A Stella Review: Risk Aware by Amelia C Gormley

RATING:  4,25 out of 5 stars

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

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

A Lila Review: Werewolves of Chernobyl by K.A. Merikan and L.A. Witt

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Werewolves of ChernobylQuinn is a travel blogger in search of the next great story. He specializes in finding the big shot and news no other blogger would post. During his trip to Chernobyl, he enters the exclusion zone he had been ordered to stay away by the armed tour guides. As he explores, he found one of the animals he had been warned about, but he realizes there’s more behind his findings.

Dima is the werewolf Quinn meets. During their brief encounter, Dima gets mesmerized by Quinn and wants to make him his. Unfortunately, they don’t have an effective way to communicate even when Dima understands Quinn. After the guides come to Quinn’s rescue, Dima runs home to find his best friend, Nazar.

Nazar has been Dima’s protector since they were pups. He would do anything to make him happy, including rescuing Dima’s new craving. Nazar and Dima have a deep connection that gets tested by Quinn’s arrival and pack dynamics. It would be up to the three of them to find their place in each other’s life.

Werewolves of Chernobyl isn’t your typical werewolves’ story, nor, the story I expected. There’s no fated mate, fairytale-like forests, or ruling alpha male claiming the main character. Instead, we get a human MC, a werewolf soldier, and the lowest werewolf in the hierarchy. And all these made for a refreshing take on a well-known troupe.

It’s amazing to see how three authors can work in one single story without making it obvious. The pacing, flow, and characterizations were executed flawlessly. Each main character has a solid backstory, and their personalities are unique. Together, they balanced their relationship and their future.

The story incorporates historical events to a paranormal world without resting importance to them. The authors were versed on the facts surrounding the Chernobyl disaster and the previous and current state of the surrounding areas and countries. It’s easy to see the story from the characters perspective and to understand the settings.

Even when the story was well-crafted, smexy, and interesting enough to keep reading, it lacks complexity. Everything that happens to the characters is simply a background. It doesn’t interfere directly with their daily events or the final outcome. More than a story about the possibility of werewolves in Chernobyl, it’s a story about how to adjust to the ins and outs of a polyamorous relationship.

It’s not about romance or a thriller. Overall, this story is about three “men” figuring out a long term relationship.

The cover by Natasha Snow portraits Quinn in the dark woods of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. But doesn’t provide any more details.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 214 pages
Published: May 5, 2016, by Wing & Fang Press
ASIN: B01EZAWJ6S
Edition Language: English

A MelanieM Review: Sweet William by Dianne Hartsock

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5

Sweet WilliamWilliam Wilkerson leads the life of the privileged rich. Head of his father’s shipping business, he indulges to his heart’s content in the pleasures of the flesh with Boston’s finest young men.

That is, until he reunites with Fredrick: his former tutor and the one man who captured his heart.

But William’s father has declared Fredrick off limits. And Fredrick, himself, believes he’s beneath the attention of the Wilkerson heir.

After having lost his current pupil to graduation, and with no prospects of a replacement, Frederick is homeless, hungry, and easy pickings for the men on the docks.

When Frederick is shanghaied into service on William’s own merchant ship, will William discover his plight in time to rescue him?

Sweet William is an short historical romance by Dianne Hartsock that is simply a sweet, quick lovers reunited story set in Boston in 1894, but sometimes manages to lose the tone and feel of the times its set in.

The blurb above pretty much sets out the entire story which Hartsock fills in for 48 pages, including lots of sexy encounters, some sexual assaults, and a romance that while sweet, never felt as thought it had much depth.

The story is like a pretty bauble as they would say back then, lovely if you don’t have too high expectations.  William, the heir, has been pretty much a man slut, behaving recklessly with men in an age where that could lead to jail if not a hanging (that’s not quite addressed here).  Frederick the teacher (only a few years older than William) is cast off, finds another job, loses that and somehow remains naive, longing for his first love, a bit of a “lost bunny” of a character with no apparent self preservation instincts.

The characterizations and back history just didn’t have enough time in the story to come together.  Or perhaps it was how they were presented in the story, but whatever it was, they lost a certain amount of chemistry and connection because it felt disconnected in the shortness of the tale here.

Yes, the villain was perhaps the final downfall.  He was evil incarnate in the “old fashioned” way.  His actions towards Frederick were vile, yes.  But there was just something about Frederick’s predicament that didn’t seem believable enough, that what followed lost their reality as well.  He  came away feeling more like Snidely Whiplash then a viable human predator.

And none of the above addresses the times the story was set in, which I only got a small feeling for.  In short,  maybe my expectations for an historical romance are set high, higher than this story reached.  Others might just overlook my issues, and enjoy the romance for the lovers reunited PWP short novelette it is.  I’ll leave the decision up to you.

Cover Art by: Adrian Rafail.  I love this cover. Its charming, the tone is perhaps as is the character.

Sales Links:  Wayward Ink Press |Amazon US |Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 48 pages
Published April 22nd 2016 by Wayward Ink Publishing
ISBN139781925222876
Edition LanguageEnglish
settingBoston, Massachusetts (United States)

A VVivacious Review: Five Times My Best Friend Kissed Me by Anna Martin

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
 
Five Times My Best Friend Kissed MeScott and Evan have been best friends since forever. But when Evan realises he is gay, he also realises that he has almost always held a flame in his heart for his best friend.
 
When Scott kisses him in the beginning of senior year, Evan believes his wildest dreams to have come true but when he finds Katie, Scott’s friend-with-benefits kissing Scott just minutes after, his hopes come crashing down. He decides to forget the kiss as a drunken misadventure, never to be mentioned again.
 
But even though Evan is ready to forget Scott’s drunken mistake, Scott isn’t so ready to have Evan forget him.
 
This story is a best-friends-to-lovers story, which is one of my favorite tropes. Evan and Scott are so good together and their story was so cute and so sweet and seeing them finally find each other was the best thing of all.
 
This book is very well written. I liked the 5+1 (Five Times My Best Friend Kissed Me and One Time I Kissed Him First) idea which the author says originated from fan fiction. It is my first encounter with such a type of story. It’s kind of like six short stories chronicling the epic love story of Scott and Evan. I felt like this particular way of writing the story made it much more interesting, especially as the story of the kisses is out of order, so there this awesome feeling of understanding how future events occurred which we learn about first based on things that happened in the past which we came to know about later. I kind of got the surreal feeling of time traveling to uncover the story of Scott and Evan.
 
Evan is an artist working to make ends meet he isn’t struggling and he is comfortable living in his own house, doing what he likes and actually getting paid for it. Evan is the type of guy who is trying to figure his life out in high school but is unable to as he has to keep a part of himself under wraps. But once he comes out he tastes the freedom of being who he wants to be and living life as he wants to. I loved Evan he is the kind of loner who has a really popular best friend.
 
Scott on the other hand is still figuring his life out but getting a job being successful at it and having multiple relationships still hasn’t helped him move on from that dreaded What If question. What if Evan and him could be something more?
 
Well this book does say five times and I really wondered if this story would be another angst-fest and if the author could justify the MCs letting each other go so many times. As it happens this story was considerably low on angst than I expected and everything that happens in the story feels natural and real and it makes sense that things would go down the way did. It is a beautiful story about how Scott and Evan become Scott and Evan and when they are together it is beautiful.
 
I loved the story it was one hell of an awesome love story with two characters meant to be with each other and their story, the path they take to find each other may have been long but in the end it made the story worth it.
 
Cover Art by Garrett Leigh. I loved the cover. I loved the sunset background with those orange tones and the two guys fooling around having fun. Personally the cover will make you look twice. It is really pretty.
Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 200 pages
Expected publication: May 20th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
Original TitleFive Times My Best Friend Kissed Me
ISBN139781634771566
Edition LanguageEnglish

An Ali Audiobook Review: Violated by Jamie Fessenden and K.C. Kelly (Narrator)

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Violated audiobook coverDerek Sawyer thinks he has it all—a high-salaried position, a boyfriend, a dog, even a new cabin on the lake—until a business trip with his manager and best friend, Victor, shatters his world.

One night of drunken horsing around in their hotel room leads to the most intensely personal violation Derek has ever endured. As if the humiliation of working under his attacker every day isn’t enough, Victor reports Derek for sexual harassment. Now he’s without a job, without a boyfriend, and the mortgage on the cabin is due.

Officer Russ Thomas has worked with rape victims before, and it doesn’t take him long to sort out the truth in Derek’s tale. With his support, Derek finally reports the crime, months after it happened. But restraining orders and lawyers further Victor’s anger toward him, and even though a relationship develops between Derek and the policeman, Russ can’t be there to protect him all the time.

This was a very emotional story.  Derek is content with his life if not happy.  When he is violated by his friend he realizes how much he doesn’t like some aspects of his life.  He does everything he can to deal on his own without anyone’s help until he pretty much loses everything except his dog and cabin.  Russ can’t help but tell there is something wrong with his new neighbor and will do anything he can to help Derek and help him move forward.

You can’t help but connect with the characters and feel just how they are.  I could feel how desperate and isolated Derek felt about what happened to him and how hurt Russ is for Derek when he is told the story.  It takes awhile for Derek to fully open up to anyone and begin to move forward in his life after all that has happened.  This story had a great HFN ending a couple years in the future.  It made it more believable because with all that happened there really isn’t any way that everything would suddenly work out, they will always need to work thru their emotions together.

KC Kelly did a very nice job narrating this story.  I was able to connect with the characters feel their emotions in his reading as he used different voices for the characters.

Cover art by LC Chase is perfect for this story.

Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press | Audible | Amazon | iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook, 9 hrs 42 min
Published: March 21, 2016 (ebook first published August 7, 2015)
Edition Language: English

In the Spotlight: The Balance (The Eternal Dungeon #3) by Dusk Peterson (excerpt and contest)

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The Balance (The Eternal Dungeon #3) by Dusk Peterson
Release Date: April 11, 2016 (reissue)

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Love In Dark Settings Press
Cover Artist: Dusk Peterson

Blurb

“‘The Eternal Dungeon is my home now,’ the High Seeker said. But as he spoke, he lifted his face and looked at the Vovimian carving, as a man might look at a beloved he must leave forever.”

The Seekers (torturers) in the Eternal Dungeon have always expressed contempt toward the Hidden Dungeon in the neighboring kingdom of Vovim, whose torturers abuse prisoners without restraint. But the balance between mercy and hell is not so clear as might be thought in either dungeon, and now that balance is about to tip. Only the strength of love and integrity will determine the paths of two Seekers whose fortunes are bound together.

A winner of the 2011 Rainbow Awards (within the “Eternal Dungeon” omnibus), this tale of love and adventure can be read on its own or as the third volume in The Eternal Dungeon, a speculative fiction series set in a nineteenth-century prison where the psychologists wield whips.

The Eternal Dungeon series is part of Turn-of-the-Century Toughs, a cycle of alternate history series (Young Toughs, Waterman, Life Prison, Commando, Michael’s House, The Eternal Dungeon, and Dark Light) about adults and youths on the margins of society, and the people who love them. Set in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the novels and stories take place in an alternative version of America that was settled by inhabitants of the Old World in ancient times. As a result, the New World retains certain classical and medieval customs.

 

Pages or Words: 90,000 words
Can be read as a standalone
Categories: Alternate Universe, Gay Fiction, Historical, Adventure, Queergender

Excerpt

He had awoken, on that day after, to find himself lying alone in bed.

It had all been a dreaming, then: the promise of everlasting love, the passion that had followed upon that promise, the warmth of Elsdon’s body – and more importantly, the warmth of his companionship. Layle had expected it to happen one day: his dreamings had become so real that he had begun to believe them.

The bedsprings creaked.

He reacted automatically, which meant he reacted violently. Reaching toward the only loose object at hand – the night-table next to the bed – he grasped it by its leg, wrenched it from the floor, and had begun to swing it toward the intruder before he checked himself in time.

He opened his eyes. Elsdon, fully clothed and hooded but with his face-cloth raised, sat beside him. He looked, Layle realized with amazement, more amused than fearful.

“By all that is sacred,” Elsdon said, speaking the mildest of oaths, “is this how you always greet your love-mates upon awakening?”

Layle slowly lowered the night-table, feeling the blood thunder within his body. “I’ve never had a love-mate before who slept with me.”

“I can see why, if this is how you wake from your sleep.”

Layle slowly raised himself into a sitting position. Elsdon was still smiling, he noted with growing incredulity. The Seeker-in-Training had made a joke about the fact that Layle was a killer born.

Buy the book

http://duskpeterson.com/eternaldungeon/#thebalance

Universal / Global Amazon – http://myBook.to/TheBalance_DPeterson
BN – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-balance-dusk-peterson/1115247368
kobo – https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-balance-the-eternal-dungeon-volume-3
iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/balance-eternal-dungeon-volume/id1102706878?mt=11
smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/629188

 

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Meet the Author

Honored in the Rainbow Awards, Dusk Peterson writes historical adventure tales that are speculative fiction: alternate history, historical fantasy, and retrofuture science fiction, including lgbtq novels and young adult fiction. Friendship, family affection, faithful service, and romance often occur in the stories. A resident of Maryland, Mx. Peterson lives with an apprentice and several thousand books.

Where to find the author:

 


Tour Dates & Stops:

Parker Williams, Divine Magazine, A.M. Leibowitz, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Full Moon Dreaming, Bayou Book Junkie, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, My Fiction Nook, Jessie G. Books, MM Good Book Reviews, Happily Ever Chapter, Charley Descoteaux, MM Book Escape, Bonkers About Books, Velvet Panic, The Hat Party, Outrageous Heroes, Open Skye Book Reviews

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Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: An e-copy of “Life Prison.”  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
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A MelanieM Review:Locked (Telluric Realm #1) by Anyta Sunday

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

LockedA curse threatens the Winter Kingdom.
A brother is turned to ice.
A rebel uprising is on the horizon.

Marble-maker Rye Cunnings is at the center of it all—and doesn’t know it.

He doesn’t know he’s the lost summer prince. Doesn’t know his blood can unlock Winter’s curse. Doesn’t know why the marbles he makes flutter with magic. All he thinks is that he’s crazy. That he sees things others don’t, like dragons and strange markings on his skin.

But when a dark dragon snatches away Rye’s only friend Milo, he is forced to face the crazy in his life and figure out a way to bring Milo back.

Help comes in the form of Cerdic Leit, a warrior who finds Rye to take him “home” to the Telluric Realm and their kind. All Rye has to do is follow him into Gatreau, the gateway to the four Telluric kingdoms, and all his questions will be answered.

In the hopes of saving Milo, Rye steps into this new and dangerous world. A world where he learns of the Tellurics and their Hansian foes. A world that is swept up in a bitter battle of justice and hate.

And a world that won’t let Rye leave again.

I adore a wonderful fantasy saga and Anyta Sunday’s latest novel, Locked, has all the markings of making it into my top  fantasy list.  Its the first in her new series, Telluric Realm, and it sets the ground work not only for her series universe, which includes multiple dimensions, but a cast of characters complete with dragons, kingdoms at war, lost princes and curses that will break your heart.

We jump into Rye’s life as he’s running, fleeing actually, towards the comfort of his marble shop, Marvels Marbles:

Rye Cunnings shivered and hoofed it down the cobblestone road, fixed on the slice of his marble store ahead. This was just another morning. Just another morning.

A drizzly dawn fingered through the low-hanging mist creeping along Bristol’s narrow streets. Lamppost lights flickered and blinked out, sucking their murky reflections from deep puddles. Rain hit Rye’s neck and face and the palm he pressed against his chest. The drops snaked down his sleeve and mixed with the blood at his wrist. It tingled, and Rye dabbed his cuff over the cut—a circle intersected with twelve loops.

A cut that he’d gouged out with his keys, following the shimmery pattern that had marked his skin for as long as he could remember.

 

Already, the author has told us so many things, there’s a  spooky pattern playing out in Rye’s life, he has an odd design on his wrist and his cuts the pattern repeatedly.  That’s just the opening paragraphs, the following ones just cement your curiosity about this haunted man, the incredible marbles he makes that give him so much peace and perhaps act as a balm in more ways than one.

The action starts in too.  Anyta Sunday is not content to “tell you” but picks up the pace of her narrative (which was already fast), to whip along at dragon flight speed.  There is plenty of action, oodles of subterfuge,  political bad history between the kingdoms, lost princes and other back history for the author to lay out.  Oh and romances as well. Three of them to be exact if I’m following the threads here, not just the main characters, which is a total delight.

But, a cautionary note, the romances are of the slow building type.  You can see it happening, the chemistry the  author has created between several couples in her story is delicious.  Its the wonderful dialogs, great scenes, that deliver in some cases (ok, more than one) the prickliness and snark, the huge misunderstandings and the betrayals, but the actual falling, verbally, in love?  The commitment and the kissing? Don’t expect to see here.  It will have to be won, and too much will have occurred between all of the characters here  for that to have happened.  Trusts need to be rebuilt, and in some cases, people will need to be…well never mind, laughing, I’ll let those bits to the story and storyteller.

As I said before this is a long tale, with a saga’s worth a world building to layout for the reader.  At times, it gets a bit bogged down under the weight but it quickly picks up steam again.  And, honestly, you need that information later on in the story and series.

Sunday’s descriptions of fights and action are tremendous, I see the action happening as though it was just in front of me.  There are more than a few white-knuckle moments here and they were outstanding in making me wonder at the outcome, for the book and our hero (even as I knew there was a sequel coming).

Only the ending left me a little hanging. It felt less complete  and more like a setup for the next story.  Its really the only reason this story didn’t get a 5 star rating.  But I suppose that as saga’s go, I’ll settle for that and eagerly await the next installment in the Telluric Realm.

I’ll leave you with a  dream that Rye constantly has:

 

He lay back, practiced emptying his mind, and tossed and turned toward sleep.

Then, like a heavy weight plunging into deep water, Rye sank into The Dream.

She was there again, standing in a narrow alley, a slip of light overhead and a black shaft gripped in her hand. She held herself straight, chin up, honeycomb hair spilling over her shoulders. With a flick of her wrist, the shaft extended to the length of a cane and she stilled, statuesque for a long moment, and then spun into a fluid dance, the sharp end of the shaft cutting easily into the ground.

From inside her coat she pulled a vial and poured a glittering fluid over the markings she’d made. She flipped the shaft to its bristly end and traced the glitter over the wreath of symbols at her feet.

She came close, filling his vision.

“Shhh,” she said softly. “He won’t get you.”

His vision blurred to a curtain of golden hair, then sharpened, and her figure shrank away. The edges of the dream warped, distorted. There was a flash of orange light, followed by the woman’s wretched, agonized scream.

The alley entrance darkened as a scaled body slunk past, and then swiveled…

Fierce black eyes glared at him through thick plumes of smoke. One massive ball of fire shot out and bounced back at him. The dragon reared back, wings shooting out, belly expanding. Its jaws parted, jetting out a mighty burst of flame…

Again, the fire bounced.

The ground shook as the animal slammed against the alley entrance and roared. Then he flew overhead, diving down toward them. Again, something blocked him. Over and over he tried, retreating and slamming, retreating and slamming, retreating. . .

The dream warbled again, jerky

Do I recommend this book?  Absolutely!  Its exciting, its adventurous, highly imaginative and kept me glued to my Kindle until it was over.  Just how I love my fantasy tales to be told.

 

Cover Design: Natasha Snow is lovely, with just a hint of the designs that cover Rye’s body.

Map Design: Renflowergrapx

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 330 pages
Published April 26th 2016
ASIN B01DX3EAZQ
Edition Language English

A Lila Review: Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Enemies of the StateThe prologue sets the suspense arc in the story and brings the reader into the heart of Washington DC.

We first meet Special Agent Ethan Reichenbach on Christmas Eve as he guards President-Elect Jack Spiers. They’re at the President’s Austin, TX apartment getting ready to travel for the presidential inauguration. This night marks the starts of a friendship frown upon the Secret Service, but that would change their lives.

Life as President of the United States isn’t what Jack expected. He had not problems dealing with his political counterparts or advisors, but the lack of a personal life is keeping him off balance. As a widower with no children, he has no family living with him at the White House residence, and he spends most of his spare time with Secret Service agents that wouldn’t engage him in a simple conversation. It’s up to Ethan, his detail supervisor, to find a way to help the president adjust to his new reality.

This new friendship would keep them sane as they deal with the realities of their jobs. As time passes, they found themselves at the mercy of external forces trying to change the world’s political balance. Their relationship turns into an exploration of something more, and simple decisions would affect, not only their partnership but world peace.

Enemies of the State is a political thriller that happens to have two male main characters. There are three sets of narrators in this book. One brings the chaos into the MCs’ lives, as well as, into the world of politics. The second tries to stop the plans from the first group before they can accomplish their goals. And lastly, we have Ethan and Jack dealing with world threats as their friendship morphs into a loving relationship.

There’s no easy way to review this story without spoiling the outcome. Each chapter starts with a briefing of the political events taking place between chapters. Some of them are short and to the points, but others introduce too much political information for a leisure reader. In order to truly enjoy this story, you need a basic knowledge of global politics and current threats. That’s the only reason I took away from the stories rating.

The amount of characters involved can be overwhelming, and sometimes you have to read a passage twice to keep them all straight, but the further you read, the easier it’s to follow all the events developing concurrently. There’s never an idle moment. Something is happening at all times even when the main characters are relaxing and spending a comfortable afternoon together.

The location descriptions are accurate, and even simple things like weather patterns and smells play an important part in the story. The amount of detail is impressive and well distributed. We get to see exactly what the characters saw and what they experienced. The reader is always on the narrator’s side, being part of the events.

Yes, this story has a good dose of romance and sexual exploration, but it’s more than that. The political events are as important as the main characters’ relationship and without them, it would be another bodyguard/protectee cliché. The author did an excellent job creating a world, realistic enough, to set the love story. Their relationship goes beyond lust, and it’s based on everyday interaction and complete trust– a slow build with a fulfilling HEA ending.

The images in the cover matched the main characters descriptions very well, and the rest of the composition shows the main ideas of the story perfectly.

Sale Links: NineStar | Amazon | ARe

Book Details: 

ebook, 324 pages
Published: February 15, 2016, by NineStar Press
ISBN: 9781911153337
Edition Language: English

Series: The Executive Office
Book #1: Enemies of the State

 

What Genres Do You Think Get Overlooked? This Week At Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

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What Genres Do You Think Get Overlooked?

When thinking of genres in that LGBTQIA stories can fall into, the ones that most quickly fall into mind are contemporary, supernatural, fantasy, SciFy, paranormal, action adventure, mystery, romance, all sorts of combinations thereof and somewhere down the line comes historical and western.  And I’m not sure why.

Contemporary romance with cowboys?  Yes, and lots of them.  But historical romances, and those with cowboys? Maybe not so many…

And I absolutely adore them.  When they are done right.  That’s a spectacularly hard thing to do.  Between the language, the feel of the times and locations, and the rules and  laws that changes by crossing a river…well the challenge to a author is daunting to say the least.

And yet  there are those writers that can bring you into the hills and times of our past and bring them alive in ways that make history and their characters sing to your heart.  Is or was it possible for men to have a happy ending in the past or was every story a Brokeback Mountain?  Hmmmm…..write me and let me know your opinion.

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This Week At Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

 

Sunday,  May 15:

  • What Genres Do You Think Get Overlooked?This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Monday, May 16:

  • Stumptown Spirits by EJ Russell – Riptide Tour and Contest
  • A Lila Review: Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Rhythm & Blues by Shae Connor
  • A MelanieM Review: Locked by Anyta Sunday

Tuesday, May 17:

  • In the Spotlight:  Dusk Peterson ‘The Balance’ (excerpt and contest)
  • A MelanieM Review:  Sweet William by Dianne Hartsock
  • A Lila Review: The Servant by Mary Calmes
  • A VVivacious Review: Five Times My Best Friend Kissed Me by Anna Martin
  • An Ali Review: Violated by Jamie Fessenden

Wednesday, May 18

  • A Stella Review: Risk Aware by Anita Gormley
  • A Paul B Review: First Omega by Rebecca James
  •  A Lila Review:  Werewolves of Chernobyl by LA Witt
  • A MelanieM Review:  The Cattle Baron’s Bogus Boyfriend by Nicki Bennett

Thursday, May 19

  • Blog Tour – Eli Easton book: How to Wish Upon a Moon
  • ON HIGHER GROUND BY MELISSA COLLINS: Release and review tour information 🙂
  • New book blast: AE Ryecart ‘The Story of Love’ (excerpt and giveaway)
  • Pre-release Celebration for The Debt by K.C. Wells (tour and giveaway)
  • A Jeri Review:  On Higher Ground by Melissa Collins
  • A Paul B Review: Second Alpha by Rebecca James

Friday, May 20

  • Coffee Sip and Book Break with Carrie Pack’s ‘In The Present Tense’ (excerpt and giveaway)
  • A BJ Review:  Audio Review – Tackling the Tight End by Tara Lain
  • A MelanieM Review:  A Place to Call Their Own by Dean Pace-Frech
  • A Lila Review: Prince of the Seas by Emily Carrington

Saturday, May 21

  • In the Spotlight: AC Katt ‘Alexi’s Mouse’ (excerpt and giveaway)
  • A Stella Review:  What Remains by Garrett Leigh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A MelanieM Review: Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Brandywine Investigations #1-3) by Angel Martinez

Rating:  5 stars out of 5    ★★★★★

Brandywine InvestigationsWhen humans forsake the temples, the gods need to find other employment. Hades opens Brandywine Investigations after his divorce and his subsequent move to the modern world. If he was hoping for boring infidelity cases and lost dogs, he’s sorely mistaken as murder and mayhem find his agency and his extended family at an astonishing rate.

Includes:
Canines, Crosshairs & Corpses: Brandywine Investigations #1
No Enemy But Time: Brandywine Investigations #2
Dragons, Diamonds & Discord: Brandywine Investigations #3

Please note: The stories in this omnibus have been reedited, and expanded by about 18K (total.)

Its no secret, if you’ve been reading this blog, that I’m a huge fan of three things: fantasy, mythology, and the author that always manages to combine them in her imaginative and often addictive novels,  Angel Martinez.  So, I was thrilled to see a omnibus of tales that I had not encountered before, Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Brandywine Investigations #1-3) by Angel Martinez.  What I found was pure Angel Martinez heaven.

While the main focus is the Pantheon of Greek gods, others like the Egyptian god Set for example make appearances, along with the Gilgamesh mythic figures, and norse legends, all set elements of a Martinez narrative.  The author takes the whole of world’s theology and mythology and weaves it together in a wonderful literary tapestry, connected by larger than life characters as well as human.  Then she makes them so real, so heartstopping believable that you fall deeply in love with them and boom,  the connection between you and the characters and their world snaps into place.

The stories are stacked logically and chronologically.  I would rate them all equally, really I had no favorites here.  I loved them all.

Canines, Crosshairs & Corpses: Brandywine Investigations #1:  This one introduces all the characters and sets up a mystery that will thread itself through all the stories.  Here we meet Hades and Charon shortly after Persepherone has asked for a divorce.  It was, as we all know, never really a love match but Hades is bereft and has left the Underworld.  Martinez makes us believe in his emotional devastation, his climb to understanding and rebuilding his “new God life” and the street boy Ti he rescues.  The emotions here are killer, in so many ways.  There is humor, pain, angst, and yes, love.

No Enemy But Time: Brandywine Investigations #2: This involves all of the characters from the first story, but the focus is on Hades’ son, Zack (short for Zagreus, God of the Hunt or Resurrection) and his fallen Angel lover, Michael). This is one for breaking your heart several times over.  Turns out that Michael was Zack’s guardian angel but fell in love with his charge.  That cost his his wings.  Not in a nice way but in a come down from heaven and cut them off your body in front of your lover while you are screaming sort of way.  Still they have been happy.  But there are other fallen angels in the city and someone has been killing them and now they are coming for Michael.  The mystery is a wonderful one, the entire family comes together for Zack as its a race to help figure out who’s behind the plot against the fallen angels and how to stop it.  Just a 5 star story all around.

Dragons, Diamonds & Discord: Brandywine Investigations #3:  The collection ends with this story that pulls all 3 together, tying up the plot lines, the family stories, several relationships and ending with an altogether wonderful storyline about a dragon childrens author and Hermes, (yes that Hermes) nephew to Hades, corporate CEO and member in a band.  Really there is no end to Angel Martinez’ imagination, or depths to her stories.

Each line here sparkles with humor, a touch or more of pathos, swathed over  with layers of mythology and appreciation for the finer points of storytelling and relationship dynamics.  All that and a great tale too.  Plus dragons. I get dragons!

I don’t know if there are other Brandywine Investigations stories out there.  I certainly hope so, Angel Martinez has barely broken the surface of gods she can pull into Hade’s and Charon’s circle.  I know I need to know more.  And check in to see how Hades and Ti are getting on, along with Zack and Michael and the rest of the gang.

Do I recommend Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Brandywine Investigations #1-3) by Angel Martinez?  I absolutely do.  Its plain out terrific in every way.

Cover Artist: Mila May.  I am only so so on the cover.  I really don’t believe it does the stories justice, It was the title and author who grabbed my attention, not the cover which I would have passed on.

Sales Links:  Mischief Corner Books | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, First
Published April 27th 2016 by Mischief Corner Books, LLC
Original TitleBrandywine Investigations: Open for Business
ISBN139781310044854
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesBrandywine Investigations #1-3