A BJ Review: Chasing Death Metal Dreams by Kaje Harper

Rating:  5 stars out of 5      ★★★★★

Chasing Death Metal Dreams coverThis story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

Dear Author,
I was sent to the US at the age of 10 by my father who could not accept me. You see I was misgendered at birth and I started fighting against my body at a young age. My father sent me to live with my cousin’s family along with enough money to pay my way for a few years. Little does he know he helped to fund the many surgeries and hormones to fulfill my dream of having my outside gender match the gender my brain has always known myself to be.

What do you think Author? Not many know of his secret. He is a gay man. Is he in a gang? Is he in a band? How will he find love? How will he be accepted?

Photo Description: A young bare-chested man stands staring boldly outward from below his raised arms, hands pressed together in his black hair, elbows winged out, colorful dagger tattoos on his forearms. Another tattoo near his neck forms swirl of dark curves with “Boy” over his left collarbone. His biceps are strong, his stomach and pecs flat, his nipples small, above a thin treasure trail leading downward. Below each nipple is the unmistakable, long-healed scar of top surgery.

Carlos Medina has spent years of sweat, pain, effort, and money becoming the man he is. He writes original songs, plays lead guitar, and wears his death metal front-man persona like armor. With an excellent drummer and a talented bassist, his band, KnifeSwitch, has what it takes to succeed, if they can just catch a break. But it’s been a long road already, and there’s still a mountain left to climb. Carlos isn’t looking for anything more in his personal life than an occasional hook-up with a hot guy, preferably outside the less-than-gay-friendly metal scene.

Nate Goldstein has no intention of dating a musician. His twin brother fronts a band, and he knows band guys are all busy, broke, and obsessed with their music. But Carlos catches his artist’s eye. Nate is wary – he has a history of picking the wrong guys. Still, he might be willing to break some personal rules to find out what’s behind Carlos’s dark gaze and imaginative lyrics.

Getting together the first time is easy and fun. The second time is more complicated. And when music, ambition, and personalities clash, the guys will have to decide if they have a future worth fighting for.

This is my favorite of the stories I’ve read from this year’s writing event so far. Let me tell you why. First off, main character Carlos. While there certainly isn’t a plethora of books with a trans man as a lead character, there are a decent amount both inside and outside of the m/m genre, and I’ve read a quite a few. Not many are this well done, and in only a few have I discovered a main character that truly engaged me. Carlos definitely did. He could be stand-offish, prickly, quick to anger and didn’t do relationships. He was very careful to keep his sexuality under wraps since it wasn’t widely accepted within the death metal circle. But Carlos was also so damned strong, and his determination to pursue his dreams, both musical and being his real inner self, spoke to me deeply. Then he met Nate.

Which brings us to the second reason this was a favorite. Nate is an artist with a wonderfully close, supportive and accepting family. Artist characters are a thing for me, so is long hair, which meant Nate was an instant hit with me. But like Carlos, Nate was a thoroughly nuanced character who despite being caring, sensitive, considerate, accepting and supportive, did also have his own issues of trust and insecurity to overcome.

When the sparks fly between these two, it’s far from insta-love. These two men each have baggage and obstacles to overcome. Their story swept me along very easily and naturally. I loved watching Carlos open up to Nate not just physically but also letting him in emotionally, which wasn’t something he’d done before. Watching the two very different men learn to trust each other was a thoroughly enjoyable journey.

The author handled the sexual scenes, even the sensitive ones, very well with just the right amount of details and explanations. The heat level was quite steamy. While I do understand why the sex scenes were mainly from Nate’s point of view, I still longed for one from Carlos’ and I think mainly this has to do with the fact that the other really well-done trans man main character book I’d read was from only the other MC’s point of view. Since this one was a dual-POV, my favorite, I’d held out that hope. I don’t consider that this took away from the story all that much, however, since each scene between the two moved their relationship along perfectly.

I’m not a metal music fan at all. In fact, I normally avoid books that deal with rock stars completely. But this wasn’t about stars, far from it, and I didn’t need to be into death metal to become invested in and enjoy these guys story. The author painted a clear picture of the struggle it takes to make it as they chased their dreams. Loved the sprinkled in song lyrics and the album cover and tattoo drawing descriptions. In fact, all the many facets of the story’s elements were thoroughly researched and expertly handled, making this story read wonderfully smooth and true for me. The pace wasn’t fast, but leisurely like a Sunday drive where in the journey itself is as important as the destination. Something to be savored mile-by-mile, word-by-word.

This story was written within a short timeframe and the limited guidelines of fitting into a given prompt, yet you could never tell that if you picked this up. Not from the stunning cover, and certainly not from the beautiful, well-rounded, well-written journey towards acceptance and love that this story takes us on. If you haven’t read this one yet, pick it up today. It definitely belies the saying “you get what you pay for”. This story rocks, or considering the death metal maybe I should say it growls.

The cover by BookCoverMasterClass.com is stunning and very well suited to the story. Definitely grabbed my attention.

Free story at  Goodreads MM Romance Group.com

Book Details:

ebook, 265 pages
Published August 2nd 2015 by MMRomanceGroup.com (first published August 1st 2015)
edition languageEnglish
charactersCarlos Medina, Nate Goldstein

A BJ Review: Rattlesnake by Kim Fielding

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Rattlesnake coverA drifter since his teens, Jimmy Dorsett has no home and no hope. What he does have is a duffel bag, a lot of stories, and a junker car. One cold desert night he picks up a hitchhiker who ends up dying before he can get him to his destination. When a letter the dead drifter wrote to the son he hadn’t seen in years turns up in his car, Jimmy decides to continue the journey to Rattlesnake and deliver the letter in person.

The small town of Rattlesnake is nestled in the foothills of the California Sierras, and it’s centerpiece is the historic Rattlesnake Inn, where the bartender is handsome former cowboy Shane Little, the drifter’s son himself. Jimmy feels an immediate attraction to Shane, and when his car gives up the ghost, Shane gets him a job as handyman at the inn.

There Jimmy finds an unaccustomed peace, but tells himself it can’t be a lasting thing. The open road continues to call, and surely Shane—a strong, proud man with a painful past and a difficult present—deserves better than a lying vagabond who can’t stay put for long.

As always with Kim Fielding, this book was well-written and the characters well-drawn. However, this story was quite slow to engage me and even after it did, the pace was often slow for me. Perhaps this was due to Jimmy’s lengthy stories or the longish descriptions of the town and its history, not sure. But I can say that the characters and engaging storyline were more than enough to keep me reading despite it. However, if you are looking for action or a fast-paced storyline, then this may not be the book for you.

I felt for Jimmy the drifter with no confidence in himself, a man who’d been told from an early age he wouldn’t amount to anything and had taken that to heart. I understand it intimately because I lived it. The black sheep with strange inclinations born into a broken, poor family, check. Being told you’ll never amount to anything (in my case the mantra was, you have brains but no common sense). Yes! And the need to get away? Hell, yes! In Jimmy’s case as a drifter, in mine moving to the other side of the country. So hell yes, I get Jimmy.

But yet, I don’t. Because he’s given up. On love, on finding or making a home. On himself. Forty-three and he never attempted to better himself, to prove them wrong? He let his naysayers and abusers dictate his life for so long? He never stood up and decided he wanted something, and he was going to damn well strive to get it?

To be honest, I wanted to strangle him each time he was going to bail and walk away. He’d start to pack, but it rained or whatever. Would he have really or was he fooling himself and making excuses? Probably the latter. Either way bothers me no end. He’d allowed them to take his spirit, to strip him of his self-worth and confidence so completely that he didn’t even try in all those years? That is just incredibly sad. I have the self-confidence of a gnat, its hard and scary to try and possibly fail. It’s hard to trust. Maybe impossible. But giving up? Never. And when he finally did change his life, it was because he’d found someone else. It didn’t come from within him.

Shane was a whole different thing. Adored him from the start. There was a man who life had kicked, but he got back up like the energizer bunny. His stunning bravery, loyalty, understanding, and trust just floored me. The constant cheerfulness despite the chronic pain was just a little bit over the top, but I still adored him. And the amazing family behind him as a foundation, all wonderfully drawn secondary characters.

The romance between the two men was touching, heated and memorable, and this story packed some serious feels. Very enjoyable. But the slow pace and my annoyance towards Jimmy kept it from being five stars. I enjoy flawed characters–very much so. But I still want them to find strength in themselves. Because, hell, if I’d waited for someone (or a whole town in this case) to rescue me and offer me a home, to give me someone to believe in, I’d still be wallowing in my own mire.

The cover by L. C. Chase depicting a drifter and his duffle waiting for a ride on the side of the road is fitting for the story. However, the man walking towards him on the freeway threw me off as he met Shane in a saloon and never traveled with him nor was picked up by him or anything.

Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press |  All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 240 pages
Published August 31st 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
original title Rattlesnake
ISBN 1634764773 (ISBN13: 9781634764773)
edition language English

A BJ Review: The Complications of T (The Actor’s Circle #1) by Bey Deckard

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

The Complications of T coverStuart Leandro is a movie actor who has been taking roles for money rather than art and has recently faced that his marriage is breaking up. One night on the road in a foreign country, he winds up drunk in the gutter. Lucky for him, there’s someone’s there to rescue him before his face ends up plastered all over the tabloids. But is his rescuer male or female? His drunken senses aren’t at all sure, especially after a semi-coherent kiss enters the mix.

When he wakes in a strange apartment the next day, his rescuers gender still isn’t clear. Wary of the motives of the reclusive stranger, Stuart nonetheless can’t deny his curiosity or his attraction. He’s surprised when beneath the mystery, he discovers someone whose life has actually been intertwined with his own for years. But Tim White is unlike anyone Stuart has met before.

Tim’s simple act of kindness soon leads the two men into one of the most intense encounters of both of their lives—but are these two very public individuals willing to weather the media storm their extraordinary relationship will cause?

This story is a bit different than what I’ve come to expect from this author; less dark, lighter and most definitely sweeter. But I enjoyed it immensely.

Stuart and Tim’s romance moved from a strong attraction to sex that sent sparks flying and quickly coalescing into insta-love. It was Stuart’s first gay experience, yet he took it very much in stride. I admired his acceptance and open-mindedness, and the hesitant but determined way he dealt with discovering Tim right alongside experiencing emotions and attractions that were new to him. The sex was light rather than detailed, which actually disappointed me since unlike other trans books I’ve read, it was clear that Tim didn’t eschew taking pleasure by using his remaining female parts.   

After its breakneck start, the relationship slowed down (actually came to a rather screeching halt) at Tim’s request. And I actually liked that. I was enthralled with the hopeful direction it was heading, and then it ended.

Yep, it ended way too abruptly for my liking. I wanted to experience those absence-made-the-heart-grow-fonder moments, wanted their physical reunion right there on the page, wanted to know if the reactions of others that they’d both worried over and dreaded turned out as expected, and if so, how they handled it together. Wanted more.

Sometimes life is all about being in the right place at the right time. Tim White was there just when and where Stuart needed him to be. How he came to be there wasn’t quite clear to me. Coincidence? Or was Tim stalking his favorite actor?

Despite all those nit picks, I couldn’t rate this less than four stars, because I enjoyed Tim’s character so much. His wit, intelligence, self-assurance and strength and low angst level were perfect. And his reclusive lifestyle rang very true to me. And then there’s this:

“You want to know if I have a penis?”

“Yeah,” I confessed, a little embarrassed.

“I do!,” said Tim, but when he saw the look on my face, he just tugged my hair again with a playful smirk. “I was, however, unfortunately born without it, and seeing as what science can offer really, and I mean really, doesn’t appeal to me, I’m forced to keep it in the top drawer of the bedside table. Why? Do you want to see it?”

So yeah, I love Tim, and really, really hope there will be a second book that’s from Tim’s point of view… just as in the F.I.S.T.S. series we got the second from Murphy’s. Please, with puppy dog eyes, can you give me that dear author?

The lovely and sensual cover does this story justice. Love it.

Sales Links:  All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here


Book Details:

ebook, 53 pages
Published August 20th 2015 by Bey Deckard (first published August 18th 2015)
ISBN13 9780994790026

A BJ Review: The Downs by Kim Fielding

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

The Downs coverPrompt: Dear Author,
He stood, head bowed, body tense, waiting. No matter what happened next, his life would never be the same…
Please give this man his life changing event, whatever that may be, as long as he ends up with his HEA/HFN by the end. Thank you, Aislinn

This story reads rather like a fable or a dark fairy tale. It’s set in a fascinating dystopian world where those convicted of a crime are taken from the city, across the Reach and pitched over a cliff into the Downs where they are told they are being given to the demons for their pleasure.

Nicely done world building. The story begins with a Entian, a criminal who has been wrongly judged then carted across the desert, brutalized and thrown down a cliff, supposedly to the demons. However, he wakes instead to tender care at the hands of the gentle, scarred giant named Rig. Both of the main characters were intriguing. Although he hadn’t deserved what he got, Entian hadn’t been at all an innocent saint in his previous life. And Rig with his sad past and big, sweet bear personality is lovely. Both of their backstories are very developed for a story of this length.

This story had many elements I enjoy: dark, dystopian, hurt/comfort, scarred/broken characters, and a sweet love story. There is action but for the most part it moves at a steady pace that lets us sink gently into the world and the relationship.

This isn’t only a romance, but a fable-like tale of betrayal, second chances, and vengeance. Little truths sneak out from its pages. Like for example how sometimes it’s the unfortunate events that brings us to the exact place where we find what it is we most needed all along. But Entian’s determined desire for revenge even after he’d created a life with Rig was the one sour note in the story for me. I did end up liking how it played out though. So overall a great story with a sweet and fitting end.

The cover is lovely and uses the actual prompt photograph from the m/m romance group which inspired the story!

Free Story which can be found here.

Book Details: 

book, 95 pages
Published June 10th 2015 by M/M Romance Group @ Goodreads
edition language English

A Bj Review: The Gig (Speechless #2) by Kim Fielding

Rating:  3.5 stars out of 5

The Gig coverAn accident in Drew Clifton’s past left the former novelist with aphasia, unable to communicate through either speech or writing. Through sheer strength of will, he built a quiet but lonely life for himself. But now he’s fallen in love with Travis Miller.

Travis has his own issues—a permanent eye injury and unemployment. But he’s determined to help Drew find ways to engage and succeed again in the wider world, and a guitar-playing gig at a local coffeehouse seems like a good start.

Dylan Warner and Chris Nock happen to be in the audience that evening, and they have a few niggling problems of their own. Perhaps a chance meeting will provide solutions that might benefit all of them

A revisit with the guys from Speechless: Drew Clifton’s, the former novelist with aphasia, and Travis, the one-eyed machinist. After his accident, Drew built a life for himself in Portland, and now shares it with his love, Travis Miller.

Now that he’s back in Portland, Travis is unemployed and being cared for by his lover isn’t sitting well with him. He wants to stand on his own two feet. He’s determined to help Drew though and one way he finds is to see his lover succeed again in the wider world, this time using his talent as a guitarist. He gets him a gig at a local coffeehouse.

There they meet Dylan Warner and Chris Nock, who happen to be in the audience. Will this chance meeting provide solutions that might benefit all four guys?

Dylan and Chris are characters from another of Fielding’s books, one that I haven’t as yet read. I love how she gave me some subtle clues about them without having them come right out and say things.

Well-written and fun but very short read. Like Speechless, this is all from Travis POV. It does a nice job of tying up some loose ends from the first book. BUT I have the same niggle with it that I did with book one. The ending is abrupt and leaves me wanting more. I totally wanted to attend the event that was mentioned with these guys… the set up for it was so perfect. I wonder if it might be in one of the books containing Chris and Dylan. I must go now and scope that out.

The cover  by Paul Richmond is understated, but fitting for the story.

Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) |

Book Details:  

ebook, 24 pages
Published May 22nd 2013 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN13 9781623807122
series Speechless #

A BJ Review: Speechless (Speechless #1) by Kim Fielding

Rating:  4.25 stars out of 5

Speechless coverOne-eyed Travis Miller is a machinist living what he terms a “fairly sucky” life in Portland. His only real companion is a rescue a cat named Elwood. After he spots a handsome man playing the guitar on his porch along his walking route home, that starts to become a highlight of his day. Travis gathers the courage to speak to the man and discovers that the former novelist Drew Clifton suffers from aphasia after having been in a car accident. Drew can understand what people say, but cannot speak or write.

These two lonely men form a friendship that deepens into romance, but soon realize it might not be communication that’s their biggest challenge. Travis is inexperienced at relationships and struggles with a precarious financial situation.

Speechless (Speechless #1) by Kim Fielding was an easy, quick read. It’s a sweet love story without being syrupy or full of drama. I love broken/wounded characters and watching them overcome their hardships. Both of these men are wounded, Travis having lost his eye and Drew his speech. Yet both are strong characters and the angst level is fairly low–neither of these men whined over their situations. Not to themselves or each other. I enjoyed that. Both men came across as everyday guys, not super handsome, buff, rich or super tough.

This is told only from Travis POV, which made Drew have to get himself across to not only Travis but also us readers through only his actions. Not an easy thing for the author to achieve, I’m thinking. But yet, she did it wonderfully. Drew comes across as a very expressive, endearing, strong and determined man. Still, I admit that I’d have loved to have gotten a bit into Drew’s head, because how awful for him as a writer to lose his ability to use words! He made light of it to Travis, but I can imagine that was not the case. At least he could still read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this refreshing story and these imperfect, yet perfect for each other men. In life, people who can talk just fine often have such a hard time communicating. Sometimes it seems people don’t make a very strong effort to do so if it’s too difficult. I love this quote “I hardly ever had any problem understanding him. You just have to pay attention.” Exactly. But unfortunately, even to those of us who speak, many don’t pay attention, don’t really listen or watch to see what’s behind the words. Travis paid attention, and I loved him for that.

Another quote from this that I adored, mainly because it made ME feel good was this one, “…even if you never write anything again, you’ve already done way more than most people.” Again… damn, I love Travis.

My quibble is that the ending felt rushed. However, I noticed that there is a sequel to be had, so will have to check that out and might end up having to up my stars on this down the road.

The cover by Anne Cain is a little plain as far as color but it gets the point of the story across well.

Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here


Book Details:  

ebook, 62 pages
Published July 18th 2012 by Dreamspinner Press (first published July 2012)
ISBN 1613727178 (ISBN13: 9781613727171)
edition language English

A Bj Review: Unconventional In San Diego Anthology (Authors Carol Lynne, Amber Kell, T.A. Chase, Jambrea Jo Jones, Devon Rhodes)

Overall Rating:   3.75 stars out of 5

Unconventional In San Diego Anthology coverThis anthology features stories by Carol Lynne, Amber Kell, TA Chase, Jambrea Jo Jones, and Devon Rhodes; the stories are tied together by a common setting, a paranormal club/bar in San Diego named Unconventional.

Fate’s Bridge by Carol Lynne – 2.75 stars


Vampire Roman Gschwind discovers the soul of his lost love inside the body of another. Having promised not to turn his love, he has no choice but to allow his brother Alexi to do so in order to save his life. But now he must decide if he’s willing to share his love with another vampire in order to rekindle what he lost?

This one started well, but quickly became disjointed for me. This story has quite a lot of M/M/M sex and very little buildup of sexual tension beforehand, which made it a bit flat for me. There wasn’t a lot of character development, especially of Alexi, and that combined with lower levels of UST than I prefer kept me from forming a connection to the characters. Reincarnation is an interesting theme, so I was looking forward to that aspect. Julian and Roman’s story was touching, and the ending gave it such a bittersweet twist that it made me teary. But I think the story suffered because of length and moving too fast, especially at the beginning.

Coming in Third by Amber Kell – 3.5 stars

Niall is a fae prince who’s fifth in line for the throne, and his mother wants him wed. When Niall sneaks out of the palace to fulfill a fantasy of having two men, he winds up at Unconventional faced with a pair of lion shifters looking to spice up their love life. After a night with him, Jovan and Luka’s shifter instincts tell them the innocent fae could be their long sought mate—the one fated to be theirs. But Niall’s guards cart him back to the palace and a possible arranged marriage. Will the shifters go after him or let it be the one-night stand Niall had offered?

For those who might be bothered by it, be aware that this one has some abuse (past/off page) both from Niall’s domineering, controlling mother and the guards who string him up and whip him at his mother’s instructions. Niall is a magical fae, but the bindings his guards use strip away his magic. This is a case of an established couple bringing in a third who had been search for exactly such a situation, hence no jealousy or angst. I loved that Niall glowed when sated, and that despite being small, he was strong both physically and mentally (the former because of his magic). A cute story with some interesting world details and a satisfying ending. Some humor in this one. Also some rather weird metaphor use, some of which worked for me and others which totally didn’t.

The Unicorn Said Yes by T.A. Chase – 3 stars

Ivan Brusilov, king of the unicorns, goes to Unconventional for a drink and meets Carney Ferguson—a twenty-five year old human virgin. Turns out that innocence, and hence virgins, are irresistible to unicorns! But there are darker forces at work and neither Ivan nor Carney are safe and things are not as they seem.

This was cute at first but got to be confusing at parts. There was an awful lot of telling vs showing and some repetitiveness. I found it strange that they were both so into the Kinsey scale enough to have known their exact number ratings. I enjoyed Carney’s brother Jordan quite a bit. Many things about the way the story as a whole was told didn’t work so well for me, but the premise was quite unique and interesting and the tension and intrigue in the latter half was well done.

Blood on the Moon’ by Jambrea Jo Jones – 3.75 stars

Montague Ramey is a witch seeking exciting in his boring everyday life. Then came the night the moon turned red and his life changed. Kishar Nichelson’s is an incubus whose motorcycle ended up in a ditch on the road at midnight under the red moon and then stalled out on him. Someone’s after him, but he can’t remember what happened exactly and he’s weak from lack of sex that its hard for him to think. Can a witch and an incubus find love and solve a mystery on the night of the blood moon?

Montague is a rather sad, mousy man at the start of this story. And not really very appealing. This story, like the one before, had lots of telling vs showing at the start, but I liked how it tied in some characters from prior stories. There was a contradiction that bothered me and took me out of the story early on–him wishing out loud for something exciting to happen in one sentence and cowering from having even said it out loud in the next. Huh? BUT…

Kishar, on the other hand, was quite interesting from the start. An incubus who chooses to feed his need for sex with other paranormals rather than harm the delicate, fragile humans. And once the two are together, it starts to work for me. The head-hopping made it a bit hard to follow at parts, but I enjoyed seeing both characters grow and change once they found each other. Overall, it was a bit playful with some nice action and a sweet HEA.

A Sliver of Sunset by Devon Rhodes – 4.25 stars

Angelo is the only paranormal known to ever have leukemia, and the doctors are mystified as to the cause. To cure himself, he must repress his shifter side with a chemical inhibitor so he can go through chemotherapy as a human. Dominic hooked up with hottest guy and spent a night having the best sex ever, but wakes to find his lover gone. A week later, he meet a new oncology patient to find the same man fighting for his life and dependent upon his care.

This is by far my favorite story in this anthology. Angelo intrigued me from when I read about him in one of the earlier stories, and I hoped we’d get more about him. Glad I was right. More than any of the other stories, this one gave a sense of being set in San Diego (where I lived for some years in the past). This anchor story of the collection also did an excellent job of tying all the stories together.

I won’t give away exactly what sort of paranormal Angelo is, since that’s a fun part of the story to learn as you go. I don’t usually like to read stories in which one of the MC has cancer (or any possibly fatal disease), but this was an exception. This is well-written, well-paced and all-around enjoyable read.

The cover is appealing; picturing the cityscape and two hot guys in sunglasses, so it has a definite San Diego feel and caught my eye. However, I don’t think it gave me much of a feel for the stories within as nothing about it says paranormal.

Sales Links: Pride Publishing |  Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 198 pages
Published July 11th 2015 by Pride Publishing
ISBN139781784306878
edition languageEnglish
other editions (1)
Unconventional in San Diego

A BJ Review: Ghost in the Mythe (Guardians of the Pattern #3) by Jaye McKenna

Rating:  5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

Ghost in the Mythe coverAs a child, Miko Asada was the only survivor of a jump drive accident on a space transport, and the event altered him forever. Beautiful and unable to speak Miko is a bit of an enigma even to those who know him best. Cameron, the man who rescued him from a life of being shared him as a sexual slave, doesn’t even understand or quite believe him when he speaks (voice synth) of dragons and the Mythe. Alone and misunderstood, Miko is losing his desire to remain a part of the human world… until he meets someone who understands and knows all about the dragons and touches the mythe.

Tarrin Rhivana was an Ajhani Guardian, one charged to protect his clan and its artifacts, but was exiled when he used the mythe to kill a thief and save his closest friend, Vaya. Even his mother, a Dragon Speaker, cannot save him from his fate after breaking one of the clan’s strictest laws. When Tarrin attempts to leave his world aboard a ship belonging to the Sky People, he doesn’t realize that in order to get through jump space, he needs to be drugged. But a beautiful ghost comes to his rescue and Tarrin wakes to find himself on Aurora at the Institute for Psionic Research. And there he learns that the beautiful ghost who saved him is very real.

Tarrin learns that one of the Sky People has bonded to one of the ancient artifacts the Guardians are sworn to protect. Now it’s Tarrin’s duty to return to his clan and convince them of the danger the Sky People represent… even if that means he might be killed for violating his exile before he can deliver the warning.

This is book three (okay, four if you count the short Facing the Mirror) of the series and it’s my personal favorite so far. I’d give this book TEN stars if I could, but since I only have five to give, I wish I could make them all shiny and bright and drape them with tinsel.

First, I’ll touch on the characters because they are the heart of this story. You know how in a series, if you have a favorite character, then you wait with baited breath each novel to learn more about that character and then finally… finally there comes a point where it’s their time to shine and grow and find love. This was that book (well, for Miko… still waiting on my other fav, Draven). We met both of these guys in book 0.5. I was patient, and it does not disappoint. I cannot tell you how much I adored the resolution of Miko’s inner struggles (well, his main one I guess, as he does continue on to have important work in the series).

Miko is a bit of an enigma in the first stories, but that’s because they are from other’s POV and no one truly understand Miko. Which meant the we, the readers, were intrigued but didn’t totally either. In this book, we finally get to be inside Miko’s head. And omgosh was it ever worth the wait. Miko is stunning and every bit as broken as he’s been painted through the eyes of the other characters but he’s also strong and such a pivotal characters to the whole series. Love Miko.

As I was reading all the other books, I’m thinking, who in heck is ever going be able to get through to Miko? I needn’t have feared. Enter Tarrin. The man is a saint… okay, he’s not really. He has his flaws, but he’s just perfect for Miko. I loved them together, love the slow burn of their romance, and their tender, sweet sex scenes. And what brought them together initially? Finally someone could understand and relate to him rather than thinking he was a mysterious, broken, powerful psion who was also a nut job. Which he so is not. The way the author handled Miko and Tarrin’s love story was perfect, and given Miko’s background there was just no other way I could have seen it going. They were beautiful together.

Parts of this book had me in tears, because Miko’s journey toward the end, which I will not give away in spoilers on as you must read it for yourself… its that perfect. It’s about accepting all the parts of ourselves, and I absolutely freaking loved that. So yeah, it had me in tears, I admit it. And I am not a crier.

The plot of this series as a whole is fascinating and so complex. I, personally, think that this series is really best read in order as each builds on the other with a central plot woven throughout. None of them end in cliffhangers. Although we are sometimes left with a little tease after the main conflict is resolved, as in this book. And I eat that shit up.

I feel like I know all of these guys and in nearly each story I meet someone new and fascinating and find myself hoping that we will hear more about him. (In this story, that would be both Tarrin and Vaya… oh, I do love me a lost boys). But I am absolutely chomping at the bit for Draven and have to wait until book six. Huge groan.

Miko first appears in book 0.5 right at the beginning of the series and his journey so far is beautiful. I am so glad it’s not totally over; he does continue to appear in the series as he has a big role.

And the cover by Cinchbug… okay… this is me standing up and cheering because I love that image of Miko so much. Beautiful, alluring but innocent and you can even sort of see the sadness there. Love the colors and the fractals representing the mythe behind him. It’s damn close to perfect.

Sales Links:   All Romance (ARe)  |  Amazon  |  Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 331 pages
Published June 6th 2015 by Mythe Weaver Press (first published June 2015)
edition languageEnglish
seriesGuardians of the Pattern

Guardians of the Pattern series
4 authors, 4 primary works

Guardians of the Pattern is a science fiction series in which the line between science and magic blurs. In the galaxy-spanning Federation, psions are still fighting for basic human rights. Some worlds adopt a live-and-let-live policy, but on others, psions are hunted down and murdered because the public fears their psychic talents. When ancient weapons of mass destruction are unearthed on a planet populated by primitive nomads who still believe in magic, psions may be the Federation’s only hope for survival.

Can the people of these two very different cultures come together to prevent disaster? Or will the Federation’s hunger for power trigger a psionic chain-reaction that has the potential to threaten all of humanity?

Guardians of the Pattern Series:

Facing the Mirror (Guardians of the Pattern 0.5)
Psi Hunter (Guardians of the Pattern, #1)
Gremlin’s Last Run (Guardians of the Pattern #2.0)
Ghost in the Mythe (Guardians of the Pattern, #3.0)

Guardians of the Pattern Series in the order they were written and should be read.

 

 

A BJ Review: Cop Out (Toronto Tales #1) by K.C. Burn

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Cop Out CoverWhen Detective Kurt O’Donnell’s partner is killed in the line of duty, he discovers that his rather quiet partner was keeping lots of secrets, including that he was married… to another man. Kurt struggles to come to terms with the realization that his partner didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth, but he decides to do the right thing. When the his partner’s widower, Davy, has no one to turn to except a pregnant sister who has problems of her own, Kurt steps in to help the mourning man get back on his feet. Before long, Davy becomes a friend, one he’s beginning to find himself increasingly attracted to.

To be with Davy, Kurt must face the prospect of coming out, but his job and his relationship with his Catholic family are on the line. Can he risk destroying his life for the uncertain possibility of a relationship with a newly widowed man? As Kurt begins to reevaluate his sexuality, something happens that confuses him even further and sends him into a downward spiral.

I found this to be a well-written and very realistic feeling story. I always enjoy this author’s stories. Just wanted to make that clear up front! Because I really enjoyed everything about this story except that I hated one of the main characters. Davy.

Davy’s deceased lover, Ben was a totally closeted and controlling asshat from what little we get to know about him. Since he died at the start and Davy himself didn’t share too much about him, we only get small small bits and nothing of what made him what he was. Taking that into account, while I didn’t like Davy much even at the beginning, I was trying to understand him and make the effort to like him. That ended, abruptly and finally. And Davy did ZERO to win me back over to his camp before the close of the story. So back to that in a minute.

On the other hand, I adored Kurt. He was just so very sweet to Davy, helping him from the start when he was alone and needy and totally checked out. Even though Kurt himself is just recovering from his own injuries. He’s so patient and kind and generous. After they are friends for a while, Kurt starts to have stronger feelings but is confused as he’s never had them before. When he faces them is able to accept them when he sees Davy kiss another guy, he reacts and then tries to talk to Davy about feelings he doesn’t really fully understand BUT rather than talk it out, Davy’s reaction just flat out made me see red. I absolutely wanted to kick the man in the nuts, throw him under a bus, etc. Only one other book has given me have such a strong hate reaction towards a character. Davy’s actions were wrong on so many levels. But I can’t really list them without describing the scene, which would be a spoiler. That said, if you want to read my full rant in all its furious glory with spoilers, see my review on Goodreads.) But here I will just say that Davy never redeem himself to my mind. Not even freaking close.

Davy’s relationship with Ben turned him pretty much into a hermit due to Ben’s attempts to conceal that the was gay. Davy could have left Ben, he wasn’t a prisoner, yet he didn’t. He stayed with him and he obviously loved him. He was totally broken up with grief when Ben died. It seems as if it was a very unhealthy relationship, but I don’t feel it excuses Davy’s actions. I just don’t.

Davy assumed that Kurt was just another Ben. Assumed things about Kurt. Didn’t bother to let Kurt talk or to talk to Kurt. Didn’t even have the courtesy to treat him like a friend, let alone someone he had feelings for. I hate when characters make assumptions instead of talking, but then to ignore him and hurt him for so long when one simple communication might have meant so much.

Months later when something else happens, Davy finally deigns to come when he’s called and gives lame excuses for his prior behavior. It’s not okay for Davy to have taken his suppressed or repressed feelings about Ben out on Kurt, who had been nothing but a good friend. Yeah, I hate Davy.

Kurt so deserved someone better. No idea what he saw in Davy anyway as he came across to me as kind of a snarky smartass once Kurt helped him get over his depression

I considered briefly that maybe if Davy had been a POV character that I might have gotten a better insight into his motivations and had a different feeling towards him, but based on his lame explanations & assumptions, I tend to think not.

I still give it 4 stars, because I so totally loved Kurt and his family and his story, and I do enjoy this author’s writing style.

I found the cover by artist Reese Dante appealing and representative of the story.

Sales Links:   Dreamspinner Press |  All Romance (ARe)  |  Amazon  |  Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, First Edition, 173 pages
Also available in audiobook and paperback
Published November 2011 by Dreamspinner Press
edition languageEnglish
seriesToronto Tales #1

A BJ Review: Winter Kill by Josh Lanyon

Rating:  4.5 stars out of 5

Winter Kills coverFBI Special Agent Adam Darling was moving up the ranks until a mishandling of a high profile operation left someone dead and his career on shaky ground. Now he’s working a serial killer case when him and his partner are sent to investigate a body in the little town of Nearby.

Deputy Sheriff Robert Haskell is laid-back, easy going and a bit of a joker, but an efficient and tough cop. When the town Sheriff calls in the FBI on a cold case, Agent Darling comes to town and him and Rob enjoy an unexpected one-night stand before the man goes on his way. Rob doesn’t figure to see the intriguing man again, but when the curator of a Native American museum is murdered several months later, the Sheriff calls in the FBI a second time and asks specifically for Agent Darling. With the body count rising, it soon begins to appear that they may be investigating more than one serial killer—one past and one present.

There are actually two mysteries here going on at the same time, some cold cases from twenty years prior and some a modern killer. Could the killer be one and the same? Or are have two serial killers made the small town of Nearby their hunting ground?

The beginning of the story happens in the past from a POV that is never revisited (for a very good reason), and then we go to the varying POV of the two MC. That initial different point of view, the time jump, and then the other two points of views threw me off a bit, and I wasn’t sure I was going to like this for the first few chapters. But Lanyon’s writing is excellent as always, so I kept going and it paid off. I was soon sucked in.

The plot/mystery is quite complex. There is a lot going on, at one point almost too much, but it was reeled by in nicely. I enjoyed the setting, winter in a small, rural town, because rural is right up my ‘lives in middle of nowhere’ alley. I also enjoy reading stories with Native Americans and their histories and legends. The tough female cop who had instincts sharp enough to pick up on little things that even Rob had been overlooking was an awesome addition to the cast of characters. And the pairing of the laid-back, somewhat argumentative but humorous Rob with the more uptight, by the book, and troubled-by-past-events Adam worked well for me.

As far as the mystery in this book goes, there is no neatly tied up with bow ending. We do get to know who did what, but the motives, whys and wherefores are not fully explained. Some may complain about it not being scrupulously tied up. But I was fine with it. In real life, I tend to think the arresting cops don’t really get to know all that stuff, especially right away and in a scenario such as this set up. The guys don’t collect all the clues and put it all together to solve the mystery. They start to put bits and pieces together, and then WHAM, events explode and the stakes are instantly high. So maybe later when it comes to trail possibly the guys will find out more, but I accept that they wouldn’t know all that and found it to be just realistic

Towards the end, the focus shifted to the romance rather than tidying up all the loose ends and motives of the crime. The case was over, solved. In their past and time to focus on their own life. YES! I’m all in with that. In fact, the ending was my favorite part, and I don’t want to give too much away. However, I will say that I thought it was sad and yet brilliant the way Lanyon began the book with a hopeful man in love who didn’t get his HEA, and then wrapped it up with a hopeful HFN for the main couple.

There were two things that kept this from being a perfect five for me. First off, most of the sex scenes started off fun but ended as fade to black. Why? I wanted more. And second, for the first time in a Lanyon book, I found editing errors. Gasp.

Oh, and one more thing. I want to ask Josh Lanyon to please tell me the ex named Tucker that Adam Darling mentioned without a last name is NOT Elliott’s Tucker! Tucker and Elliott are a favorite couple.

The cover photo at the bottom gives a sense of place, season, cold; and the photo at top is right in your face–a gun sighted straight on you. ‘Go ahead, make my day.’ it seems to say. And this book might do just that.

Sales Links:   All Romance (ARe)  |  Amazon  |  Buy It Here
Book Details:

ebook, 181 pages
Published May 31st 2015 by Just Joshin
original titleWinter Kill
ISBN139781937909277
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.joshlanyon