Category: Uncategorized

On Tour with Lee Brazil and the “Less Than All” Book Blast

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

LessThanAllBanner

ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to welcome Lee Brazil here today.  Lee is one of our favorite authors, most notably through the Pulp Friction author group and series.  Today Lee is talking about his latest release, Less Than All.  Be sure to check out the excerpt that follows further down in the post and the contest for a $10 All Romance Gift Card.

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

 

Book Name: Less Than All
Author Name: Lee Brazil
Author Bio:

Somewhere in a small town in up-state New York are a librarian and a second grade teacher to whom I owe my life. That might be a touch dramatic, but it’s nevertheless one hundred percent true.

Because they taught me the joy of reading, of escaping into worlds crafted of words.

Have you ever been nine years old and sure of nothing so much as that you don’t belong? Looked at the world from behind glasses, and wondered why you don’t fit?

Then turn the page and see… there you are, running from Injun Joe in a dark graveyard; there you are fencing with Athos; there you are…beneath the deep blue sea- marveling at exotic creatures with Captain Nemo.

I found myself between the pages of books, and that is why I write now, it’s why I taught English and literature for so many years, and it’s why my house contains more pounds of books than furniture.

If I’d had my way, I’d have been a fencer…or a starship captain, or a lawyer, or a detective solving crimes. But instead, I am a writer, and that’s the best thing in the world to be if you ask me, because as a writer, I can be all those things and more.

If I hadn’t learned to value the stories between the pages, who knows what would have happened? Certainly not college…teaching…or writing.

Author Links:
Twitter: @leebrazil

Less-Than-All400x600Book Details:
Cover Artist: Laura Harner
Photograph: Dan Skinner
Publisher: Lime Time Press
Blurb(s):

Nicholas Danville doesn’t trust his lover to share the depth of his attraction.He knows full well Victor must marry to fulfill his duty to his aristocratic family. Assuredly marriage will mean the end of their liaison.

A youthful indiscretion leads to a humiliating encounter between Nicholas Danville and Lord Victor Ware. Nicholas is sent home in disgrace, and Victor continues life in the Ton. Years later, Nicholas’s reproving parents send him to town to attain a degree of polish before he prepares for life as a member of the clergy.

A chance encounter with an old friend leads to a new confrontation between Nicholas and Victor. This time, the attraction between them burns brighter, Nicholas is old enough to know his own mind, and Victor is done with self-denial.

From ballrooms to gardens and opera houses, Victor sets about proving that a passionate liaison between two men is possible even under the narrow gaze of the Ton.

Excerpt:

Peter had evidently taken the time to pull his glossy Hessians back on because Victor had swallowed half the glass before he heard the door click behind him. Lifting the glass to study the amber liquid in the firelight, he spoke without turning around.

“I pay you an adequate allowance to cover your own establishment Peter, exactly because I do not wish to find hordes of drunken revelers have invaded my home.”

“I’m glad for Peter’s sake that you’re a generous man, My Lord Ware. But I’d hardly call our little gathering a horde.”

Victor whirled about to find Danville lounging in altogether too close a proximity. A single lingering glance impressed upon Victor the slender lithe frame, lovingly outlined by tight buff colored breeches, fine white linen shirt open at the neck. Both his discreetly embroidered waistcoat and his black tailcoat hung open. Danville’s inappropriate dishabille enticed him as the devil tempted sinners. He held up a hand as though to ward off the smaller man, but Danville stepped impossibly closer, and Victor groaned as his blood thrummed and his head swam.

Strong arms wrapped around his neck, tugging his head down, and soft wet lips pressed lightly against his mouth. “I’ve waited years for this moment, Ware.”

Then Victor gave up listening, gave up fighting the response of his body as an agile tongue probed the seam of his lips, seeking entrance. He accepted Nicky’s kiss, opened his mouth to suck at the questing tongue. He chased Nicky’s tongue for what seemed like ages, his body hardening and heating with lust.

His arms closed around Nicky’s slender waist, hauling the man close so he could seek solace for the ache of his prick in grinding against the silk of Nicky’s evening breeches. The shattering of his whiskey glass on the hearth broke the mood, and Nicky pulled away, retreating to the door.

“I’m going now.” He paused, hand on the doorknob. A strangely earnest expression crossed his face as he tilted his head to glance back at the stunned Victor. “Shall I return? Or do you forbid Peter’s friends the run of your home?”

He slipped from the room while Victor struggled to frame a coherent response.

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

Tour Dates: June 26, 2014

LessThanAllBadgeTour Stops: Parker Williams, Amanda C. Stone, Fallen Angel Reviews, Love Bytes, Emotion in Motion, Havan Fellows, MM Good Book Reviews, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Hearts on Fire, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, Prism Book Alliance, Top2Bottom, Kimi-Chan, Iyana Jenna, Because Two Men Are Better Than One, Wicked Wolves and Dreaming Dragons, The Hat Party

 

Contest:   Use the Rafflecopter link provided to enter.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Rafflecopter Prize: $10 AllRomance Gift CardWillPride

Buy Links:            Amazon                 ARe

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Voodoo ‘n’ Vice (Galactic Alliance #3) by K.C. Burn

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Voodoo n Vice coverIn his anger and obedience to fleet rules and regulations, fleet captain Gideon Arcturus makes a serious error in judgement regarding the Ankyros Ambassador and his lover.  The repercussions from that disastrous event finds Gideon banished to Elora Ki, the compost heap of the galaxy.  Disgraced and demoted, Gideon is now a subordinate to a man he viewed as an inferior and considered an embarrassment to his wealthy and influential father.

Gideon’s last romantic entanglement was a nasty set up by a rival officer that almost cost him everything.  But during a visit to Voodoo, a seedy club in the first district on Elora Ki, Gideon watches a fire dancer on the stage and can’t get him out of his mind.

Tai is a fire dancer with his own secrets and disasterous past.  Hiding out on Elora Ki seems like the answer to his problems, at least for now.  His unique style of dancing keeps Tai from an even worst profession, that of a prostitute on a world that looks down on homosexuality.  He sees what it has cost his friend and roommate and Tai swears that he will never be paid for sex.  Then Tai watches a stiff, reserved freckled man standing at the bar watching him intently.  It’s Gideon on enforced leave.  Soon the sparks fly between them. Before long Tai and Gideon spend every night of his leave together, forming a bond neither wants to break.

But an illegal, addictive  drug, Flare, is being distributed in and around the clubs and brothels.The trade in Flare on Elora Ki and off planet comes under the scruntity of Gideon and the fleet.  Its a drug that almost cost Gideon his life and hurt his career. But it hits much closer to home as a drug lord focuses on Tai, threatening his safety and all associated with him.  Its up to Gideon to save Tai, and destroy the drug ring…but what if Tai’s secret poses an even bigger threat to them all.

When it comes to science fiction, the genre almost always falls on either side of a technology line.  On  one side you have the tech-heavy, science centric fiction and on the other side there’s the fiction that goes off into space, riding an author’s wild imaginative path to intergalactic adventure outside the boundaries of known cosmology and spatial dynamics.  It’s here that you might  find goofy aliens, space outlaws, and heros of all shapes, sizes, and species.  While I appreciate the first science fiction group of writers (think Arthur C. Clarke among others), its the wide open unknown spaces that grab my affection and reading time.  You have a multi-hued, three toed alien for no other reason than you wanted one?  Cool.  I get that.  I want one too.  And throw in the amorphous sparkly blob with the personality of Arthur Gottfried too while you are at it.  Doubly cool.  I appreciate one form but I love the other in much the same way someone might cooly admire a beautifully made model spacecraft but hug the furry spotted one eyed stuffed animal.

So it won’t surprise you that the Galactic Alliance series by K.C. Burn falls somewhat into the latter category and that I have become very fond of this series. It features a dead Earth with what’s left of its race scattered to the stars.  Where of course, they encounter the Ankyros, a lavender alien species that must have three beings to reproduce and have a family unit.  They evolved from a type of herbivore , a grazer with a hive racial organization and two distinct body types(not sexes).  The Ankyros get even crazier in culture and physiological description but meeting them is one of the joys of this series.  There was a war between the humans and the Ankyros, just recently over with all sorts of complications and reverberations for both.  If you had to sit down and make sense of it all, than you won’t enjoy this book or series.  But if you can just take it as is, then the entertainment and fun that K.C. Burns has in store for you has just begun.

The first story, Spice ‘n’ Solace (Galactic Alliance #1), introduces you to Jathan One-Moon, Galactic Alliance’s most important negotiator, and his lover, the brothel owner, Kaz. It is also our first introduction to that seediest of seedy outposts, Elora Ki.   Book two, Alien ‘n’ Outlaw (Galactic Alliance #2), brings the Ankyros species into sharp relief with its center story of a romance between an elusive human thief Darien Lancaster and R’kos, son of the Ankylos Emperor.  Until now, that has been my favorite. But with Voodoo ‘n’ Vice K.C. Burns deepens her plot with the misery that drug addiction brings along with a new race of aliens that has subjugated humans and manipulated their DNA.

Again its Burn’s characters that are easy to love.  Tai, the fire dancer with a huge secret to hide and Gideon, the 30 year old repressed gay son of an influential military family with an austere, controlling patriarch at its head.  Both are easy people to connect with and ultimately love. Gideon is the character that has the farthest to grow, from an upright, humorless Captain to someone capable of seeing the gray in a situation and being flexible enough to love and accept love, regardless of whether it comes from a human or alien source.   His growth as a character is realistic as are his actions and fear of romantic entanglements. Burn’s is also setting up her next story in the series with Gideon’s replacement, Sven, and Tai’s roommate who undergoes a traumatic event. At least I am hoping to see each of them once more.  They deserve a HEA too.

Seedy, disreputable and wild, Elora Ki is such a vibrant, alive location, just as important in this book as the people who inhabit it.  A sort of wild frontier where almost anything goes and everyone who comes there has a story, I enjoy the new districts or levels that K.C. Burns invents for each couple and story.  New “red light” districts, new nightclubs with owners both illegal and honorable.  They are as much fun as the plots wrapped around them.  There is also an ugliness and horror to its neighborhoods, it has its own tenements and squalor recognizable outside the realm of the safe and well off.  It works well to balance off the glitzy clubs and bars where everyone works at some profession. It’s a stratified society where some of its most important citizens are also among its most mean and conniving.  That works well too.

The romance here arrives quickly but I can forgive that as each man is so in need of each other.  I love the tattoos that decorate Tai’s body and the fascinating history behind them provided by the author. I hope this is not the last we have  heard of Tai’s planet and people.  Again, there will be parts here that make little sense if you are looking for a scientific foundation upon which to lay Burn’s creations.  Think more Marvel Comics than American Scientific Journal, but its in her descriptions that these people, their histories and their love for each other comes alive.    That makes the astounding beings, places, and events here jump with possibility and magic as well as an intergalactic love that feels not only reasonable but right.

I love this story and definitely recommend it to all who can suspend belief in the real and supposed futures set forth by science fiction authors and scientists alike.  K.C. Burn gives us the human element and spirit alive and kicking in a galactic space not always open to humanity and the chaos we bring with us. I read the first two books out of order and it didn’t seem to make that much a difference after going back to Solace ‘n’ Spice.  In fact I enjoyed getting to know the Ankyros people in Alien ‘n’ Outlaw first, and then pick up small pieces of intelligence about them in book one.  You decide the order in which to read the first two stories, but Voodoo ‘n’ Vice should definitely be read third in order for all the events and people who pop up to make sense.

Cover art by an uncredited artist is perfect for the fire dancer Tai and Gideon.

Buy Links:   Carina Press       Amazon             ARe

Book Details:

Kindle Edition
Published May 26th 2014 by Carina Press (first published January 1st 2014)
ASINB00I15VLGI
edition languageEnglish
seriesGalactic Alliance #3

Books in the Galactic Alliance series in the order they were written and should be read:

Spice ‘n’ Solace (Galactic Alliance #1)
Alien ‘n’ Outlaw (Galactic Alliance #2)
Voodoo ‘n’ Vice (Galactic Alliance #3)

Author Spotlight:G.B. Lindsey & “One Door Closes” Book Tour/Contest

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

spotlight on booksOne Door Closes Banner

 

 Author and Book Spotlight: Up Close and Personal with G. B. Lindsey!

ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords welcomes G.B. Lindsey into the spotlight to talk about writing, inspiration and what makes a character a hero.

G.B. Lindsey has two giveaways for readers to enter. Look for the details below. Welcome, G.B.Lindsey!

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

STRW: Why did you choose to write M/M stories?

G.B. Lindsey: It started out as completely unexplored territory for me as a writer, both in terms of the physical elements and the desire to portray a convincing homosexual relationship. Thank god, though: I quickly learned that it was all about writing a convincing relationship, full stop. Relationships of all kinds are the basis for most of the really interesting drama. Real people leading real lives, juggling the same things that everyone else juggles. So they have the same sexual organs as each other. Big deal. Nowadays, the gripping part is not the M/M so much as the emotional impact two people can have on each other. Since there is still a significant societal taboo involving men being emotional, especially toward each other, I also see it as a challenge: to bring forward the ways that emotion and masculinity are not mutually exclusive. In the wider frame, I really love the chance to (hopefully) introduce more readers to the fact that relationships are relationships are relationships: gay, straight, bi-, trans-, inter-, a-, omni-… We all struggle with a lot of the same questions. M/M stories started out as the gateway for me to tackle these themes as a writer, and I’ve learned a hell of a lot in the process, both about writing and about human beings. For that reason, I feel I’m always going to love writing M/M.

STRW: What was your inspiration for this particular story?

G.B. Lindsey:  My agent is the one who approached me and my co-writers Libby Drew and Diana Copland with the original idea. We were all on board from minute one. The premise was just too juicy to pass up: one of those story ideas that hits you low in the gut, and you know that it could be awesome. I like to think that Libby, Diana, and I inspired each other during the creation of our separate characters. It was fantastic to play off of each other, to fill in holes and likewise find our gaps closed by what was going on in the other two novellas, to toss questions at each other and find ready observations and answers. As far as other influences, when I write I take a lot from observing what goes on around me in my day to day life. The character of Glenna Stuart specifically was influenced by several people I’ve met over the years regarding the questions she raises about sexuality and identity. She worries about some extremely intimate, important things that I feel should be explored, contemplated, better understood.

STRW: What makes a character a hero to you?

G.B. Lindsey:  Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve thought about characters in terms of heroism until now! I usually think about them in terms of realism, conviction, how convincing they are, how much their motivations resonate with me as a reader/writer… It could be the most despicable character in the world, but if I am convinced, if I think it reads true, then I’m usually fascinated, anxious to pick apart how it was done from the writing standpoint. What makes a character a hero to me? Someone who isn’t afraid to be him or herself, I think. It’s been my own particular struggle as I’ve grown up. I was fairly quiet, taught myself early not to make waves, didn’t like standing out, and thus tended to let myself get pushed around or taken advantage of. It’s been a long journey, re-teaching myself that I have a voice, and that my opinions and ideas are not automatically less important than others’. I’m still learning it. I find a character heroic when he or she does what is right, what he or she believes to be best, and of course, when he or she can learn from the past and adapt, learn, keep reaching out even when burned.

STRW:  How much research to you do for any particular story?

G.B. Lindsey:   It depends on the story. For instance, at the moment, I’m working on a novel that requires quite a bit of delving into psychoses, firearms, law enforcement… I joke that I have probably finagled myself a nice NSA file, what with the websites I’ve been frequenting. One Door Closes didn’t require the same amount of research; we looked into property law, civil law, and the foster system, which I didn’t know that much about. But I love the research aspect. It’s one of my favorite parts of writing fiction. I used to just salivate over Michael Crichton’s novels because, wow, think of all the amazing things he got to dabble in! For fun! Because he wanted to! I would have loved to research for his books.

STRW: Is there any specific genre of writing you don’t connect with and which ones are your favorite to write?

G.B. Lindsey:  Mystery is the genre I connect with the least. Not that I don’t love to watch mysteries. Sherlock Holmes and Brother Cadfael are two of my favorite characters ever, and both are amazing to read and watch. But I rarely write mystery, and I don’t read much of it unless it’s also thriller or horror. It’s just not a genre that piques my creative interest. The writing aspect of it turns me off because it’s rare that I visualize a plot so well right away that I can effectively craft the mystery and not give everything away too soon. I’ve tried, and I’ve been happy with the product, but yeah, definitely not my favorite. My favorite genre to write is Horror. It’s a heavily underappreciated genre in terms of “good literature” (and don’t even get me started on that argument because we’ll be here all night) and it’s one of the best ways to comment on societal fears. I’m pretty much addicted to horror films. It’s difficult to find good horror in Hollywood these days, so when I come across a movie or a book that really deliciously scares me, you’re probably going to hear about it. There’s a real beauty in turning a phrase in just the right way to send chills prickling over someone’s skin. My second favorite genre is Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction, and that is the best way to comment on society as a whole. Again, underrated by the Powers That Be. Again, they are wrong, wrong, wrong. What a fantastic thing, post-apocalyptic sci-fi!

STRW:  Thank you so much for stopping by.  That was a great interview.

For more information about G.B. Lindsey and her latest release, One Door Closes, visit the links below.

Special Note:  To listen to an audio recording of G.B. Lindsey reading the first ten minutes of the book, visit here.  

Link is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkj_prq43p4

Contest:  One $10 Amazon gift card and one copy of One Door Closes.  To enter, visit the Rafflecopter links provided below.  Contest rules include that you must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

Author Bio: G. B. Lindsey was born and raised in California, where she earned her undergraduate degree in Literature and Creative Writing from UC Santa Cruz. Her first love has always been writing: as a child, she cultivated such diverse goals as becoming “a cowgirl… and a writer” or “a paleontologist… and a writer.” Aside from her salacious and ongoing affair with the horror genre, she loves to write sci-fi, romance, historical fiction, and short stories. Other hobbies include playing the piano, reading voraciously, the occasional period drama movie night, and devouring scary film after scary film. She recently moved back home from Newcastle upon Tyne, where she earned her Master of Arts in Creative Writing, and now lives in Sacramento.

You can follow G.B. Lindsey at:
Goodreads Author Page Website Twitter
Email at lindseywords@gmail.com

Facebook One Door Closes

About One Door Closes: Blurb:   Years ago, Calvin Ware found a refuge in Neverwood, a home for wayward boys. Now, following the death of his foster mother Audrey, he’s returned to fulfill her request to restore the decrepit Victorian mansion to its former purpose. Under the threat of repossession, Cal clashes with his foster brothers over restoration plans while fending off the unscrupulous developer who is breathing down his neck. Audrey’s well-meaning presence in his dreams does more harm than good as he struggles to cope with it all. What’s more, the contractor he hires to get the building up to code turns out to be Will Cabot, his high school flame. As they begin working together, Cal finds he still has feelings for his first love. But his mistakes of years ago threaten their future, just as they ruined their past, and Cal knows he can’t withstand the heartbreak a second time Three foster brothers are called home to Neverwood, the stately Pacific Northwest mansion of their youth. They have nothing in common but a promise to Audrey, the woman they all called mother…

Book Details:

Kindle Edition
Expected publication: June 30th 2014 by Carina Press
ASINB00I15VKGE
edition languageEnglish
Buy Links:  Barnes & Noble     Amazon

 

 

 

 

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

WillPride  One Door Closes BadgeTour Dates: June 23 – June 28
Tour Stops: June 23: Jade Crystal, My Fiction Nook, The Hat Party June 24: Kimi-Chan, Amanda C. Stone June 25: Prism Book Alliance, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words June 26: Cate Ashwood, Parker Williams June 27: MM Good Books, Crystal’s Many Reviewers June 28: The Blogger Girls

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Miles and the Magic Flute by Heidi Cullinan

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Miles and the Magic FluteMiles Larson believes the world has turned against him.  The poor economy cost him his cushy job and lifestyle, now Miles lives in considerably reduced circumstances back in his hometown in Minnesota. At least that’s how he sees it.  He works in a friend’s pawn shop fixing broken down appliances while living in his friend’s trailer behind the shop.  And all the time, he is thinking “why me, why did this happen to me?”  As Miles begrudgingly goes to work and then home, the only thing that lifts his spirits is a walk in the woods nearby, a place of solice and adventure when little,  now a blessed respite from the disappointment that is his life.   Little does he know that as he bemoans his life, the wood have ears and are listening.

One day at the pawn shop, a box of personal goods to be sold revealed an intricately carved silver flute to be pawned.  When asked to research its origin, Miles’s investigation opens up an enchanted world where one can have all he wants if only he asks the right question.  Before he realizes it his reality becomes one of two worlds vying for his body and soul.  An ethereally gorgeous fae wants Miles to choose him and his world but is everything there exactly as it seems?  Who is the beast he encounters along with the Fae Lord in the Otherworld?  For each choice that Miles might make, a price is to be paid.  But what is the price of being given everything you desire?  What if what you desire wars with true love and happiness? What price will you pay then? Only Miles can answer those questions…now if only he knew what those answers are….

Miles and the Magic Flute is less a romance and more of Heidi Cullinan’s LGBTQ version of Aesop’s Fables.  Or should that be Cullinan’s Fae Fables?  An intricately layered cautionary tale, Miles and the Magic Flute starts with one character whose sense of entitlement and displeasure with his current status starts the games of enchantment to follow.

From the beginning Cullinan builds two very realistic and opposite worlds to vy for Mile’s body and soul.  One is the small town in Minnesota that Miles has returned to after losing his job and condo in the big city.  A sense of desperation covers the town like a layer of dust.  A factory has closed putting much of the town’s population out of work, and sometimes only the largesse of his friend Patty of Patty’s Pawn shop keeps some of them from going without food or a home.  A cluttered store filled with the bits and pieces of peoples lives, the pawn store has been passed from father to daughter as has the trailer behind it.  Into the shop flow various sundry folk, from a hispanic family seriously weighing how they will spend their strictly budgeted dollars to an antagonistic bully who learns that homophobic slurs will cost him big time from the lesbian pawnbroker.   Cullinan paints these small town characters with the same brush as her main ones, and they are as realistically detailed and human as they could be.  You can feel the paint peeling and the cars falling apart from neglect from the author’s descriptions of a small town barely surviving and the people who remain behind while others have left.

The second world starts off as nothing more than a shivery feeling as Miles walks through the woods nearby.  A feeling of being watched, a ripple in the air, the appearance of a small white flower in winter, and little by little Cullinan’s Otherworld, the Fae Dream world arrives to encroach on Miles’ reality and the well being of all.  I loved how the author built up not only Miles anticipation and sense of alarm but the readers as well.  Layer by layer the magic comes and at first its wondrous and enchanting….and then it deepens to something more.  And as we begin to  get a true sense of exactly what and who the Fae Lord represents, Cullinan continues to pivot us and Miles back and forth between reality and desire, human and Fae until the contrasting images and worlds start to blend eerily into each other. The author’s locations and world building is superb and each feels as real as the other.

Heidi Cullinan has also provided the readers with one of the most realistic and wonderful lesbian couples that I can remember. Patty with her blunt ways and mannerisms that cover a depth of personality just waiting to be revealed.  And  Julie whose perceptions and world views are startling and compelling.  I loved this couple and they provide the anchor that the story and Miles requires.  Patty and her long time lover, Julie, have slowly been pulling Miles out of his depression over losing his job and successful life in Atlanta at Fetterman Financial.  Patty gave him a job fixing the appliances she pulls out of trashcans or brought into the store.  Julie feeds him vegan food she cooks from her amazing garden out back and items she has traded for.  Cullinan does an exemplary job of conveying how grey and small this world appears to Miles in his current  emotional state, the businesslike and frank manner in which Patty deals with her customers and Miles, and the generous, compassionate nature that is Julie’s answer to everything she confronts in life.  And while we see their trailer, business and partnership only from Miles’ viewpoint, it is clear that Miles’  self-absorbed outlook keeps him from seeing his friends  and their lives in a clear and realistic way.

And that is part of what I feel is a real issue for the reader here.  The story is told from Miles’ point of view.  And he is whiney, complaining, and his sense of entitlement is hard to take after a while.  I get that we need to see Miles at his worst in order to get a base line from which we can chart his growth but that doesn’t make his selfishness and self centeredness any easier to take.   Even as Miles realizes that he sees everything now through his “Atlanta filter”, comparing and contrasting his current life against that which he lost, his musings become a Greek chorus of want, hate, and envy.  “I hate this, I hate my life, I hate what I’ve become, I hate what I lost, I hate realizing that I never really had it.” and finally “I hate my life and I would do anything and give anything to change it.”    Heartfelt worlds that the woods, or someone in the woods is listening to and geting ready to answer with an offer.

But the most damning words here are probably the ones that the readers will recognize, if not understand.  How the readers feels about hearing Miles utter them will reflect in how much the reader will like this story.  Those words are the ones that will propel Miles to accept an offer too good to be…well good.  And they are “I’m better than this.  I deserve so much better than this.”  What an all too human phrase…one that probably propels many a person into actions that they will regret later on.  How readers feel about Miles’ sense of entitlement will be the lens through which they view this story.  For many, I think it will mean they look at Miles and his predicament with a sense of detachment.  And no matter what befalls Miles, that lack of emotional investment in his problems and terrors will keep readers disconnected from the story and Miles.  I will admit I came perilously close to that detachment myself.  It took me much longer to connect with Miles than I anticipated and by then the story was almost over.

As I said this is a story of lessons and morality.  “Beware of what you wish for, as you just might get it”, “Be happy with what you have,” actually Miles and the Magic Flute is a roll call of lessons from Aesop’s Fables among others.  Whether it is about appearances being deceiving or giving one’s enemies the means for your own destruction, Cullinan lines them up and marches Miles through them on his way to  enlightenment, redemption, and finally love.

Yes, there is several love stories here, although no romances.  I wish I had a better understanding of “the Beast” here, he is the one character without much substance.  There is so much about Miles and the Magic Flute that is as wondrous as its plot.  From Terris and Murali to Patty and Julie and the worlds they all inhabit, Cullinan’s ability to bring both the magical and the mundane to life is amazing.  I just wished I had more of a connection to Miles, that I had wept when he did but ultimately that didn’t happen here.    Other readers might find themselves incredibly moved by Miles’ story and the terrific ending that Heidi Cullinan has crafted for them all.  Pick up this book and decide for yourself.  I am still so very happy that I read it and journeyed for a while in their shoes.

Cover art by Wilde City Press.  What a beautiful, magical cover.  Loved it.

Publisher’s Note: This title has been previously published and has been revised from its original release

 

Buy Links:    Wilde City Press       Miles and the Magic Flute ” Amazon          ARe

 

Book Details:

ebook, 2nd Edition
Published May 27th 2014 by Wilde City Press (first published June 7th 2010)
original titleMiles and the Magic Flute
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.heidicullinan.

Review: Cold Feet (In From the Cold #3) (In From the Cold #3) by Lee Brazil

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Cold Feet coverMany things brought Cannon Malloy west from Atlanta.  Cannon wanted to put his past behind him, including ex boyfriends and the trauma that went along with them.  Cannon most importantly want to find out  what it meant to finally live his life as an out gay man after years of living in the closet.  But that initial step out of his self deception didn’t mean Cannon felt comfortable as a gay man until now.  With help from his flamboyant neighbor at Mountain Shadows and some well applied eye liner, Cannon is ready to try once more to connect with the handsome Finn Lorensson.   With a newfound sense of self-appreciation and  confidence he approaches Finn’s cabin with more than lust on the mind to make up for their last unhappy encounter and repair some of the damage he caused.

But professor Finn has plenty of problems of his own, one especially that arose around a malicious student and his impact on Cannon.  Finn’s unsure of how to proceed, with the student and the newly confident Cannon.  Both require his immediate attention and how he handles them both might mean the end of his tenure as a professor and any chance of happiness he might find with Cannon.

Cannon finally seems over his own brand of cold feet when it comes to Finn and relationships.  But how long that will last and what Finn will do about it is anyone’s guess.

Of all the interconnected Pulp Friction 2014 series, Lee Brazil’s seems the most introspective of the four.  With all the others, while the characters are undergoing emotional upheavals and personal problems, they are also being impacted by outside forces and obstacles.  But Cannon and Finn are grappling, almost solely,  with Cannon’s past and its effect on each other and the possibility of a relationship.  Cannon Malloy is the fulcrum of In From the Cold.  He is the pivotal element on which most of the plot threads rest or emanate from.  A character displaced after the events in Atlanta (Pulp Friction 2013), Cannon was an ambivalent character, deeply closeted, married and the cause of much pain to the main character Chance.  He ran from Atlanta to Flagstaff, unable to operate due to the events that occurred in Atlanta and is floundering in his role as a professor.   From a dislikable personality to one clearly in need of compassion and understanding, Brazil has moved Cannon through his journey in cautious, fearful steps to this point.  It’s been realistic and painful.

Reacting to Cannon is professor Finn Lorensson, a confident, handsome man.  Cannon, however, is strewing Finn’s life with stumbling blocks and obstacles in Finn’s pursuit of the skittish Cannon, the last one of which might have lasting consequences for all.  I love how Brazil has taken this self assured mountain of a man and added cracks and fractures to a strong personality that seemed unbreakable.  It’s a lovely, believable transformation, especially with love as the impetus behind it.  With the exception of the disgruntled student who feels entitled to take what he wants, all the movement and changes made have been done so because of internal arguments and decisions, changes of attitudes and self worth.  It’s an internalized and introspective storyline and its very intimacy is conveyed through thoughtful inner monologues and bouts of painful fretting on the characters part.

The other characters and plots exist in Lee Brazil’s series but sometimes it feels as though we see or feel them at the very perimeter of Finn and Cannon’s lives.  Such an inward facing story structure has been a wonderful way to relate to both difficult characters and their fragile steps towards each other.  But I expect that is about to change.

Cold Feet and the other three stories are at the midway point in the series and changes are about to fall on all the people involved.  I expect Finn and Cannon to change their direction, and move outward to embrace the other characters and the tumultuous events occurring at Mountain Shadows. I can’t wait to see how the author folds these two back into the main story thread that flows through all the series and the evil that has clearly visited the woods around them.    I love these characters, the series and the entire Pulp Friction 2014 grouping.  It’s compelling, gorgeously depicted and as wide ranging as the mountains themselves, and I can’t get enough of their lives and their stories.

I highly recommend this story and series (all of them) to you.  However, you must start back at the beginning to understand the scope of the stories and the characters involved.  I have listed all the series for you below.  Don’t miss out one a single one of them…..

Cover art by Laura Harner.  Love these covers, perfect branding and great models.

Buy Links:       <a href=”Cold Feet: Pulp Friction 2014 (In From the Cold Book 3) ” title=”Cold Feet At Amazon”> Amazon         ARe

Book Details:

ebook
Published June 1st 2014 by Lime Time Press
edition languageEnglish
seriesIn From the Cold #3, Pulp Friction 2014 #10

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
Blow Hard  (Whispering Winds #3) by Havan Fellows
Tremors (Earthquake #3) by T.A. Webb

Round Four: to be released

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: to be released

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
charactersFinn Lorensso

Tales From The Edge from L.M. Somerton:Book Tour/Contest

TheEdge Tour Banner

 ✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

Have you been to the Edge yet?  L.M. Somerton is here to act as your guide with four sensual stories to entice you right to the Edge… and has brought along a contest/giveaway as well.

Contest: A signed paperback copy of ‘Tales From The Edge) which contains book one and two, posted anywhere in the world.
Prize: An e-copy of A Double-Edged Sword. Visit here to enter and for contest details.  Must be over the age of 18 to enter.

Book Name: Tales From The Edge (Reaching the Edge, Living on the Edge, Dancing on the Edge, A Double-Edged Sword)

Author Name: LM Somerton
Cover Artist: Emmy Ellis
Publisher: Totally Bound

adoubleedgedsword_800dancingontheedge_800livingontheedge_800reachingtheedge_800
Blurb(s):

The Edge is a training company with a difference. Its weekend clients come for classes in bondage and domination, not team building and problem solving.

The management, staff and customers of The Edge do not lead boring lives. In fact they have a habit of getting themselves into all kinds of trouble. Put Dominant, possessive alpha males together with bratty, loveable submissives and sparks are bound to fly. These Tales from The Edge are their stories.

reachingtheedge_800Reaching the Edge:
When you reach the edge, you can’t avoid taking a leap of faith.

Joe Dexter leads a complicated life. In one world he is a consultant criminal psychologist—in another he runs The Edge, a successful corporate training company. He’s also an active Dom in the London BDSM scene.

A social call to The Underground, a club owned by an old friend, turns into much more when Joe is introduced to a prospective sub. Falling hard for the boy’s tumbling blonde curls, huge blue eyes and desperate need for protection, Joe carefully coaxes him out of his shell. By the end of an intense weekend, unbreakable bonds have been forged and Joe is well on the way to becoming Olly’s Master.

Joe knows that there is trauma in Olly’s past, but it is not until his professional and private lives collide that Joe discovers the truth. He knows he shouldn’t have let Olly out of his sight but it’s too late—Olly’s old Master is back on the scene and he’s not in the mood to forgive and forget.

With Olly’s life on the line, Joe risks everything to save him. Has Joe found his perfect submissive only to lose him in a horrible twist of fate, or will love win the day? They’ve reached the edge and there’s no avoiding a leap of faith.

livingontheedge_800Living on the Edge:

Sometimes it takes willpower to resist temptation but courage to give in.

Aiden Keller is a brilliant and intriguing young man. When he’s convicted of hacking, his sentence takes him to The Edge, a high-end corporate training company with a mysterious sideline. There he is given into the custody of its owner, the enigmatic and demanding Heath Anders, and his business partner Joe Dexter.

From the moment Heath takes charge of Aiden he recognises the boy’s submissive nature, even though it is well hidden beneath a veneer of snarky attitude. But for twelve months, Aiden will be his responsibility and Heath cannot allow himself to get involved whilst the boy is obliged to obey him.

Aiden settles into his new life with the help of Olly, Joe’s pretty, submissive boyfriend, who is very perceptive when it comes to noticing the sparks of attraction flying between Aiden and Heath. Slowly and gently, he teaches Aiden that submission is not a weakness and to accept his desire to be dominated.

Unable to resist, Heath starts to test Aiden’s willingness to be obedient, and against all the odds, love (and lust) start to bloom. Aiden, however, is not quite what he seems and his past is about to endanger all their lives.

dancingontheedge_800Dancing on the Edge:

Life is a dance. Whether you lead or follow, the passion of it should sweep you away.

Carey and Alistair have the kind of relationship that is the envy of their friends. Carey is an old-fashioned Dom who appreciates quiet obedience. Alistair is a sub who is comfortable in his skin and finds peace in his submission. Needless to say, their happiness is too good to last.

When Alistair’s powerful father chooses his reputation over his son, all hell is let loose. Forcibly committed to a clinic for reversion therapy, Alistair can only hope that his lover will save him.

Carey calls on his friends from The Edge and they band together not just to rescue Alistair but also to protect his future. They’ve all flirted with danger in the past—but friendship is worth any risk. As the tension mounts and the stakes get higher, new bonds are forged but will Carey and Alistair’s love survive?

adoubleedgedsword_800A Double-Edged Sword:

How do you stay standing when the ground is torn from beneath your feet?

Becket and Christian are taking the first, tentative steps towards the committed D/s relationship they both crave when the world literally explodes around them. In a frightening reversal of roles, Becket has to deal with his own vulnerability and Christian must find the strength to take care of his Dom. With the help of their friends at The Edge, the two men come to realise that dominance and submission cannot be switched on and off.

Events that could have ended in tragedy provide the catalyst that affirms their trust in each other, but there are still questions to answer. Is the safe path always the right one to take? Is control simply a state of mind?

One thing’s for certain, life’s too short for compromise.

Buy Links:          Amazon                Totally Bound           

Exclusive Excerpt:

Excerpt from L. M. Somerton’s Reaching the Edge:

What did Angel see when he looked at him? Joe knew that he was considered handsome. He wasn’t vain—it was just a fact of life. He didn’t obsess over the way he looked, but he was a little concerned that he might seem cold and intimidating to someone as young as Angel. He did have a habit of schooling his features into an emotionless blank. It helped in his job to appear completely calm and neutral and it had rubbed off in his private life. Experienced subs seemed to like the hardness but Joe was concerned that Angel was far more sensitive and vulnerable than the boys he usually played with.

He rubbed a hand through his short blond hair and softened his expression from icy to mildly frosty. There was a definite twinkle of amusement in his blue eyes—eyes that looked faded compared to Angel’s startling bright blue ones. He shook his head wryly—Angel was everything he looked for in a partner, and he was already feeling intensely possessive and protective.

He finished up and headed back to the room, half wondering if Angel would be gone. He hid his relief well when he opened the door to find him placing their empty mugs on the side table. He took his seat on the sofa and waited to see whether Angel would join him again. To his delight, a slender body was soon squirming in his lap, getting comfortable. Soft golden curls tickled his neck as Angel nuzzled closer, and Joe felt his dick harden in response. Joe wrapped an arm around Angel’s waist and held him tightly. He positioned his other arm higher up, which allowed him to slip his hand inside the folds of the fluffy robe that concealed Angel’s body. For a moment he just rested his open palm against a warm, smooth chest, enjoying the slow rise and fall.
Gradually he moved his hand until he found the small rise of a nipple. He waited again, giving Angel the chance to protest or pull away. Feeling more secure in his exploration, he rubbed slowly, delighted at the instant response. The little nub peaked and hardened instantly under the pads of his fingertips. He moved again and found its twin, already hard for him. He rolled it carefully between his thumb and forefinger before flicking it hard. That got him a whimper and more nuzzling. Joe took that as a signal that more would be welcome and began to twist and pinch, getting a little rougher each time he moved from one hot bud to the other. He was still holding Angel firmly in place and the boy made no attempt to get free as Joe slid his hand down to stroke his flat belly in slow circles, gradually working his way lower.

 

Author Bio: L M lives in a small village in the English countryside, surrounded by rolling hills, cows and sheep. She started writing to fill time between jobs and is now firmly and unashamedly addicted.

She loves the English weather, especially the rain, and adores a thunderstorm. She loves good food, warm company and a crackling fire. She’s fascinated by the psychology of relationships, especially between men, and her stories contain some subtle (and not so subtle) leanings towards BDSM.

Author Links: http://pinterest.com/lmsomerton
Twitter: @lmsomerton

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

 

TheEdge Tour Badge Tour Dates: June 20 – July 6WillPride
Tour Stops:
June 20: Kimi-Chan
June 21: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
June 22: Nephylim, Amanda C. Stone, Jade Crystal
June 23: 3 Chicks After Dark, Love Bytes, Rainbow Gold Reviews
June 24: The Hat Party
June 25: Hearts on Fire
June 26: Michael Mandrake, LeAnn’s Book Reviews
June 27: Prism Book Alliance
June 28: Iyana Jenna
June 29: Tara Lain
June 30: Velvet Panic
July 1: Wake Up Your Wild Side
July 2: Elisa Rolle
July 3: MM Good Books
July 4: My Fiction Nook
July 5: Cate Ashwood, Parker Williams
July 6: Book Reviews and More by Kathy

 

Contest: A signed paperback copy of ‘Tales From The Edge) which contains book one and two, posted anywhere in the world.
An e-copy of A Double-Edged Sword.  Visit here to enter and for contest details.

Review: The Dog Trainer by Owen Keehnen

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

“Sometimes the last thing you expect is exactly what you need.”

The Dog Trainer coverRichard Myers’ life is set.  He is a well off gay urbanite looking for happiness and the perfect man one man at a time. Richard has a core group of outgoing if a bit self involved friends who like to party and a well-paying dead end job.  And if he hasn’t found the right man yet, Richard is sure he is out there.

Then  one night while stumbling on his way home, an inebriated Richard finds a puppy and almost immediately Richard’s life and his relationships begin to change.  Richard starts to  interact with his neighbor across the hall,  Evelyn, who also has a dog. In just a few days the  puppy, now named Hambone, wriggles his way into Richard’s life on every level.

Despite Richard’s disapproving friends and on again off again boyfriend, Richard finds a vet and then something much, much more. On Evelyn’s recommendation Richard hires a dog trainer named Abe and from the moment Richard hears Abe’s voice on the phone he feels a connection with this man.

When Abe’s comes for Hambone’s first  training session, the sparks fly. Abe and Hambone together start to show Richard a different life than the one he has been living and Richard likes the change in himself and his lifestyle.

Will love conquer all in the end? It will if Hambone has any say in the matter.

 

Can owning (or being owned) by a dog change your life?  How you answer that question will probably determine how you feel about this story.  The Dog Trainer by Owen Keehen takes that questions and answers it with a resounding yes!  This story really resonated with me (no small wonder here).  I absolutely believe in the power of animals (whatever they may be) to change a person’s view on life.  Whether that change is a small or large one depends entirely on the person involved.  If they have animals or a history with animals, then the changeover is more subtle, or less ground shaking.  But for that individual for whom this is a first time relationship/ownership, the changes can be startling and lasting.

Owen Keehnen certainly understands the impact that one small puppy can have on a solitary individual such as Richard.  The changes in lifestyle that a puppy brings to the right person, an accepting person, enlarges your life and that is exactly what happens to Richard Myers.  Upon first meeting Richard, our first impressions aren’t exactly positive ones.  Richard, like the people he has chosen as friends, are living a somewhat superficial, self involved life style.  Richard and his core group spend their time at bars picking apart people, events, whatever happens to grab their attention.  They dress well, attend the “right” functions and move from one hot bar to another in search of entertainment and romance.  Richard has niggling feelings that he might be missing out on something but soon pushes such trifling thoughts away.  I love  Keehnen’s descriptions of Richard and his friends.  From the dialog to their clothes they are the recognizable Millennials found in cities everywhere.

But in one instant, that all changes although Richard is the last person to understand what is happening to him.  Keehnen has Richard finding his puppy during a drunken walk home.  Pulled into a lot by pitiful cries, Richard finds a bag of puppies, of which only one is still alive.  And because Richard is, at the center, a decent human being, he takes the puppy home and changes his life in small ways at first, then much larger ones.  It is a slow climb out of the lifestyle Richard has made for himself and that makes it a realistic one.  The puppy attracts people he had never interacted with before, new avenues of interest, and slowly Richard opens himself up to new situations, people, and finally love.  I have seen it happen, and so probably have you, if you think about it.

Another great authentic touch is that Richard is uncertain that he wants to be a dog owner, he isn’t sure he wants the changes in his routine that come with dog ownership.  He has to puzzle it out for himself (ok , along with some help from his neighbor, Abe the dog trainer, and Hambone himself) but that is pretty accurate too.

I liked the slow build to a romance.  This is a tale of two Richards and Richard must decide which one he will be in order to get his man and HEA.  Hambone is an endearing character, just as you would expect.  It is easy to see why Richard is willing to make the changes he does when faced with such unconditional love and adoration.  And when Abe comes along, Richard is ready for a “less than picture perfect man” who just might be the man for him…and Hambone.

This is a sweet, endearing romance between man and puppy, and man and man.  There isn’t a lot of drama or fuss but a realistic changeover for one man when a dog comes into his life.  I loved that but then again I have three terriers at my side just like Hambone is for Richard.  So I get it.  And I believe in the power of an animal to change a person’s life.   I think Owen Keehnen gets that too.  I enjoyed this story and loved the cover.  Owen Keehnen is a new author for me so I look forward to seeing what else he has written.

If the above descriptions appeals to you, then pick up this story and start your journey with Richard and Hambone.  This gentle tale might just be the thing for you.

Great cover again by Wilde City Press.

Buy Links:         Wilde City Press      ARe          Amazon 

Book Details:

ebook
Published May 21st 2014 by Wilde City Press
ISBN139781925180015
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-romance/the-dog-trainer/#.U3ttn_ldV1A

Review: Diego (Endangered Fae #2) by Angel Martinez

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Diego Endangered Fae coverDiego Sandoval’s life changed utterly the day he rescued an ailing Fae under the Brooklyn Bridge.  From dumped lover and struggling author, Diego’s life is now filled with the love of Finn, his Pookie lover and the book Finn inspired has gotten Diego a league of fans and followers.  Now relocated to a remote area of Montana, life is good but change is in the wind once more….

A misunderstanding between Finn and Diego shatters their happy lives when in a fit of jealous rage, Diego’s uncontrolled power rips a hole in the Veil which seals his universe away from the Otherworld.  The Otherworld is the place where all Fae fled in the face of humankind proliferation and despoiling of the Earth.  Pulled unwittingly into the Otherworld, Diego must learn how to use his powers, find Finn and make their way back home.

But so many obstacles stand in their way, including a mysterious disease that is slowly killing all the Fae, a disease that all Fae are sure Diego can cure.  And if that is not enough to contend with, then the appearance of the US Army with its own assumptions might be the biggest problem of all….

When a book and characters are able to pull me into their story to the point that I forget the time and other things I need to be doing then I know that the author has accomplished their mission as a craftsman of tales, a first rate storyteller that would be welcomed at any fire or table around.  That’s how I felt about Diego (Endangered Fae #2) when I finally put down the Kindle and looked at the clock.  I couldn’t believe how late it was or how absorbed I had been in Diego, the second book in the Endangered Fae series by Angel Martinez.  I loved the first story, but this one built on that and became so much better….

This is a complex story with numerous characters, locations and worlds involved. Once again, Martinez pulls from a number of mythologies to build her two universes and multitude of Fae species.  Diego follows months, perhaps a year, after the events of Finn.  They have moved into a cabin in the wilds of Montana,  and Diego has become a successful author based on his first published story about a fictionalized Finn.  But a state of happiness is an unknown territory for both man and Fae and Martinez is wise to include the points of view of both Diego and Finn here to highlight their feelings and insecurities about their relationship and each other.

Finn, while long lived or even immortal, has not had a happy history with relationships, especially his last one which ended in his dismemberment and his lover’s torture and burning.  And lurking underneath a traumatic history with love or because of it, is a case of poor self image and enough insecuritiesto fill a canyon.  He wants to be worthy of Diego, but is not sure exactly how to accomplish that.  He fears that Diego will abandon him even as Diego tries to reinforce the depth of his own feelings towards the Fae.  Diego too has a bad history of romance behind him.  Two insecure new lovers must balance their new relationship with the needs of each other, different species included.  That’s a heavy task that Martinez has placed in front of her two main characters and that is only the beginning as well as the foundation for most of their issues.  A stable, loving relationship is so new to both that neither understands how to communicate their fears or feel secure enough in their love for each other to question the firmness of the foundation upon which they base their feelings.  That an impressive fracture to overcome for any new couple, let alone a human and a Fae.  Plus both have a history with Diego’s prior self, Taliesin and the power that Diego has yet to harness.  More issues still for the couple.  I mean Martinez has these two on such shaky emotional ground (believably so) that its a wonder each gets out of the bed they are so fond of.

But an emotional jealous rage shatters a barrier raised by a Fae Queen and both are drawn into an ancient feud that has dire consequences for all.  Here Martinez delves deep into Fae mythology and comes up with some astonishing characters.  From Dana to Balor, ancient enemies with a common sorrow between them, and Lugh, half kin, ex lover and soldier, such amazing characters of immense gravitas and magic await the reader on the other side of the Veil.  And none of them even remotely come across as human.  This element of the story is incredibly compelling and magnetic in its pull.  I loved Martinez’ ability to continue with her relationship dynamics between Finn and Diego while building on Finn’s history and complex relationships with others in the Otherworld.  This will just add to the problems they face, trust me.

One aspect of this story will be the arrival (I won’t say where) of a top secret US Army detachment.  Their impact upon our beloved characters and story isn’t for the squeamish.  While Martinez is not as graphic as she might have been, my imagination supplied far too many details on top of the ones the author already delivered.  Vivid, traumatic, scary….just what you might expect from such an encounter.  The detachment fills much the same role as the Wendig0 did for the first story.  It shakes everything up, provides a enemy to thwart, and makes the ending of the story that much more satisfactory for all everyone went through to get to the resolution.  Not a easy element to read but so worthwhile once you get to the other side.  Don’t flinch…move smartly forward.  Trust me, its worth it.

So many wonders to be found here in this story and series.  I loved the Fae, all of them, and the Otherworld. I loved that Diego’s cultural identity is as important as Finn’s Fae one, a lovely touch that adds spice to the Endangered Fae melting pot of a series.  I absolutely fell in love over and over again with character after character, no matter the species and how much fun is that?

I am getting ready for the third book in the series, Semper Fae (great title).  It deals with the romance between a soldier who plays a major role in this story and another great chacracter found here too.  No spoilers as yet.  It won’t be out for several months.  Until then, get started on this series.  Start with Finn, and then go on to Diego.  I will meet you back here for Semper Fae.

Consider Diego (and Finn) definite recommendations from ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords.  Such happy findings….I can’t wait to see where Angel Martinez takes us all next….

 

 

Cover art by Winterheart Designs.  Nice  cover, love the models standing in for both characters.

Buy Links:              MLR Press        Diego: Endangered Fae Series ” title=”Amazon buy link”> Amazon            ARe

Book Details:

book, 3rd, 296 pages
Published June 6th 2014 by MLR Press (first published September 16th 2010)
original titleDiego
ISBN 1608209342 (ISBN13: 9781608209347)
urlhttp://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=AM_DIEGO
seriesEndangered Fae #2
charactersDanu, Finn Shannon, Diego Sandoval, Lugh, Balor
settingMontana (United States)
Otherworld ,Tearman Island

Books in the series include:

Finn (Endangered Fae #1)
Finn’s Christmas (Endangered Fae #1.5) (note: this was folded into Finn as the last chapter in the latest edition)
Diego (Endangered Fae #2)
Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3)