Tag: a MelanieM Highly Rated series and story

A MelanieM Review: The Devil’s Playground: Four of Clubs Three (Pulp Friction 2015: Altered States Book 9) by Parker Williams

Rating:  4.75 stars out of 5

The Devil's Playground CoverThey say the course of true love never runs smooth, and Detective Ben Nelson is learning the truth of that adage in a big way. Two months ago, his lover Artie Middleton was tortured by demons determined to claim the psychic’s special gifts for their own. Now the same friends who helped Ben with the rescue are making a strong case that something about Artie isn’t right. When Artie verbally attacks his best friend, Ben is forced to acknowledge the unbreakable barriers surrounding Artie’s mind.

Searching for someone with the right gifts to help, Ben encounters a woman who insists there’s only one way—and one person—who stands a chance at saving Artie. What Ben finds when he goes on his solo rescue mission may very well mean both of their deaths, as they confront the evil that has made Artie’s mind the Devil’s playground.

Round Three stories are always a joy to read! Although not my favorite ones (that would be Round 5 and the finale), it comes close.  There’s always a mini explosion or three, and somewhere within the plot, the readers will get a small, yet so satisfying emotional payoff for all the angst and heartbreak that has  gone before.  That’s The Devil’s Playground by Parker Williams, book three in his Four of Clubs series in the Pulp Friction Altered States Universe.

When last we left our heroes, Artie and Ben, things were dark and getting darker.  Artie was behaving strangely, asking for help and yet repudiating any that came his way.  And he was mean, deeply, hurtfully, vindictive.  Every the opposite of the character we have come to love.  Ben, his partner and lover, was distraught and at a loss for answers.  In The Devil’s Playground we finally get some answers, and they’re as ugly as we had anticipated.

Demons, a nefarious, unknown plan and a close circle of friends imploding from the inside.  That’s the heartbreak, the suspense and the element that  provides so many emotional layers to this story and series.  Parker Williams continues to remain true to the pulp friction format with a writing style that’s crisp, descriptions that make his characters and situations feel real and a plot that keeps the suspense and angst ratcheted up to high levels. .  He gives us moments of happiness and then  proceeds to break our hearts and that of his characters.  And of course, there’s a cliffhanger as well.  Be still my heart!

I consider this Pulp Friction series one of the top reads this year and that includes all the interconnected series that goes along with it. I have them listed below.  Put them all on your TBR  list!  I highly recommend them all.

Cover art by Laura Harner.  Simple, perhaps too simple.  I wish more elements of this story had been included to give it a punch its lacking now.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition
Published July 13th 2015
ASIN B011K2DZSU
edition language English

 

☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠

About Pulp Friction 2015

Lee Brazil ~ Havan Fellows ~ Parker Williams ~ Laura Harner

The Pulp Friction 2015 Altered States Collection.
Four authors.
Four Series.
Twenty books.
One supernatural finale.

Spend a year with the creatures that go bump in the night…fighting for their rights to exist and protecting the innocents of The Big Easy. A diverse group of friends trying to find their place in a world they never had to “fit” into before.

Although each series can stand alone, we believe reading the books in the order they are released will increase your enjoyment.
Round One:
Drawing Dead (Jack of Spades: 1) by Lee Brazil
Blind Stud (King of Hearts: 1) by Havan Fellows
The Devil’s Bedpost (Four of Clubs: 1) by Parker Williams
Diamonds and Dust (Ace of Diamonds: 1) by Laura Harner

Round Two:
Dead Blind (Jack of Spades: 2) by Lee Brazil
Stud Player (King of Hearts: 2) by Havan Fellow
Up the Ante (Four of Clubs: 2 ) by Parker Williams
Diamond Draw (Ace of Diamonds: 2) by Laura Harner

Round Three:

Dead Button (Jack of Spades #3) by Lee Brazil
Blind Man’s Bluff (King of Hearts #3) by Havan Fellows
The Devil’s Playground (Four of Clubs #3) by Parker Williams

A MelanieM Review: Blue Steel Chain (Trowchester Blues #3) by Alex Beecroft

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

BlueSteelChain_600x900At sixteen, Aidan Swift was swept off his feet by a rich older man who promised to take care of him for the rest of his life. But eight years later, his sugar daddy has turned from a prince into a beast. Trapped and terrified, Aidan snatches an hour’s respite at the Trowchester Museum.

Local archaeologist James Summers is in a failing long distance relationship with a rock star, and Aidan—nervous, bruised, and clearly in need of a champion—brings out all his white knight tendencies. When everything falls apart for Aidan, James saves him from certain death . . . and discovers a skeleton of another boy who wasn’t so lucky.

As Aidan recovers, James falls desperately in love. But though Aidan acts like an adoring boyfriend, he doesn’t seem to feel any sexual attraction at all. Meanwhile there are two angry exes on the horizon, one coming after them with the press and the other with a butcher’s knife. To be together, Aidan and James must conquer death, sex, and everyone’s preconceptions about the right way to love—even their own.

There are certain books you approach with definite expectations of what you will find with the characters and plot.  Sometimes those expectations are met, other times they aren’t.  But on those rare occasions, something else happens, a book doesn’t exceed your expectations, it blows them all to hell, widening your horizons and smacking you in the face with your assumptions.  That’s what occurred  with Alex Beecroft’s Blue Steel Chain, the 3rd book in the Trowchester  Blues series.

My love for the previous novels is apparent in the reviews I wrote and the author interview I conducted.  Alex Beecroft brought alive the small village of Trowchester, with its canals, long boats, antique bookshops, Morris Dancers, historic reinactors and characters of every type imaginable, every type except boring and uninspired. Up until now Beecroft has ushered me into her world with such amazing details such as musical instruments of antiquity I yearned to hear, dances I wanted to watch and a place I desperately wanted to be real.  Her characters, wounded, snarky, and amazing made me laugh, cry and nod my head in recognition and joy.   Then came Blue Steel Chain and everything went topsy turvy.

Where to start when everything is unexpected and sometimes hard to understand?

Blue Steel Chain is beautifully written and thought provoking.  And for me, it was also hard, emotionally, to digest at times.  At the heart of all the thoughts and feelings whirling around in my head is the character of Aidan Swift.  At sixteen, already thrown away by his family for his sexuality, he is fair prey for an older man hiding sick, abusive behaviors and deeds.  Now eight years later, Aidan is a perpetually frightened, submissive, abused young man.  Sometimes left chained and alone for hours as punishment, isolated from all around him, his state of mind is one of fear, chaos, an overwhelming need to please and much , much more.

Alex Beecroft makes Aiden so real your heart bleeds for him and your stomach churns during the scenes he has with his abuser.  Trust me, those are hard to take because we have quickly come to love Aiden so.  But Aiden has another secret.  He’s asexual.  That makes those scenes where he is being sexually abused even more problematic.  Why?  Because of the way he sees them.  I thought I understood what  asexuality meant.  Apparently not.

I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a character  (or author for that matter) recently that made me question my assumptions about sexuality and relationships as Aiden and Alex Beecroft have. We live in Aiden’s skin here.  Every moment, every thought that occurs from his  brief secret excursions away from the house where he is kept, out over the meadows, into the local museum where archaeologist James Summers is toiling over the latest batch of “finds” and having his own relationship issues.  Aiden’s brief moments of joy, his initial fear of Jamie, his curiosity and ,man,, this makes me want to cry again, his love of pottery and the art he was forced to abandon…we are there inside him, listening and weeping.  And hoping for a rescue.

Jamie too needs help. We’re let into his point of view as well, important in a story such as this one. His long term  relationship has diminished to the point that he rarely sees his “partner, and when he does, he dissolves into  a doormat for his rockstar lover to walk over. Jamie too is a believable human being, full of frailties, preoccupied with his bits and pieces of antiquity and his life in Trowchester.  It takes the arrival of Aiden in his life to shake up the status quo and get him moving again.  Jamie is not asexual but gay with a healthy appetite that’s been repressed by his current relationship and lover.

There are some incredibly scary scenes that involve characters from the previous stories who help Aiden escape and start a new life.  These moments in the novel are heart-stopping, white-knuckle, “wap your head against the wall” exciting and frustrating, all at the same time.  You know those bits where you are yelling at the actors on the scene to get moving?  Yep, that happens here.  But its what comes later that will blow your perceptions of romance and a relationship to bits.  Some will like it, some will love it and others won’t get it at all.  At times, I was all  three.

Ever think what it must be like to be asexual and love someone who is not?  What does it mean to be in a relationship when one partner loves sex and the other doesn’t?  How does that work?  If it does? Beecroft takes those questions and gives us some answers through the relationship dynamics between Jamie and Aiden.  At times I found myself shaking my head, thinking this can’t possibly work  But a conversation with a friend who is asexual basically confirmed that is does, more often than we think.

Can a relationship work when you must schedule times for sex because to do otherwise is an abuse of another’s wishes and needs?  Can a sexual being truly understand how an asexual person feels and act accordingly?  And visa versa?  These are all issues Alex Beecroft brings into her characters and storyline.  It made me rethink my own assumptions about relationships, what works, what doesn’t and  Steel Blue Chain has left me with even more questions and jumbled ideas, making me revaluate what I thought I knew about people, recovery and love. And did so through the character of a wounded,yet resilient young man called Aiden.

Blue Steel Chain came very close to a five star rating but a few things still bothered me at the end.   There was so much going on here that I thought the idea of all those years of abuse would leave mental, emotional scarring far wore than the physical marks Aiden wore from his time in captivity.  Yes, it was mentioned he was seeing a therapist, but it felt a little glossed over and not in keeping with the realism of the rest of the story.   Perhaps that would have made this a 600 page story, who knows?

Still, I find that Blue Steel Chain is the most ambitious and surprising of the three novels.  Is it my favorite? No. Is it the most remarkable?  Yes, I think so. Blue Steel Chain will challenge your perceptions of love and romance, it will make you rethink your definitions of love and long term happiness.  And it makes me yearn for more of this remarkable village, its incrediblely human and addicting inhabitants, and the stories they still have to tell.

Cover Art by Lou Harper.  I  like the branding, the tone and design works with all three stories but I’m just not sure that model works for any of the characters within.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 250 pages
Published July 27th 2015 by Riptide Publishing (first published July 25th 2015)
original titleBlue Steel Chain
ISBN139781626492066
edition languageEnglish

Trowchester: it’s the fourth smallest city in Britain, and visitors sometimes think it hasn’t left the Middle Ages yet. There’s a Bronze Age barrow, a wide network of ley lines, the best tea shop in the county, and more morris dancers than you can shake a stick at. Trowchester attracts those who have been hurt and those who are looking for sanctuary from the modern world. But scratch the surface and there’s murder and mayhem aplenty. People come here to find love, but they’re forced to learn bravery first.

The release order of the Trowchester series is Trowchester Blues, Blue Eyed Stranger, and Blue Steel Chain, but you can start with withichever book catches your eye; they each stand alone. I highly recommend them all.

Trowchester Blues (A Trowchester Blues Novel)
Blue Eyed Stranger (A Trowchester Blues Novel)
Blue Steel Chain (A Trowchester Blues Novel)

A MelanieM Review: Blowing Smoke (SoulShares #5) by Rory Ni Coileain

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Blowing Smoke coverLasair Faol, Master of the Fade-Hounds to the Royal court of the Demesne of Fire in the Fae Realm, has been exiled to the human world by the Princess Consort for failing to catch her son’s kidnapper. Bryce Newhouse, Greenwich Village investment banker, is universally loathed by all who know him. Generally, he’s perfectly cool with that, but he discovers what he’s been missing—literally — when he finds Lasair chained in his basement.

Bryce was supposed to receive half of Lasair’s soul at his birth, but thanks to the Fae of Purgatory, the Pattern — the portal between the worlds — has been damaged, and Bryce’s soul arrived 31 years too late. Now the exiled Fae is the shunned human’s only hope of healing his broken past. And with the fate of two worlds riding on that healing, Lasair is going to have to overcome both his race’s innate mistrust of genuine emotion and his own very unFae awkwardness, to have any chance of reaching Bryce’s impenetrable heart.

Rory Ni Coileain’s SoulShares series has always been a favorite of mine. It takes  magic, hot sex, lovers, the Fae, a malevolent monster to make the strong shudder and combines them all into a gritty urban fantasy series I just can’t get enough of.  Luckily for me, the author just released another SoulShares novel with another on the way.

Blowing Smoke (SoulShares #5) by Rory Ni Coileain may be my favorite of the series, something that kind of shocks me. The other stories had more than their share of unbelievable angst and in one case torture (see monster), plus a world building and Fae culture that was fantastic.  And then there were those marvelous couples, the SoulShares, each couple  contains a Fae soul split in two, each holding a half.   The men/Fae or Fae/Fae relationships are so complex and the men involved so different from each other, that each book was a true joy to read.

One common element in each story?  A well-off jerk named Bryce who figured largely as a boyfriend from hell for one of the main characters, Terry.  His interactions with all were not only disastrous  emotionally but physically as well.  His actions almost proved lethal several times over.  Bryce was that character you loved to hate.  And when combined with the Marfach (the evil),  well, that was a team to make your stomach churn and your heart hurt.  So guess who is a main character here?  Yes, that would be Bryce.  Blowing Smoke is all about redemption, second chances,  and the fight to become someone better, someone worthy of love.  Powerful stuff, indeed.

Someone else needing a second chance?  That would be Lasair Faol, Master of the Fade-Hounds to the Royal court of the Demesne of Fire in the Fae Realm.  He and his Hounds failed twice to keep the Prince of the Realm safe.  For his failures, the Prince’s mother (now a Consort) threatens to kill all his beloved Fade-Hounds.  Instead, Lasair agrees to take the blame to save them, ending up thrown through the portal and having his soul severed in two.   The anquish of that scene would be bad enough but just  prior to the Princess Consort’s arrival, Lasair has found a newly birthed Fade-Hound, blind and seemingly dead.  But the pup blinked back to life when Lasair picked him up.  Immediately a connection is formed between the pup and Lasair, and the reader.  How do you not love a character who saves a blind puppy and his hounds from death?  That pup, named Setanta, becomes as much a main character as any of the other Fae in the series. How?  That is such a wonderful element here I wouldn’t think of spoiling it for you. I adore that hound and want more, so much more of Setanta in his adult form.

Now  you have three characters all in precious need of second chances, the one they’ve just been given.  And the obstacles in front of any possibility of happiness includes not only their own fears but the other Fae couples (from the previous novels) and the monster returning for another  battle.  This story has so many layers that it would make a onion  weep with envy.  Or just weep.  I know I was reaching for the tissues several times while reading the story.  And its Rory Ni Coileain’s writing that makes it all spring to life, with battle scenes of breathtaking action and movement, tender moments of heartbreak and pain, and finally sexy and soft ones of joy and acceptance.  Yep, this wowser of a story has become my favorite.  And Bryce and Lasair (and Setanta) my top couple.  Amazing and such an unexpected delight.

I was still sighing with contentment at the end of the story when I noticed this:

Sneak Peek: Mantled in Mist
Prologue July 17, 1913 (human reckoning) The Realm

Yes!  There’s another SoulShares story coming.  And that teaser?  Made me want to find Rory Ni Coileain and find out when I can expect this story.

New to the SoulShares series?  What a great series awaits you!  The books should be read in the order they were written and released.  That’s really the only way to understand the characters, plot development and overall series timelines.  Each book builds on the other and while the author includes some past history, it won’t be enough for some readers to understand everything that has/is occurring.  That’s the only  reason this book isn’t a 5 star rating that my heart says it deserves.

Love the   Fae and fantasy?  Love a little hurt/comfort with your romance?  And puppies too?  Blowing Smoke has it all!  I highly recommend this series and author.  Now I’m settling in to wait for Mantled In Mist (SoulShares #6), read them all and come wait with me.

 

Cover Artist: Insatiable Designs.  The men are certainly handsome and close to my idea of the characters.  But where is that magical element?

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

Book Details:

ebook
Published July 12th 2015 by Smashwords Edition
ISBN139781626012110
series SoulShares #5

 

SoulShares Series in the order they were written and should be read (add them to your Goodread list):

A MelanieM Review: Dead Button (Jack of Spades #3) (Pulp Friction 2015 #9) by Lee Brazil

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Dead Button coverHaunted. Seduced. Betrayed.

When ghost enthusiast Dr. Sabine Brusilov plucks a weathered skull from the mud and debris at the bottom of the Mississippi River, he gets more than he bargained for. The skull comes with a moody, petulant, sexy ghost who is not shy about his attraction to Sabine. Along with proof that ghosts really do exist, Sabine finds a treasure beyond compare.

Love.

Love is everything to long dead Barton Montoire. He’s lived for it, faced dishonor for it…killed for it. Now that he’s found it again, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep Sabine at his side for eternity. Even if that means more blood on his hands.

With the darkness that circles Sabine growing stronger, and his lover’s actions becoming more erratic and unpredictable, Bart is challenged to protect his love from some unknown danger.

Ghosts and humans exist on two separate planes, and there’s only one way for them to be together.

But betrayal lurks in the shadows…

Of all of the 4 interconnected series of the Pulp Friction 2015 Altered States collection, this series and main couple are the most problematic for me.  And that my somewhat dubious affection is for characters that comes from Lee Brazil?  Even more of a surprise and the cause of much questioning on my part.  That is never more true than for Lee Brazil’s story in Round Three, Dead Button (Jack of Spades #3) (Pulp Friction 2015 #9).

After I finish reading each story, the first question that pops up is why don’t I like these characters more.  Or more accurately one character more? That would be Dr. Sabine Brusilov.  From the beginning he has come across as cold, unfeeling and harsh in his approach to his lover, the delectable ghost Barton Montoire.   Theirs is a long  relationship that has always seemed very one sided and prone to the potential for abuse.  Yes, definitely not a fan of Sabine’s.

It has come up along the way that other characters in the series see their relationship the way I do and the explanations have been that Sabine is shocked over the manner in which his and Barton’s relationship is viewed.  But have these scenes and clarifications made any adjustments in my feelings towards Sabine?  Not really.  For me, the one closest  to my heart with this couple is Barton.  His treatment at the hands  of Sabine both push Barton further into my affection while continuing to alienate Sabine more throughly from it.

But the more I think about it, I wonder if that isn’t part of Brazil’s plan all along.  That you must pull one of the characters down so far that he seems unredeemable.  Until he isn’t.  That his salvation becomes part of the “Holy Grail” of the story, something that must be achieved at all cost.  Because Sabine is certainly on his way to hell given his actions here.

Parts  of this story hurt so bad that I can still feel it.   Brazil’s writing leaves no emotion unturned or unchurned as I should say.  The pain is spread far and even across the characters.  The darkness is here and feels unstoppable as well as unknown.  Its brunt is borne by Barton, at least on the surface.  That Sabine is wrapped up in something out of his control is obvious but his actions?  How far back did the influence start?  This becomes more of a psychological mystery as well as a supernatural suspense story.  I love that.  Because as much as I dislike what Sabine is doing, Brazil makes me question the impetus for his actions and what the man must be feeling underneath it all.  Will I come to love Sabine as I do Barton?  The answer lies in stories 4 and 5 and I can’t wait to find out.

All the stories and series in the Pulp Friction 2015 collection are convoluted and full of shocking revelations.  Somehow, though, I get the feeling that Lee Brazil’s Jack of Spade might just supply the biggest surprise of them all.  Stay tuned!

Cover art by Laura Harner is dark and perfect for this story.  The covers for the series were originally too light but as the plot got nasty and murderous the covers have changed with the tone.  Love it and them.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 46 pages
Published June 15th 2015 by Lime Time Press
ASINB00ZS51B8M
edition languageEnglish
series 2015 Pulp Friction – Altered States Collection

☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠

About Pulp Friction 2015

Lee Brazil ~ Havan Fellows ~ Parker Williams ~ Laura Harner

The Pulp Friction 2015 Altered States Collection.
Four authors.
Four Series.
Twenty books.
One supernatural finale.

Spend a year with the creatures that go bump in the night…fighting for their rights to exist and protecting the innocents of The Big Easy. A diverse group of friends trying to find their place in a world they never had to “fit” into before.

Although each series can stand alone, we believe reading the books in the order they are released will increase your enjoyment.
Round One:
Drawing Dead (Jack of Spades: 1) by Lee Brazil
Blind Stud (King of Hearts: 1) by Havan Fellows
The Devil’s Bedpost (Four of Clubs: 1) by Parker Williams
Diamonds and Dust (Ace of Diamonds: 1) by Laura Harner

Round Two:
Dead Blind (Jack of Spades: 2) by Lee Brazil
Stud Player (King of Hearts: 2) by Havan Fellow
Up the Ante (Four of Clubs: 2 ) by Parker Williams
Diamond Draw (Ace of Diamonds: 2) by Laura Harner

Round Three:

Dead Button (Jack of Spades #3) by Lee Brazil
Blind Man’s Bluff (King of Hearts #3) by Havan Fellows

A MelanieM Review: Blind Man’s Bluff (King of Hearts #3) (Pulp Friction 2015 #10) by Havan Fellows

Rating: 4 stars out of 5:

 

Blinds Man's Bluff coverIn a world where supernatural creatures openly exist, who can blame them for coalescing in one of the most fascinating and erotic places on earth? Welcome to New Orleans.

His modus operandi is to feed and leave…

Laurant never repeats a meal. Not that his hors d’oeuvres complain. The incubus enjoys meeting every one of their needs multiple times over, leaving them in a blissfully sated state of mind for days—sometimes weeks—afterward. So, even though Laurant’s power is diminishing, why hasn’t he sought nourishment these past months since that explosive true feeding in March? For once in his centuries-old life, he realizes he doesn’t want just a snack…he wants a mysterious feast.

He has powers and no idea how to use them…

Gun has done his best to stay away from the sexy as hell incubus despite all his taunts and teases. Avoiding the demon was simple at first…but Gun’s powers are awakening and they like the sex demon. A lot. Now it isn’t so black and white, especially when Laurant focuses all his stimulating attention on helping Gun find his origins. But the once vivacious incubus doesn’t appear his lecherous perky self anymore. Gun jealously thought he found sustenance with others, but perhaps not. Maybe Laurant needs him again…and maybe Gun is okay with that…

They just might be on the verge of overcoming all the obstacles in their way…that is until those special three little words are whispered with the strength and magick to tear them apart completely.

In the Pulp Friction universe, the third round of stories always brings the heartbreak and the action.  The characters always seem to end  up at the edge of a precipice and the only way out is down.  Oh, the angst and suspense!  In Blind Man’s Bluff (King of Hearts #3), Havan Fellows stays true to the pulp fiction formula and heightens both the emotional tension between Laurant and Gun as well as the relationship “high stakes” that comes with trying to combine an incubus with a taste for men and a sexy man who is more than anyone can figure out, including himself.  Gun is that true unknown quantity.  He has no memory of how  or what he is.  But clearly from past events, he’s not human. But the answer to what he is remains illusive.  Until someone from his past arrives in town to supply the answers. Or do they?

Gun is a wonderful character, made all the more remarkable because we have come close to knowing who he is ( his pov as supplied by Havan Fellows is a large part of the narrative).  Still what type of supernatural being Gun is remains an unknown.  But the clues are starting to pile up and the assumptions being made aren’t pretty.  That’s a huge amount of power he is capable of wielding, turning him into a weapon that can tilt the outcome of battles.  But whose side is he on? And what battles are looming up ahead? Some  of the answers start to fall into place here.

But the drama that pulls at me is on a smaller, more personal level.  That’s the tentative relationship forming between Laurant, the incubus who has never had a “special someone”  before, and Gun, the man who doesn’t  know who he is. Plus there is the added question of whether he can trust the politics that pull at Laurant constantly over his feeding and choice of partner.

Oh, Laurant.  how can such a sex on two legs demon come across as so vulnerable?  The author manages to make Laurant accessible and emotionally open, even as his actions and words give off an opposite impression.  I love this incubus.  He’s both troubled and troublesome.  He’s the gregarious man at the party and the lonely man in his heart.  How do you not find him charming and worthy of his own HEA?

Here it almost breaks and for so many reasons.  The other couples are acting uncharacteristically mean towards each other, all the close friends support for this unusual circle of friends seems to be breaking down and there is a darkness feeding the instability and pain erupting all around them.  Typically, this story raises more questions than it answers…perfect for a Round Three story.  I expect that and now eagerly await story number four.  As hearts break so I hope they will be mended.  Soon.

I love this series and characters.  They are wonderful, sexy, and unique.   If you are new to the Pulp Friction inter-connected series and groups of characters, then please realize these are not standalone stories.  They must be read in the order they were written.   I have listed them below.  Check them off as you go.  They are all on my Must Be Read  lists for this year!  Grab them up and get started today.

Cover art by Laura Harner.  These covers are getting better and better as well as darker and darker.  It goes along with the emotional tone of the stories and events that are occurring.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 58 pages
Published June 30th 2015 by Appleton Avenue Publishing
ASINB010PIZQ7S
edition languageEnglish
seriesPulp Friction 2015 #10, King of Hearts #3

 

 

About Pulp Friction 2015

Lee Brazil ~ Havan Fellows ~ Parker Williams ~ Laura Harner

The Pulp Friction 2015 Altered States Collection.
Four authors.
Four Series.
Twenty books.
One supernatural finale.

Spend a year with the creatures that go bump in the night…fighting for their rights to exist and protecting the innocents of The Big Easy. A diverse group of friends trying to find their place in a world they never had to “fit” into before.

Although each series can stand alone, we believe reading the books in the order they are released will increase your enjoyment.
Round One:
Drawing Dead (Jack of Spades: 1) by Lee Brazil
Blind Stud (King of Hearts: 1) by Havan Fellows
The Devil’s Bedpost (Four of Clubs: 1) by Parker Williams
Diamonds and Dust (Ace of Diamonds: 1) by Laura Harner

Round Two:
Dead Blind (Jack of Spades: 2) by Lee Brazil
Stud Player (King of Hearts: 2) by Havan Fellow
Up the Ante (Four of Clubs: 2 ) by Parker Williams
Diamond Draw (Ace of Diamonds: 2) by Laura Harner

Round Three:

Dead Button (Jack of Spades #3)  by Lee Brazil
Blind Man’s Bluff (King of Hearts #3)  by Havan Fellows

A MelanieM Review: Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows #11) by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Cambridge, 1910

LessonsForIdleTongues_600x900Amateur detectives Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith seem to have nothing more taxing on their plate than locating a missing wooden cat and solving the dilemma of seating thirteen for dinner. But one of the guests brings a conundrum: a young woman has been found dead, and her boyfriend is convinced she was murdered. The trouble is, nobody else agrees.

Investigation reveals that several young people in the local area have died in strange circumstances, and rumours abound of poisonings at the hands of Lord Toothill, a local mysterious recluse. Toothill’s angry, gun-toting gamekeeper isn’t doing anything to quell suspicions, either.

But even with a gun to his head, Jonty can tell there’s more going on in this surprisingly treacherous village than meets the eye. And even Orlando’s vaunted logic is stymied by the baffling inconsistencies they uncover. Together, the Cambridge Fellows must pick their way through gossip and misdirection to discover the truth.

When I first fell in love  with Orlando Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart in Charley Cochrane’s first Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Lessons in Love (Cambridge Fellows, #1), I had no idea I was letting myself into a long time love affair with these characters and this amazing author.  Yes, the  attention to time period minutiae was perfection, as was the way the author folded it into the story.  Yes, even the conversations were spiced up and made relevant to the era and social strata by the appropriate language and verbiage the author employed to great impact in her narrative. So much so I often had to resort to some research of my own to figure out what certain terms and slang meant to a modern-age American.  Some of the elements of the story were steeped in English history and others simply in the English culture but whatever my temporary source of bafflement, my interest in this unique and fascinating couple never wavered…not once.

Orlando and Jonty were so very different in those early days.  They had the struggle to adjust to each other’s presence, and then to each other’s attraction and then the unalterable fact they were falling into love…all during a time when this mean jail and often death.  And it was carried out in the somewhat cloistered halls of St. Bride’s College, a place of high learning, occasional high spirits and hijinks until murder finds its way there.  And then the sleuths were off on a perilous investigation that included self discovery and more than a little affection.

I have laughed and bawled my eyes out along the way as Jonty and Orlando moved through the years and the vagaries of their changing culture and historical events.  And with each book, mystery, and time frame, I fell completely under their spell and forever in love.  And that’s due to the superb talent and depth of characterization that Charley Cochrane employs.

Like punting along a waterway (as Jonty and Orlando are fond of doing), all can seem serene in one of  the Cambridge Fellow Mysteries but it’s what lurks underneath that gives these characters and their stories such dimension and sometimes shocking humanity…and you would never suspect that its there, at least not at first.  Because the civility and tone of the story and language lulls you into a state similar to a promenade or arm in arm stroll in the gardens. It’s a lovely feeling, carefree and delightful. Until murder strikes or some horrific fact pops up to let you know that the deep waters were there all the time and you were merely treading water.

Here in the 11th story, that is never more apparent.  A simple mystery leads to the deeper, more complex one, and then the smoke and shadows of multiple lies or omissions lead Orlando and Jonty into a maze of betrayals, murder, and complicity.  And even as Cochrane is leading us and our Cambridge Fellows on a deep and convoluted trail, she manages to allude to some of this series most horrific elements and facts with a deft turn of  phrase or haunted look.  I will tell you that Orlando can suffer from deep depression (a fact that figures greatly into the earlier stories).  And that something extremely damaging happened to Jonty in his early days at boarding school.  And nothing more.  For those momentous discoveries, I will send you back to the beginning story and ask that you wind your own way through the various stages of their relationship and personal disclosures.  It’s a journey not to be missed and one you will take again and again.  And that knowledge will enhance your enjoyment here in Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #11).

I didn’t figure out all the intelligent clues and facts strewn about the story.  How I adore that!  There are wonderful literary allusions, more terminology to investigate (Bertillon measurement, anyone), and that magnificent Stewart family as a whole to enjoy and revel in.  I laughed, frowned in puzzlement, and throughly enjoyed myself at every page.  And then started the story all over again.  Lessons in Idle Tongues is amazing, Charley Cochrane’s writing is deftly accomplished, the pace sprightly for a complicated mystery, and the whole story comes together just as it should and will leave you still wanting more.  Thank goodness, we are going to get it.

Can you read this as a stand alone story?  Probably (I say with great reluctance).  There is enough context here that you don’t need to have read the other stories to get great pleasure from Lessons for Idle Tongues.  But that statement comes with a caveat…the same cannot be said for the earlier stories.  This especially holds true for the books All Lessons Learned and Lessons for Survivors (#8 and #9).  Remember as the men are moving into their relationship, the years are changing as is history.  Those have to be the two most memorable books Cochrane has yet written for Orlando and Jonty.  But their power and impact is built upon the foundation stones of the previous stories.  Why not grab up all of them together and binge read? Riptide and Samhain Publishing are working together so that’s possible.  Two new books and a complete set of stories…I love it!  Charlie Cochrane’s Cambridge Fellows Mysteries remains one of my most highly recommended series.  Lessons for Idle Tongues  is a marvelous new addition to that amazing group of novels.

I have listed them all for you at the bottom.  Use it as a checklist or TBR list, whatever works best for you.  Don’t let this story or any of those books pass you by!

Cover art by Lou Harper does the couple and series justice.  I love it!

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

Book Details:

ebook, 241 pages

Published June 29th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626492714
edition language,English
url http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/lessons-for-idle-tongues
series Cambridge Fellows #1

Cambridge Fellows Mysteries in the order they were written and should be read (imo):

Get 30% off books 1-8 of the Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, exclusively in a bundle from Samhain!

 

A MelanieM Review: Scent of the Heart (Shifting Needs #2) by Parker Williams

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Scent-400x600 2Casey Scott grew up being told he’d never amount to anything, and despite the unwavering love and support from his best friend, Jake, the idea sticks in the back of Casey’s mind. When he discovers he has a unique destiny in an enclave where shifters and humans live together, he seizes the chance, wanting for once in his life to be someone special.

Tsvetok Yerokhin lost his parents to the evil ruler of the enclave when he was a boy. The responsibilities of raising his two younger brothers nearly overwhelmed him and self- doubt took over. When the new Alpha and his Protector arrive in time to save his life, Sev is grateful, but he’s even more shocked when he scents his mate with them.

Casey isn’t prepared for the feelings that sweep over him when he meets Sev, but he refuses to act on them because he’s straight. Still, there is something so alluring about Sev that Casey can’t help being drawn to him.

As the two explore the edges of their new discovery, an evil returns, determined to control the enclave or destroy it. The Alpha and Protector are powerless to stop it, but Casey holds the key to victory. If he can discover what it is, he has a chance to save them all. To be the hero.

Unfortunately, the hero has to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, and for Casey that means losing his heart.

Ever fallen in love with a secondary character?  Maybe two?  That happened for me in the first story of this series, Protector of the Alpha.  It was there that I met Casey Scott, best friend of Jake Davis. Casey ends up getting pulled into the drama and heartbreak that surrounds his friend and Jake’s mate, Zak.  The most human and confused of the three, he was the character who came across as the most accessible and vulnerable.  A secondary character, Casey grew in strength and depth until by the end of the story, he was their equal.

Except in accessibility. In that area, he continued to surpass them just because he was the most human.

Especially at the end, where it seemed he was the unlikely target of the ire of a skunk, one who repeatedly sprayed him to the others endless amusement.   Why was Casey the one who got “skunked”?  The last paragraph supplied only part of the  answer.  This book does the rest.  Who knew a skunk shifter could be so endearing?  Apparently Parker Williams, that’s who.

With Scent of the Heart, Parker Williams continues to build his isolated shifter universe in Alaska, filling in more of its past history and current status with its village inhabitants.  And for the most part, its a universe still on shaky ground.  Once the false Protector took over, the place became the site of torture, depravation, and constant terror for most of those who lived under his rule.  What that means exactly dribbles out in horrific details that surface throughout this story.  It cements Elizar and his wolf enforcer Kell as evils that must be defeated at all possible cost and highlights just how desperate and essential it is  that they, Jake, Zake, Casey and Hakim succeed in overthrowing him.

We bought into their mission and into these marvelous characters first, and now we see what has happened after they think they have achieved their goals.  Pretty realistically, some things are working out great, others not so much.  All three have resigned themselves to staying in Alaska.  For the most past, they like their lives and have shouldered their responsibilities but Casey is missing a relationship of his alone.  That answer to the hole in his heart is an endearing skunk shifter, Tsvetok Yerokhin aka Sev.  Sev matches Casey in his vulnerability and engaging personality.  But his past is full of pain and loss, just as Casey’s is, but in a vastly different way.  That comes into focus when it becomes apparent that he is the guardian of his two younger brothers and had had to do things he is not proud of in order to keep them alive.

As if its not enough for them to adjust to all the changes going on in their lives, it turns out that they are mated, shocking when neither has been attracted to men before.  This book is all about changes, fundamental upheavels in outlook and status that both characters must undergo and adjust to if both are to survive.  It’s a dramatic and heart-stopping journey and I loved every bit of it.  Parker Williams has made us care deeply about these men and the village they live in.  Our hearts are as engaged as Casey and Sev’s in their journey to love and HEA, a path fraught with peril and even death.

And its not over yet.  The end, of course, brings another intriguing (if foreseen) element and the jumping off point for the next story in the series.  Its delicious and frustrating because it will make you want that story now…and it’s not even written.

Until I  get my hands on that next story, I recommend that you pick up and settle into reading the first two books in Parker Williams’ Shifting Needs series.  It has romance and so many different types of shifters to love along with drama, hot sex and endearing characters you can’t get enough of.  Now if only that third book would magically appear…

Cover art by Laura Harner.  I like the woods element but the design is different enough from the first story that it doesn’t exactly pull them together. Only the framing of the title serves to brand the series, not the graphic.

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

Book Details:

ebook
Published June 15th 2015 by Smashwords Edition
ISBN139781941841204
seriesShifting Needs #2

Shifting Needs Series in the order they were written and should be read:

 

A MelanieM Review: Protector of the Alpha (Shifting Needs #1) by Parker Williams

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Protector400x600Adopted at an early age by a wealthy family, Jake Davis has always seemed to have an easy life. Even in college he was blessed with good grades and an apparently clear path to a pro football career. Good thing his best friend keeps hanging around to keep his head from getting too swollen.

Zakiya Incekara has always been…odd. Being fluent in six languages and having a flair for international cooking should open the world to him, but those skills leave him isolated.

When Jake sees Zak for the first time, with water beading down his slender form, something inside him shifts, and it hungers for Zak. To have him. To claim him. And Jake knows that whatever it is, it won’t be denied.

When they are approached by a man who claims knowledge of a secret past they share, Jake and Zak are thrust into a world they would never have believed existed. The forests of Alaska might seem an odd place to find your destiny, but these men will meet the challenges head on, as they learn that sometimes you have to make sacrifices to be Protector of the Alpha.

There are so many little surprises awaiting readers in Protector of the Alpha by Parker Williams and none can be divulged because they are spoilers (big and small).  That makes writing this review a tad frustrating, trust me, it really does.  Parker Williams doesn’t go for the typical here. That in itself delighted me when my expectations were upended as to where the story and characters were going.  The discarding of the expected starts with the main characters.

Jake Davis is a muscular, athletic to the point of perfection, hot man on campus.  Adopted by a wealthy family when a toddler, Jake has sailed through his life so far, even if it meant the odd nightmare or so.  But suddenly everything in Jake’s life starts to go so very wrong.  And its starts with another young man new at school.

Zakiya Incekara speaks 6 languages, cooks like a high paid chef, and has the (hidden) martial arts skills of a master.  All that, a small physique, delicate features with long black hair,combined with a small town collegiate atmosphere, make Zak not just the weird boy on campus but a target for bullies.

Then Jake meets Zak and both lives turn upside down forever.  As well as those lives of the people around them, especially Jake’s best friend since childhood, Casey Scott.

I loved all three characters, each as different from the other as can be.  Jake who would be obnoxious, except his personality is kind, protective, and fair.  Zak could be overly quirky except he comes with his own fair amount of past pain and uncertainty.  And  Casey, well, I think most people are going to adore Casey because it’s so easy to relate to him.  Casey has stood in Jake’s shadow for his entire life and thought college would be his ticket to being his own man and to making his own reputation.  Until his father informs him that he will be going to the same college as Jake, no argument and no questions.  The resentment Casey feels and the guilt because it involves his best friend is a situation and emotional state the reader will believe in and understand.  Yep, adore all three.

The mystery you are anticipating creeps into the story slowly at first and then rapidly as events start to shatter the calm of their lives on campus.  Death and anguish are soon to follow as is a journey for all into their pasts and nightmares of their youth.  Then the run to safety is on and so is the pace of the story and the action of the adventure.

Williams tightens his focus on these young men to the extent that others in their story feel less substantial.  And perhaps that’s necessary because the secondary characters here for the most part are temporary ones.  With a few exceptions.  I wished for a little more backstory at first, but that arrives with quite a few shockers of its own so it’s a tricky balance that the author needs to achieve between giving the reader a firm foundation and not revealing too much before the narrative calls for it.  Parker Williams manages that here.  I loved being lured into the new world along with Jake, Zak, and Casey.  It made me their companion and never was I so happy to be along for the ride.

There are some light hearted moments to break up the dread and awfulness that meets them along the way.  Williams is also setting the stage with the characters and events to come in the next story.

Protector of the Alpha was a wonderful read.  It was fun, suspenseful, sexy and full of adventure.  I can’t wait for it to continue in Scent of the Heart.  I highly recommend this story to all that love romance and shifters in love.

Cover art by Laura Harner.  Lovely cover.  I loved the simplicity of the outline although that embellishment around the title was a little too fancy for me.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 195 pages
Published November 10th 2014 by Smashwords Edition
ISBN139781937252939
seriesShifting Needs #1

Shifting Needs Series in the Order They Should be Read:

  • The Protector of the Alpha (Shifting Needs #1)
  • Scent of the Heart (Shifting Needs #2)