fingers. The trap would have been covered, and he’d stepped directly onto the triggering mechanism. The blades had barely missed his foot to cut into his ankle, probably scraping against the bones and tendons.

Elias took a moment to fight nausea.

“Damn. Once I free your leg it’s going to bleed profusely. I have to wrap it fast and tight.” He glanced up and met the orc’s eyes. Grim determination stared back at him and Elias blinked. “You do understand me.”

Author Bio

M.D. Grimm has wanted to write stories since second grade (kind of young to make life decisions, but whatever) and nothing has changed since then (well, plenty of things actually, but not that!).

Thankfully, she has indulgent parents who let her dream, but also made sure she understood she’d need a steady job to pay the bills (they never let her forget it!). After graduating from the University of Oregon and majoring in English, (let’s be honest: useless degree, what else was she going to do with it?) she started on her writing career and couldn’t be happier.

Working by day and writing by night (or any spare time she can carve out), she enjoys embarking on romantic quests and daring adventures (living vicariously, you could say) and creating characters that always triumph against the villain, (or else what’s the point?) finding their soul mate in the process.

Author Website: https://www.mdgrimmwrites.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001710645622

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4574220.M_D_Grimm

Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/m-d-grimm/

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/m-d-grimm/

Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/M.D.-Grimm/e/B00I0KZMY6/

Review: Pressure (Lunar Wolves Book 1) by Kiki Burrell

Rating: 3.25🌈

I picked up Pressure hoping by reading the first of the Lunar Wolves books I’d get a better understanding of the universe and setting for Burrell’s stories and characters.

Unfortunately, the answer is not really. I still don’t know if the world the events take place in belongs to humans AND lunar wolves originally, or if lunar wolves came later.

Also unanswered is the question of how and why the solar and celestial wolves clans or species came to this world or dimension. And who they are exactly. They appear to have, at least the solar wolves do, a very specific and rigid culture.

But this is a lunar wolf series. Where’s their rich background? Are there other series I’m missing?

At any rate, once again, I enter a story with a incomplete picture of the world and it’s cultural history and current affairs. That lack of information will have the reader try to piece together essential bits of storylines and failing because we just can’t make sense of them.

If you can toss aside the backstory and concentrate on just the relationship of Axe Landry, Chief of LCEA, and Caden Borealis, only son of a isolated witch clan, then the story is very interesting. I like the main characters as they met and finally agreed to mate. A messy path indeed.

Axe has a hidden secret (one the reader doesn’t know until later), but he must obtain a mate to continue on in his job.

All wolves ,apparently, must mate with a witch, due to The Sacred Pact. That’s actually spelled out for the reader and Caden. Otherwise, they go primal, lone, and wild.

So arranging for a mate is a common practice among clans of witches and wolves.

Caden is a different sort of person. He’s headed towards being a drug dealer, with a sleazy boyfriend and loser attitude. I like how this turns out.

Burrell could have spent the entire storyline on the adjustments both Caden and Axe had to make to each other, to the surprises inherent in their relationship and mate bond. Also to Caden’s reaction to Crescent City and the paranormal world. It would have been a excellent time to get those pesky things like background elements and foundation building in.

But instead there’s a mystery and murder to investigate too.

For myself, that took away from character development and pushed the story toward more threads than it could possibly handle.

Did I enjoy Pressure? Yes. Did I feel I had read a story that had a firm foundation of its universe set out for its readers? No. Likable characters and romantic relationships are engaging but within a story where we don’t have a complete picture of the world around them.

That’s a tad frustrating. Where did those solar wolves come from?

So if you’re a Burrell fan and have the answers, then I’m sure you will be picking up this book. All others make your own choices.

Lunar Wolves series (no mpreg):

✓ Pressure #1

◦ Tension #2

◦ Force #3

◦ Thrust #4

Scorched, a Lunar Wolves novel

Buy Link:

Pressure: Lunar Wolves Book One

Axe Landry needs a fake mate—fast.

Axe Landry is the disgraced heir of a defeated Alpha. He craves law, order, and stability, but he’s clinging to his position of Chief of the Lunar Council Enforcement Agency, the protectors of Crescent City, by a thread. If he doesn’t find a mate—a witch mate, at that—by the next full moon, he’s bound for a life of ridicule and isolation. And to Axe, that kind of humiliation is a fate worse than death.

Enter Caden Borealis—wild, reckless…and irresistible.

Caden hasn’t made much of his twenty-three years on earth. His dysfunctional family and traumatic past sent him on a five year bender, but when his grandpa gets sick, Caden knows he needs to take care of the only person who ever cared about him. Caden’s life is a mess, though, and he desperately needs money if he wants to save his grandpa’s life.

A deliciously indecent proposal.

When Caden first hears Axe’s proposal, he can’t believe Axe is serious. All he has to do is pretend to be Axe’s husband and Axe will give him half a million dollars? There has to be a catch. Sure, Axe is a little strict. And yeah, there’s a list of rules Caden has to follow. But he can play the obedient pretend husband for as long as it takes for his grandpa to get better.

Unless it’s all real…

When werewolves start to go missing in Crescent City, Caden realizes he might be in over his head. He’s never let himself rely on anyone before, but Axe—older, gorgeous, steady Axe—becomes his rock as he learns to navigate this newfound world of witches and werewolves. But as the lines between real and pretend blur, Caden can’t always remember that he’s only acting like he’s in love. He needs to keep his head in the game, but it might just be his heart that’s calling the shots now.

Pressure is the first book in the Lunar Wolves series. It is a paranormal gay romance with mystery, suspense, a stern and sexy wolf, and an impulsive twink who maybe should’ve actually read that contract—like Axe had instructed—before he signed it.

Review : Faeted Under Fire (Paranormal Investigative Service Book 1) by Cassidy K. O’Connor and Sheri Lyn

Rating: 4.25🌈

Faeted Under Fire was a wonderful find. The vibrant cover caught my attention and the imaginative storytelling is just so well done. Both authors are new to me, so I was excited to see what they brought to paranormal fiction.

The universe building is sparse as far as how human beings and the paranormal realm came to exist together. The authors deal with this question in smattering of sentences that raise more questions than answers. Where they spend their narrative energy and enthusiasm is in the creation of the paranormal “section’ of the city much like we have a Chinatown or Little Italy. Only more as in the past when the cities were more racially segregated.

It’s a lively, culturally diverse community, with food trucks and bars owned, and run by the various paranormal species. It feels alive. Sometimes grungy and a perfect fit for the pod or group of paranormal investigators to run through or hang at .

O’Connor and Lyn spent considerable time as well as in creating engaging personalities for their main characters. One is Tristan James, a human cop, who’s prejudiced towards paranormals, and then has to undergo a psychological and physical traumatic change when he’s attacked. Tristan is an amazing perspective for the reader into paranormal life as he’s a fresh viewpoint. I adore him. He’s a good cop and someone trying to be a good person, whoever they may be.

His partner, half orc/half Fae, with prejudices of his own, is Maddox Smith. This character has layers, which continue to get peeled back throughout the story and into the next. He’s one whose character consistently deepens and matures to accommodate changes in the relationships around him.

This is the first story so everyone is still learning about each other and getting settled into their new roles.

O’Connor and Lyn kept me involved in the paranormal and human investigations and emotional stories playing out throughout the novel. If I had a bit of a quibble it was that I recognized the villain early on. Not the motivation for all the events, but who it must be at least behind one attack.

However, I do admit that mysteries and crime investigations have been my jam since early childhood. So take that for whatever it may be worth.

In total, Faeted Under Fire (Paranormal Investigative Service Book 1) by Cassidy K. O’Connor and Sheri Lyn is a exciting, immersive journey into a new partnership and journey towards a romantic relationship for two memorable people . I’m absolutely thrilled with my find and recommending it to others.

Paranormal Investigative Service series:

✓ Faeted Under Fire #1

✓ Stitched Under Fire #2

◦ Taken Under Fire #3 – June 8, 2023

Buy Link:

Book 1 of 3: Paranormal Investigative Service

Description:

A human cop, a paranormal agent, and nine missing kids. Prejudice aside, they have to work together if they want to stop number ten.

Tristan James didn’t know he had a latent paranormal gene in his body until he was attacked on the job as an officer with Tampa PD and killed. As a phoenix shifter, he rose from the ashes and came back stronger than ever. Unfortunately, he was no longer human, this meant no job, no home, no friends. New purpose finds him with the help of a paranormal federal agency offering him a job. He has to put his own learned hatreds aside and accept the paranormals he was now one of.

Maddox Smith loved his job with the Paranormal Investigative Services. He knew what it was like to have no one looking out for you and that’s what made him a good agent. Someone is taking paranormal kids and he has no leads. When a recently turned human is booted from the police and brought to P.I.S. and partnered with him, Maddox wants nothing to do with him. What had the humans ever done for their kind?

Can they forget their biases and solve the case before there’s a tenth?

Review: Stone Skin (The Gargoyles of Arrington, #2) by Jenn Burke

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Its been a year since the first book in The Gargoyles of Arrington series by Jenn Burke so I needed to get reacquainted with the arc storylines and particulars before diving into Stone Skin, the novel that’s centered around brother Rian O’Reilly. He’s one of the three remaining O’Reilly brothers who were cursed with turning into Gargoyles and eventual stone death until a witch aunt altered the curse just enough that finding true love would break it.

There’s just two now with the curse hanging over them. The others have either died or met with their true loves.

I admit I connected with this story more fully than I did with Drew and his human mate/lover from Stone Wings. That book had to set the foundation (a lot of information), and lay out the mysteries of the curse and O’Reilly family. It then had even more important details to be worked into the narrative such as a invasion of mountain lion shifters, then a wolf shifter pack element. All that put the fake boyfriend romance under a smaller spotlight, bookwise.

But from the beginning, I was highly invested in the lives of Professor Logan Davis, a person haunted by loss, and Rian, the tattoo artist brother, who’s determined to find a way out of the curse for himself and his remaining brother before it’s too late. And hoping that the unknown professor of legend and mythology will help him to find a clue in the past to unravel their ancient mystery.

Burke shows us so clearly how Rian is desperate to find the cure. We watch as the effects of the old magic falter and he’s sure he doesn’t have much time left. It’s hits us as hard as it does him and his family.

Then we shift to the Professor and a portrait of grief that’s raw and real.As the Professor isn’t even emotionally or mentally available in this world, traumatized by recent events. The author has made us care for him, for Rian, and now the reader is committed to solving the mystery and to the couple to finding their own happiness.

There’s multiple plots also brought forward from Stone Wings that get futher development. I enjoy a found family trope and this one is coming together beautifully.

While all the side storylines are still continuing, they take a secondary role and leave the relationship between Rian and Logan as the main focus. It works perfectly to let the reader understand the overall arc theme is coming together towards a resolution and yet still gives us enough information about the third brother to make us want to continue following the story into the next book.

The drama isn’t over yet.

I’m eagerly awaiting Stone Heart , the last in this series. Love a paranormal hurt/comfort love story? Then I’m recommending Stone Skin and the beginning novel, Stone Wings. Read them in order before the final book in the trilogy comes out.

The Gargoyles of Arrington series:

✓ Stone Wings #1

✓ Stone Skin #2

◦ Stone Heart #3 – June 27, 2023

Buy Link:

Stone Skin: An M/M Paranormal Hurt/Comfort Monster Romance (The Gargoyles of Arrington Book 2)

Description:

Can he break his curse before time runs out?

Despite being cursed to sleep as a gargoyle for a hundred years, and awake for only twenty-five, Rian O’Reilly is an optimist. He knows he can find a way to break the curse through the tattooed runes he’s spent years mastering. No need to wait for this true love crap. But he hasn’t found the right combination of magic and his time is almost up. Rian isn’t ready to lose everyone and everything. Again.

Professor Logan Davis knows about loss. In the past year, he’s lost his mother, his twin, his werewolf pack, and he’s on the verge of losing his mind. So when he’s invited to Arrington to learn about a legend he’s never heard of, he jumps at the chance for a working vacation. He doesn’t expect to find a handsome gargoyle who needs his help to break a centuries-old curse—and he certainly doesn’t expect his grief to finally overwhelm him.

As Rian comforts Logan, he starts to wonder if there might be something to this true love crap after all. He’d give anything to help this gentle giant of a man, but Logan needs time to heal…and time is the one thing Rian doesn’t have.

STONE SKIN is a male/male hurt/comfort paranormal romance featuring a magical tattoo artist gargoyle who doesn’t want to go, a werewolf professor who needs time to rediscover himself beneath his grief, and a budding love that might be the answer to everything…if only it has time to bloom.

Review: Between The Pipes (Watkins Glen Gladiators #1) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 4.75🌈

If you’re a fan of contemporary romance, then this book surely needs to be on your radar. Between The Pipes, the first in author V.L. Locey’s new Watkins Glen Gladiators series, is a low on angst, high on thoughtful adult relationship dynamics romance that’s full of great humor and hot chemistry .

In other words, it’s a must read.

One of its main characters, Liam Kneller-Polkman, is someone some readers (this one included) have followed through his adolescence in the earlier series, According to Liam. We have actually watched him grow up.

Now graduated from college , he’s been drafted to play for the Ravens, and is being “seasoned” to see if he’s going anywhere by playing for their AHL affiliate team, the Watkins Glen Gladiators.

Locey, a diehard hockey fan, has always made the hockey community and element sing. Whether it’s the team dynamics or fast paced ice action, it has always felt grounded in the sport. That includes the diet and pressure about the prep work coming into camp, all of which we get from Liam’s perspective.

What’s new is the NASCAR racing team aspect of this story and other main character. Tarcy Hayward, his car Lola, his team which includes his son Lee. All that reeks of fumes, gasoline, tar, sweat, and the track. So well done. And it needed to be to match the power of the characters and ice of hockey.

They needed their own passions, careers, and personalities to be able to be just as important and powerful as the men themselves. And that’s exactly how it comes off in the story.

Yes, Tarcy is older than Liam. But their chemistry, their discipline, their lifestyles, and the realistic expectations and discussions they have about age and their jobs/futures make that fade (even as they joke about it) as other aspects become more important.

I was just so throughly entertained and overjoyed by this story and the characters romantic journey. I outright laughed at times, found myself nodding in appreciation when Liam’s thoughts turns to the dangers of their professions in terms of the future, something I don’t see often enough in other stories. A recognition that those concussions can cause traumatic brain injury, that racing has its fatalities. Something Tarcy was thinking about too.

This was a great reality check for a contemporary romance.

It also doesn’t end with an automatic HEA because that’s unrealistic. The men honestly just met. They feel grounded in each other, but they are also wise to acknowledge their professions and it’s demands going forward. The story ends in an intelligent, thoughtful, and great way.

Please give me more of this type of story.

I know we will see more of them . The Gladiators seem full of fascinating characters. And Watkins Glen a grand place to base a series.

I can’t wait for more.

Until then, I’m highly recommending Between The Pipes (Watkins Glen Gladiators #1) by V.L. Locey. And if you want to see Liam before he was all grown up, check out all four books in the amazing According to Liam series.

I’ll meet you back here!

Watkins Glen Gladiators:

✓ Between The Pipes #1

Defending The House #2 – TBD

Between the Pipes (Watkins Glen Gladiators #1)Kindle Edition$4.99

Description:

Two men who have sworn off romance are about to crash headfirst into love.

Liam Kneller-Polkman has no time for dating. None. Zero. Zip. His mind has to remain focused on hockey if he wants to secure a goaltending spot on the Watkins Glen Gladiators. He’s committed his whole summer—heck his whole life—to play in the pros someday and he’s not going to lose focus now. Eyes on the prize is his new motto. As training camp grows closer, he accompanies the Gladiators’ team captain to a race at the famed speedway in his new hometown. There he meets Tarcy Hayward, the smolderingly hot, much older driver of the famed number 66 stock car. One look, one smile, and one memorable dinner are all it takes for Liam’s good intentions to stay on track to crash and burn.

Tarcy Hayward’s been around the romance track a few times, each lap leaving him a little older and a lot more wary of giving his heart to someone again. Ever since his wife died, his life has been devoted to his two adult children, his grandson, and racing. He’s happy now that the only thrills he gets are on the racetrack. Or so he thought. When Liam Polkman enters his garage, all the safety barriers in the world aren’t enough to save his heart from the impact. It takes just one night with the stunning young goalie with light green eyes to launch Tarcy’s heart into a high-octane sprint where love always takes the checkered flag.

Between the Pipes is a low angst, age gap gay hockey romance that features an outgoing young goalie, a cautious older race car driver, two families who are not above meddling just a bit to see their loved ones happy, lots of on-ice and high-speed action, and a straightaway sprint to a happy-ever-after.

Review: Find the Jinn (Wilde Contracts #1) by Maz Maddox

Rating: 4.5🌈

Maz Maddox’s latest book in their new series is a great bit of dark storytelling. Told in first person perspective by a assassin/ fish trainer who hunts vampires on the side, we know immediately that the universe is a off kilter one.

Dangerous, filled with beings of all types running a metropolis that swings from swanky to crime ridden and hopeless. Drugs, sex, business as usual.

Our narrator is Dallas Wilde. Sarcasm, dry humor, and an apparent lack of self control camouflage the anguished state that lies beneath a callous, self involved façade. Over time, through scattered memories and distraught scenes, we see a traumatized man, who’s brutal past has never left him and the PTSD that he’s never dealt with.

It’s left, at least in this story, for the readers to start to cobble together the facts that have lead to Dallas’ trauma. It impacts everything that happens here, all his interactions and reactions with the beings and in every event.

I actually enjoy that Maddox isn’t ready to fill in the blanks for us with Dallas’s past history. Especially with all the mysteries and magical plot lines that have their own rabbit holes to go mentally and emotionally down.

Honestly, there’s questions about so many elements here. Fish training? Kevin the beta? Plus those are minor details.

The massive narrative threads, especially those that have a dark turn or twist to them, come with a equal amount of puzzling aspects along with the foundation Maddox is establishing for her series.

I found the book, the characters, and the mind puzzles addictive. I was exceptionally surprised by each turn the story took and how quickly it ended.

It left several items unanswered, as I expected in such a convoluted story, and I’m anticipating the next novel in hopes of seeing the next stages the characters advance to.

There’s public sex, perhaps with a hint of noncon to it, after all moral ambiguities are status quo here. Murder is a job after all.

I’m highly recommending this . Read the warnings at the beginning. It’s dark fantasy or paranormal fiction.

Bring on book two!

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showFind the Jinn (Wilde Contracts #1) by Maz Maddox

Description:

Wilde Contract Killing and Fish Training, how can I help you?

Murder contract? Piece of cake.

Find a jinn? No problem.

New necromancy powers while being followed by an unwanted vampire bodyguard?

Not so much.

Trained to handle even the most fierce undead, Dallas Wilde took out a powerful necromancer without breaking a sweat. Okay, that’s a lie – there was tons of sweat, but he was victorious all the same.

Unfortunately, killing a necromancer comes with some repercussions.

Broody, annoying, vampire repercussions and new abilities to resurrect the dead.

Can Dallas navigate his blood-sucking bodyguard, new powers, feelings for his attractive client and still handle his contract in time to pay his very, very late rent – all while trying not to get super murdered in the process?

Let’s hope so.

Find the Jinn is the first contract in a trilogy of death, pining, dark magic and a grumpy fish named Kevin.

—-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: Double Wolf Dare You (Cadenbury Town #3) by E. Broom

Rating:2.25 🌈

I had really hoped that the third book would see a change in course back to the style and level of storytelling that I found so charming and engaging in The Crazy Bookshop. Then came Where There’s a Witch There’s a Way and what I felt was a breakdown in the narrative which left huge hunks of exposition untold as well as serious character issues and plot issues left dangling.

I was going to leave the series there. But saw this release and thought, maybe the issues I had in book two were just items the author was saving until now. Hence , Double Wolf Dare You.

Reads book.

Me: *hitting head against desk*

Author: ?

Me: remember issues from last book?

Author: nods

Me: not resolved. Added more.

Me: a Big Bad from Books 1 & 2 calls the MC, Temp, threatens him to strip him of magic?

Author: yes

Me: The MC says nothing to anyone. Because, hey, he doesn’t feel it’s a threat . Even though the person says he, a former enemy , is coming for them all AGAIN. Right?

Author: yes

Me: Then of course, he gets sick and blah blah because he told no one.

Author: yes

Me: so if anything logical or smart as telling ppl a former enemy was coming to strip everybody’s magical abilities AGAIN, uh well, 🤔.. you wouldn’t have a book? Correct?

Author:

Me: So stupidity , miscommunication , and repetitive plot issues are in store for the readers for the rest of the narrative because of that factor?

Author:

Me: sigh

And I’m really finally absolutely done with this series. No amount of small imaginative details can save it from decision making like that.

Honestly, towards the end I was flipping pages to save myself a headache from reading the increasingly worsening situations and dialogues before me.

Oh no! Let’s go back to the town full of evil magic and endless catacombs that we should have finished off in

Books 1 and 2, and said so , but didn’t because we needed to be idiotic and return in Book 3! Plus it’s the only evil town around apparently. SMH

Yes, I’m done with characters that are TSTL, TSTC, and plots/writing that just are so narratively illogical and plain awful.

I don’t know who’s a fan of these stories, I’ll leave them to you. I’m bowing out.

Cadenbury Town series:

🔹The Crazy Bookshop 1

🔹Where There’s a Witch There’s a Way 2

🔹Double Wolf Dare You #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showE. Broom (Author of The Crazy Bookshop) – Goodreads

Description:

I never thought my dreams of being a healer would come true, but it looks like they are about to.

Tempest Tanner is a true witch from one of the original lines of light magic. All he’s ever wanted is to be a healer, and now, thanks to his new family, he can begin his training.

But a dark spell puts Tempest’s life in danger and his magic out of action. Thankfully, Ben Stone, the local mechanic and wolf shifter—and brother to the Alpha— is on hand to help.

With danger lurking around every corner, can Tempest survive long enough to snag his man and receive perfect tens?

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Mage Bond by Eden Winters

Rating:4🌈

Mage Bond is Eden Winters’ new fantasy romance that expands into what could be the beginnings of a epic fantasy series.

The novel’s first chapters are also the characters upheavals out of their familiar lives, putting them ,as well as the reader , on their own personal journeys to bring them together.

We’re introduced to two boys, initially so different in backgrounds and families. Arkenn’s small family life is one of secrets, hiding high in the mountains, and, his fleeing in pain and loss.

The other? Petran’s lives aboard a pirate ship, the Seabird, with his Captain father, and a host of seafaring mates.

The energy and sense of a fantastic adventure is here with the youth at the beginning of their journeys. You get a real idea of mystery, and the fate pulling them towards each other.

Each will realize great personal loss, and achieve enormous growth through challenges they undertake, but it’s on paths they take separately away from each other for a while.

And this is where Winters lost me momentarily.

While the young men are together and exploring their backgrounds, powers, and sexuality, Mage Bond has a real chemistry and dynamic energy.

But as soon as a brown cloaked priest can say , “you’ll see each other again one day” , and pushes each away towards different “journey “, the story starts to loose something.

Now as Arkenn becomes Martin and Petran becomes Peter, each needs their own book in a way. In trying to insure that the main characters acquire all the necessary elements for their powers to be believable, Mage Bond ‘s middle section’s overly packed exposition reads more as a told to which slows down the momentum of the narrative.

For me, at least, it’s not until, Martin and Peter are brought back together that we regain the original energy and the storylines their strengths.

From that moment on, it just starts pouring on the narrative speed as we learn more about all the monsters, the Grand Evil that’s plagued the world, and the real identities of some of the characters who have been playing major roles in everyone’s lives.

The resolution to the end of all the battles is one that’s left me thinking. I can’t exactly roll out doubts here without giving away major spoilers. But while the battles were splendid, the final solution had a few patchy tears in it . Logically speaking. If that’s all it took to take “care” of the villain at the end, then why not just do it at the beginning? It doesn’t follow all the arguments for the reasons it starts at all. I don’t know. Just wasn’t satisfying as a logical, thoughtful ending.

It does set up the possibility for a series of stories with quite a few characters from this book going forward.

I really liked Martin/Arkenn and Peter/ Petran. They have the potential to continue to grow into a even more powerful couple. There’s several other people and beings that helped make this a enjoyable experience.

I found Mage Bond entertaining and it’s lead couple easy to connect with. If you’re a lover of fantasy and this author, this is a story you’re sure to want to pick up.

Synopsis:

A long-ago meeting sets fate into motion…

As captain of the city guards, Martin protects E’Skaara by day. At night, he creeps in shadows to defend the citizens from predators most cannot see. He’s escaped from his past as a mage-born lad who’d nearly destroyed a village in self-defense. The three things he can’t so easily elude? Rage at a deity who condemns mages to death, memories of a pirate who saved him, and the magic he must conceal.

Tavernkeeper Peter keeps secrets. Secrets that can get him killed: his desire for men, a pirate past, and magical abilities. He should run from the one place mages cannot be safe, but yearning for a lost love binds him to where they shared their last kiss, waiting for one more glimpse of a dear face.

When dark forces reunite them, the magic both men try so hard to hide might just be their salvation.

Mage Bond is now available for preorder on Amazon

This reviewer was given a copy to review by the author.

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