A MelanieM Review: Travels Through the Scarlet Equinox (Mischief Corner Anthologies #6) by Toni Griffin , J. Scott Coatsworth , Angel Martinez , Freddy MacKay

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

The Autumnal equinox—when the trees dress in their formal scarlet and gold and the crisp air whispers of chance and change, when bright days turn into sudden storms and the veil between reality and imagination thins. Join the Mischief Corner authors as they share stories evoking this often unpredictable time of year.

I’m really hooked on these seasonal anthologies that Mischief Corner Books is rolling out each year. The stories they contain spark the imagination, pull up memories of old mythologies forgotten, and just plain entertain. And sometimes they bring that twinge of something more, something a little painful, joyful and unexpected. That was certainly Travels Through The Scarlet Equinox, a more surprising mixup of stories that, upon reflection, works together for four tales of change. Ah, the Autumnal equinox…

A Bear’s Bear by Toni Griffin Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Matthew Warner’s been a Chicago Bears fan as far back as he can remember. What other team was a young bear shifter from the Smokey Mountains supposed to root for? When his college friend gets tickets to the next home game, Matthew jumps at the chance for a holiday. It’s his favorite time of year and Nic promises him pumpkin carving and a visit to the world’s largest corn maze, what more could he want?

What Matthew doesn’t expect is finding out the defensive tackle for the Bears is his mate. Between fainting at the realization, meeting family, and dealing with the media fallout of his mate’s coming out Matthew is in for a hell of a rocky Halloween.

Toni Griffin’s bear shifters have really won me over. I can’t believe I’m saying this but this story is the “most normal” of the group. A young, shy bear shifter travels to see friends in Chicago and carry out a service for his Alpha at the same time. When those two elements combine into a meeting with his Alpha’s best friend in Chicago, the unexpected happens and not just for Matthew. I loved the author’s descriptions of Matthew and Hudson, they definitely exhibit bear-like tendencies, the emotions flowing between them feel real and the story exudes a lot of heart and warmth.

The Autumn Lands by J. Scott Coatsworth. Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Jerrith is running. Kissed by an elf, he can’t remain in his hometown of Althos anymore. Not that he wanted to stay.

Caspian still hasn’t figured out why he kissed Jerrith, but he’s running too. Since he was exiled from the Autumn Lands, his past has been hazy, and his future uncertain. But when a stray memory brings things into focus, the two decide to run toward something together. What they uncover will change how they see the world, and themselves, forever.

I loved this story. I felt Coatsworth’s world building was amazing as was his characterization. It was so close to perfect, hurt only by the short length. It cried out for a longer novel so certain elements, which needed to be expanded, could be more fully told. The author’s use of certain standard elements pertaining to physiology in a non conventional way was unexpected and quite wonderful (no spoilers here, sorry).

And then there is the romance between Cas and Jerrith which is touching and so sweet. Almost a Romeo and Juliet or Jules if you prefer. I thought the ending was in keeping with the mythology the author had established and worked so well within the framework of the story. However, I can hear some of you now. You won’t be pleased. Sigh.

Beside a Black Tarn by Angel Martinez Rating: 5 stars out of 5

When Shax stumbles across rumors of an experimental house that responds to the occupant’s brain functions, creating scenarios to please and delight, naturally he wants to steal it. But with the return of a troubled and hunted Julian Parallax and an overabundance of Poe references, even Shax’s scheming may not be enough to get the Brimstone crew out alive this time.

Of course, Angel Martinez had me at Shax. But then she brought back Julian Parallax and my happiness was complete.

Once again the crew of the Brimstone is off on a misadventure but this time the stakes are unexpectedly high…their lives and sanity. Angel Martinez has always managed to find a way to combine humor and horror in her tales and here she has done it once more.

I loved Julian Parallax from the earlier story Potato Surprise and was thrilled to see him return. But of course trouble was not far behind, troubles of the demon prince scale, troubles of the sort that brought horrors that gave have me the shudders and shivers. To counter that Angel Martinez also gives us elements of humor and romance. The author introduced a new crew member, Maximillian, the marvelous pink, opera singing millipede. And two crew members finally get their chance at love.

In between, things get blown up, there are imps getting ballet lessons, things go splat and there are Ron Perlman references. Be still my heart!

I loved this story, especially the promise it hung out there of Julian and Shax and the crew working together sometime in the future. What a tale that will be.

Eternity in the Tides by Freddy MacKay Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Autumn has always been Zak’s favorite season for hiking and camping. Not to mention breathing in all that crisp fall air and sitting around toasty bonfires. That all changed year and a half ago when a rich prick high on prescription pills sideswiped Zak while he was out biking.

Now his days are filled with pain and limited mobility. No more camping. No more trails. Zak’s life as he knew it is gone forever.

Back at his beloved stomping grounds, Zak is ready to say hello and goodbye one last time. But when a cry from the frigid Lake Superior waters throws him into the role of a rescuer, more than just his life hangs in the balance. Little did Zak know how much one person giving a damn mattered to him.

It’s stories like these that make me want to kick myself. It happened in the Chestnuts Roasting Anthology and now here again in Travels Through the Scarlet Equinox. It seems to take an anthology for me to find Freddy MacKay all over again. This time I’m making a ginormous post it note and sticking it on the monitor because this story exemplifies why she should never be forgotten.

The beginning of this tale is so haunting, so realistically painful I stayed up reliving it after the story was through, that and many other scenes throughout this moving story. You flow into Zak’s life at what is possibly the lowest point of his life, where all the pain, frustration and rage has combined to let Zak decide to commit suicide by drowning himself. Every dreadful moment of his decision, each pain-filled movement he makes in the boat, every memory from the day forward when his body was demolished, the author makes Zak real and his predicament immediate and heartbreaking.

Then in his boat, he hears a nearby splash and cries. Then realizes someone is drowning. And makes a decision that changes the course of his life forever when he cuts a man free of fish nets, saving him from drowning and putting off his own suicide.

We forget that most of the old fairytales were equal parts horror stories but not Freddy MacKay. The author remembers that there is always a price to pay, that what one person may think is marvelous, another will covet, what one will want, another will reject or destroy. Eternity in the Tides pulls in Chinese mermaid mythology, old lore specifically (including some horrific elements), and mixes it with modern science of genetics and combines it all with a touching romance that teaches about hope and new possibilities, just not in the way you might think.

There is so much beauty here, beauty and blood. Love and hate. Forever happiness…just not what you might predict. The ending and the epilogue will surprise you. I did find myself sobbing more than once. It was the perfect way to end this anthology. And I promise myself, it won’t take another anthology to find Freddy MacKay again.

I highly recommend this collection of stories. If you are expecting four stories of exactly the same thing, this is not the collection for you. But if you love exploring, have a bit of the heart of a adventure lover in you, seek this one out, it won’t disappoint. Startle you, make you laugh, make you cry, and make you start reading them all over again, certainly. But never disappoint.

Cover art by Freddy MacKay is sort of perfect for this collection.

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

Book Details:

ebook, First, 485 pages
Published November 18th 2015 by Mischief Corner Books, LLC
original titleTravels Through the Scarlet Equinox
edition languageEnglish
url
seriesMischief Corner Anthologies #6

A MelanieM New Adult Review: Jefferson Blythe, Esquire by Josh Lanyon

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

In this fast, fun and dead-sexy male/male new-adult caper from multi-award-winning author Josh Lanyon, twentysomething Jefferson Blythe gets lost, gets found, falls in love and comes out…all in the span of one wild summer

After his first relationship goes disastrously awry, Jeff Blythe uses his savings to tour Europe—the old-fashioned way. Armed with his grandfather’s 1960 copy of Esquire’s Europe in Style, Jeff sets off looking for adventure but finds much, much more than he bargained for…

In London, dodging questions from shady criminals about a mysterious package he most certainly does not have is simple. Losing the gunmen who are convinced he’s someone else is not. And when George, an old friend, offers him help—and a place to stay, and perhaps something more—things become complicated.

Is George really who he seems? And is Jeff finally ready to act on his attraction?

From Paris to Rome and back again, Jeff and George fall for each other, hard, while quite literally running for their lives. But trusting George at his word may leave Jeff vulnerable—in more ways than one.

Jefferson Blythe, Esquire is simply something new and yet totally Josh Lanyon at the same time. A new adult story told from the point of view of Jeff Blythe, a young man fleeing across the ocean from an expected marriage he knew was wrong for both of them. With his grandfather’s heavily noted (and need we say outdated) 1960 copy of Esquire’s Europe in Style in hand, Jeff decides to tour Europe using that as his guide. Oh, the naivete’. And yes, it all starts going disastrously awry from the start, ala Josh Lanyon style.

One of the elements that I have always loved about Lanyon’s style is the way the author combines humor with bleak reality. The main character is often at their lowest point and yet some small bit of humor or a slight funny line of dialog will slide into the moment, making it still real but more human and a tad lighter. It happens here right at the start when Jeff goes from plane, making his way laboriously to the place where he expects to stay. Its a fight all the way and when he gets there? More awfulness ensues…to our shock and hilarity.

But that start is our introduction to Jeff Blythe. We see the start of his learning process and the beginning of what will be an exponential tour of growth as he learns about himself, who he wants to be and who he wants to be with. That would be George, a former friend who now lives in London and isn’t exactly who he tells Jeff, or “Jefferson” as George calls him, exactly who he seems to be. What follows is a series of mishaps, investigations, theft, and all sorts of things criminal across Europe in increasing degrees of seriousness until Jeff is finally involved in murder.

There is a pattern here that Lanyon lays out for Jefferson and the reader. Things start to unfold, events happen, Jefferson and George try to move forward and Jefferson leaves to another part of Europe while growing emotionally, criminals follow as do more threatening events, Jefferson grows increasingly resourceful and independent…and the story just gets better. I won’t spoil it further. I did find myself thinking fondly about those wonderful 60’s films with Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, superb background music, thieves playing out across Europe with their clever dialog. But there was no self discovery in those films as there is here, no Jefferson Blythe to adore and rejoice in as he realizes he is resourceful, gay and knows exactly who it is he loves. I want more Jefferson Blythe, I really do.

I did waver a bit about that ending. Did I love it? Wish it was longer? Finally I decided it was the perfect way for Jefferson Blythe to end his journey. At least for the moment.

I loved this story and hope that Josh Lanyon takes more adventures in new adult novels. I highly recommend this story and author.

Cover art captures the essence of the character and story. Lovely.

Sales Links: Carina Press | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition

Expected publication: November 16th 2015 by Carina Press

ASINB00Z726LZ4

edition language English

Review Redux: A MelanieM Review: Winter Wonderland (Minnesota Christmas #3) by Heidi Cullinan

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Finding Mr. Right can be a snow lot of fun.

Paul Jansen was the only one of his friends who wanted a relationship. Naturally, he’s the last single man standing. No gay man within a fifty-mile radius wants more than casual sex.
No one, that is, except too-young, too-twinky Kyle Parks, who sends him suggestive texts and leaves X-rated snow sculptures on his front porch.

Kyle is tired of being the town’s resident Peter Pan. He’s twenty-five, not ten, and despite his effeminate appearance, he’s nothing but the boss in bed. He’s loved Paul since forever, and this Christmas, since they’re both working on the Winter Wonderland festival, he might finally get his chance for a holiday romance.

But Paul comes with baggage. His ultra-conservative family wants him paired up with a woman, not a man with Logan’s rainbow connection. When their anti-LGBT crusade spills beyond managing Paul’s love life and threatens the holiday festival, Kyle and Paul must fight for everyone’s happily ever after, including their own.

I have always found the writings of Heidi Cullinan to be something special but in her Minnesota Christmas series with its generous helping of warmhearted bears, human bears that is, and their unique, loving counterparts, she has conjured up stories not only distinctive but that contain sparks I like to think of as narrative magic. In Winter Wonderland, that mojo is working overtime with characters like Paul and Kyle. What charms this story has in store for the reader! And snow sculptures shaped like penises too. Let’s get to the particulars.

Paul is one of those characters Cullinan does so well. Paul is a man whose mean-hearted, conservative family’s constant belittling and derision has lead Paul to a poor self image and inability to imagine a happy future for himself. But little of that is shown to others in their small town. Only to Paul’s small circle of friends (see the other stories) is his unhappy family dynamics known as well as his penchant for Hallmark movies, especially Hallmark’s Christmas movies. The author brings in such well known movies like Hallmark’s “The Christmas Card” and uses them to make a point about Paul, the damage done to him by his family, and makes it and the other Christmas movies provide a way to heal Paul’s pain. Its a beautiful touch, one among many, and it feels believably so as a panacea that others may have found.

I love the character of Kyle as well. He too contains so many truths of his own. Kyle is the town “man child”, the one people remember so well as a charming adolescent that they can’t see the man he’s become. Kyle is tired of fighting his past image because he never seems to overcome it. Especially with the one person he’s been crushing on for most of his life. Paul. Kyle wants to capture Paul’s attention and desperate times calls for desperate measures. Or in this case, anatomically correct snow sculptures. I have a vivid imagination and Heidi Cullinan’s descriptions cracked me up. Even if you don’t, you won’t need them, because her words and the pictures they paint will be more than enough to leave you with the giggles. But Kyle is not all fun and snow. He has his own depth of character and responsibilities, one of which is his sister.

One of the things I love best about the Minnesota Christmas series is that the town of Logan is populated by characters who are so real, so darn human that they too captured my heart. Some have reading disabilities, others face other physical challenges, some have their own hot, unexpected sexual kinks, and some with family issues so profoundly wounding that it almost costs them a future. Nothing is really “normal”. Perfection has no role here. But authentic happiness? Small town joys, long term loves and relationships? Yes, they most certainly do. With Logan you get the best as well as the worst of small town mentality, Cullinan is blunt about that. I liked that as well.

We’ve had 3 stories so far. The 3 bears of Logan and each has found their own Mr. Right for Christmas. Paul was the baby bear. Will there be more Christmas stories for us coming out of Minnesota? I can only hope so. What I’ve read so far has had that winter white glitter sparkle that speaks of joy, and hope, and love. And Christmas is coming. What a wonderful present it would be to have Minnesota Christmas story number four!

I highly recommend Heidi Cullinan and her Minnesota Christmas series, including this very special story, Winter Wonderland. Pick this and all of them up as a early holiday present for yourself.

Cover art by Angela Waters. I love this cover. I think the artist has the men and the landscape exactly right.

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

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: November 10th 2015 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
original titleWinter Wonderland
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.heidicullinan.com/WinterWonderland
Series: Minnesota Christmas

Let It Snow (Minnesota Christmas, #1)
Sleigh Ride (Minnesota Christmas, #2)
Winter Wonderland (Minnesota Christmas, #3)

A MelanieM Review: A Solitary Man by Aisling Mancy and Shira Anthony

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

Sparks fly when Chance meets tall, sexy Xav at a Wilmington bar and they have the hottest one-nighter of their lives. But Chance doesn’t do repeats, Xav seems detached, and they go their separate ways without a word. Later, when closeted Assistant District Attorney C. Evan “Chance” Fairchild meets Dare’s Landing’s newest deputy sheriff, Xavier “Xav” Constantine, Evan isn’t only wary. He’s irritated as hell.

Xavier is a former FBI agent turned deputy sheriff who is hot on the trail of a South American child prostitution ring. Evan is fighting to put an end to rampant cocaine trafficking and chafing under the thumb of an election-hungry boss. When someone tries to kill the eleven-year-old witness who holds the key to both their investigations, they’re forced to work together as they put their lives on the line to protect him. As Chance and Xav collide in the heat of a sweltering North Carolina summer, dodging bullets and chasing bad guys isn’t the only action going on.

A Solitary Man by Aisling Mancy and Shira Anthony tackles one of the most heartrending and horrific subjects imaginable, that of child trafficking and child abuse and does so with depth, heart, and compassion. At times, a story so difficult to read that I often found myself in tears having to put my Kindle down, these authors have combined their talents to bring forth a story so powerful and timely that I’m shocked they haven’t combined their forces before now.

The vehicle of advocacy for these abused and often murdered children is a intense story, starting with one driven man, Xavier “Xav” Constantine. A FBI agent working the child prostitution rings, an undercover job gone horrifically wrong sees Xav resign, following a sickening trail of lost children to North Carolina and a Deputy Sheriff’s job. Already present in the small town of Dare’s Landing is closeted Assistant District Attorney C. Evan “Chance” Fairchild, a man so haunted by his own past that its imprisoned him in his present.

Mancy and Anthony takes these two disparate, intense men and gives them a raw, gritty feel to make them vividly, fully alive. One is already willingly shouldering the yoke of advocacy for these missing, abused and most likely murdered children to the extent that nothing else really exists for him. Sex is quick and meaningless, relationships nonexistent. The other? Hiding behind his own nightmares and denials. And what huge denials they are. Because of their careful crafting of these characters, these men, instead of judging them , we really understand the fear, the anger, whatever emotion they may be feeling and the foundation from which each man is coming from, even without the full history.

Their relationship is slow to come and perhaps this really isn’t a romance novel, nor should it be considering the content and subject matter. Its definitely not the main thread here in the narrative. So if that’s the book you are looking for, a total romance, than this is probably not the novel for you. Like everything else about A Solitary Man, their strides towards each other is hard work, fraught with missed steps, miscommunications, and fear. That they are able to go forward in the end is both courageous and rewarding. That alone is reason to read this story, even if the romance isn’t the main storyline.

Its the abused children here that will tear at your heart. Just as they should. There are descriptions here that gave me nightmares and I think that the authors were most likely less graphic and monstrous than they could have been, given the actual knowledge they have of the subject matter*. That such scenes are also written with tenderness, compassion but with accuracy doesn’t lighten the emotional impact, but instead makes it all the more powerful, because you know that the children represented in the story are but a fraction of the children impacted worldwide. Here they are given names and faces and their fates make it all too real.

To get to the missing children there is a number of investigations that are full of heartbreaking clues, pulse-thumping, action-packed, white-knuckle scenes and dialog. The authors balance the mystery of combined investigations, then the suspense of a race against time for a combined rescue that was a true page turner, a thriller in the best sense of the word.

A Solitary Man is such a powerful book. An advocate for abused children, a suspense thriller, a crime novel and yes, a romance story, and the authors handled it all beautifully. Does one element come across with a little more power and precision? Perhaps, but with that emotional engine driving this story, it makes A Solitary Man by Aisling Mancy and Shira Anthony a book to remember and perhaps one of the best of the year. I highly recommend it.

Cover art by Reese Dante is perfect in tone and design for the character in the story.

*Making a Difference in the Lives of Children by Shira Anthony & Aisling Mancy

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

Book Details:

ebook, 1st, 304 pages
Published November 6th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1623807271 (ISBN13: 9781623807276)
edition languageEnglish

Scary Review Redux: Lily By Xavier Axelson (A MelanieM Review)

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Being a single Dad is hard enough but when Pryor loses his daughter Lily in an unthinkable event he thinks he has experienced the ultimate horror but it’s when Lily returns he realizes his nightmare has only just begun…

When Pryor’s daughter Lily is taken by a wolf, Pryor is convinced she has turned into the creature he sees lurking in his woods. He swears she promises to return to him. But is it his despair and desperation making him see things or is there something more lurking in the shadows of the forest?

When he meets Ned, a silversmith who helps him with a plan to bring his daughter back into his life, he begins to live again. But can his newfound love help ease the horror that may be waiting? What if the ultimate horror isn’t when Lily was taken but it’s when Lily returns and he realizes his nightmare has only just begun…Its Father’s Day and two men are waiting for a little girl to appear. They are waiting for Lily. Lily, his beloved little girl, had been lost a year ago, dragged off into the woods by a wolf. In the time since, Pryor, consumed with his loss, has retreated to his cabin, his days numbed by his grief. Only the love and support of Ned, his partner, and a plan to reclaim his daughter has kept him sane. And now the time has come to see if she will return to him, if only for a day.

What a marvelous short story Lily is. Lyrical in language and strong in its empathy for a parent’s pain, it has a singular voice in Pryor, Lily’s father. To Pryor ” still believe being Lily’s father is the most important thing in this world.” And you feel that hole in his life so acutely as she described just before she is ripped from him, her hair all “wild and white – blonde”. Pryor’s voice and his descriptions provide a wealth of clues and information about his past. He hears voices, whether is the derogatory words of his dead mother, or whispers from the woods. He described his lover’s beard as his “summer fur”, and stares into the moonlight woods searching for signs of his daughter. All three characters here are beautifully realized, one heartbroken, one steady and one filled with wildness and innocence. I love how we are fed bits of information until we can finally spin together the fibers that make up the tapestry that is this family and its tragedy.

There is such a distinctive style to this story, as the mundane are juxtaposed with the magical. Like silk against the skin, this story glides over into your memory. I loved this and hope you will feel the same.

New cover, much better than the original. Adds a little more shiver to the tone with the new font and love the white wolf. Although I am never a fan of a division so severe in the design, the red line here, especially when it bisects the title. That’s a minus.

Sales Links: Amazon | Buy It Here

Books Details:

ebook, 54 pages, every page a must read

Published May 2014 by Seventh Window Publications (first published January 13th 2012)

ISBN139780989606035

edition languageEnglish

A Scary Review Redux: Sand and Ruin and Gold by Alexis Hall (A MelanieM Review)

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 (for story and cover) ★★★★★

Once upon a time . . . that’s how the old stories always begin.

And so this one begins, in a land both foreign and familiar, it’s a tale of princes, and merfolk and love…of a sort.

Once upon a time there was a king of a fallen kingdom. He was just and he was beloved. Or so the numbers said. One day, he gathered together the greatest, wisest minds in all the land—not sorcerers, but scientists—and he bade them fashion him a son. A prince. A perfect prince to embody his father’s legacy.

But as fate would have it, nothing ever turns out as planned and the golden perfect prince had other ideas for his future. After gazing upon the dances of the mer in a performance, our prince runs off to join the circus, the Cirque de la Mer. Once there the prince trained the merfolk, he performed with them, and thought he was happy…for a year.

Time brought strange thoughts and emotions to the prince the closer he got to the merfolk. Then Nerites arrives, a mesmerizing merman who refused to be trained or tamed. Nerites was something far more than the prince ever expected. Nerites was savage and unknown.

How does the tale end? Ah, there’s the rub. For every prince, there exists a beast, and for every love, there exists a forever heartbreak. Sand and Ruin and Gold has them all.

Sand and Ruin and Gold hearkens back to the olden stories. Not the comforting ” Disneyfied” fairytales but those of Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. Here the darkness and unknown reign supreme, not happy endings or light. Less a tale of romance, this beautifully written short story builds an atmosphere of creeping foreboding, a sense that not everything is as it seems. The poetic nature of the narrative combined with an imagery that will enchant, then leave you haunted by the possibilities, make Sand and Ruin and Gold by Alexis Hall a short story that refuses to be limited by category or trope.

The feeling of something just off kilter is already present at the beginning. Hall’s prince isn’t born, he’s a genetically perfected young man, created to be the ideal heir to a “good” king who resides over a fallen land. The clues and telling phrases are slipped in sparingly at first, then in ever increasing numbers. As new descriptions of the circus and the shows appear, a far different picture emerges from our original assumptions of the merfolk and the circumstances at the Circus. And along with it comes the feeling one gets when the hairs rise off your arm when frightened or the queasiness that originates in your stomach when it dawns on you that something you thought was happily normal or ordinary turns out to be fearfully, horrifically wrong.

Alexis Hall understands how to build a powerfully evocative story, one that runs more along the lines of those classics passed from bard to bard, told around fires in great halls and forests alike. Whether those bards be from the past or perhaps even our future, that is but one more chilling aspect of this story, a tale that exists in the mists and ocean eddies of the dark seas of this unknown world. But its Hall’s stylistically vivid and powerful narrative with its lush descriptions that makes this story so stunning, so poignant. This is how it starts out:

“I must have been very young when I saw the mermaids at the Cirque de la Mer because it was the nurse who took me and her place in my life was soon surrendered to tutors. I don’t think my father ever found out. He would not have approved.

The day is little more than a sensory haze, of pastel children, the laughter of strangers, and the burn of salt and chemicals at the back of my throat.

The mermaids, though. They are as vivid as stained glass, even now.”

Told from the prince’s pov, we feel his assumptions of his life and the circus fall slowly away as comprehension and understanding arrive building block by building block as events unfold around him. It is a tale of deep love faced amidst horrifying truths. One reading will not be enough to capture all the incredible and terrifying moments as sudden realization, and insight sets in.

And then there is that ending, the one that will refuse to let you go. Its in the words and feelings that emerge, and the tears that will run down your face as you try to decide the implications of words strung like pearls, luminescent and beyond value. An ending that will send you back to the beginning of the story and start this tale once more.

I highly recommend this story to all readers. This is a story that should be on everyones shelf, whether it be made of wood or eReader. This is one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2014 as is its cover.

Cover Artist: Simone. The artwork for Sand and Ruin and Gold is every bit as lush and haunting as the story itself. One of the best covers of the year.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing All Romance (ARe) amazon Sand and Ruin and Gold

Book Details:

ebook, 39 pages
Published September 22nd 2014 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626492318
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://riptidepublishing.com/title

A MelanieM Review: Winter Oranges by Marie Sexton

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

Jason Walker is a child star turned teen heartthrob turned reluctant B-movie regular who’s sick of his failing career. So he gives up Hollywood for northern Idaho, far away from the press, the drama of LA, and the best friend he’s secretly been in love with for years.

There’s only one problem with his new life: a strange young man only he can see is haunting his guesthouse. Except Benjamin Ward isn’t a ghost. He’s a man caught out of time, trapped since the Civil War in a magical prison where he can only watch the lives of those around him. He’s also sweet, funny, and cute as hell, with an affinity for cheesy ’80s TV shows. And he’s thrilled to finally have someone to talk to.

But Jason quickly discovers that spending all his time with a man nobody else can see or hear isn’t without its problems—especially when the tabloids find him again and make him front-page news. The local sheriff thinks he’s on drugs, and his best friend thinks he’s crazy. But Jason knows he hasn’t lost his mind. Too bad he can’t say the same thing about his heart.

Ever looked at a cover, read a blurb and just known, known that the book had a story you just needed to read? Winter Oranges by Marie Sexton did that for me. I’ve long held a fascination with snow globes, especially the idea that the people and things inside them were alive, existing in a world we could only look at. Add to that the elements of love and a man trapped out of time and I was hooked. Plus it was Marie Sexton writing the story!

Marie Sexton’s character of Jason comes across as believably real and lost, his old career dying or maybe its Jason who tired of dealing with being a Hollywood actor and the problems that comes with it. We feel his weariness, his loss, and his uncertainty now that he’s fled to the backwoods and this peculiar house. Because quite frankly we are wondering if he made the right choice too. As charming as Sexton makes the house seem on first appearances, she also manages to bring a air of eeriness and oddity with it as well.

With those elements flowing through the narrative from the beginning, when Jason’s actor friend with benefits, Dylan, makes his appearances into the scene, its acts as a jarring, albeit lively, interruption into Jason’s new isolated life. Just as I suspect Sexton meant it to be. At first we welcome Dylan short visits into Jason’s new life, and then slowly everything changes when Ben and the globe enters the story.

Such a magical element. A snow globe. All those possibilities of what could lie inside. Here they contain a young man, trapped outside of time, the reason why I will let the story explain for itself. The romance that develops between Ben and Jason is so real, so heartfelt and fragile that each moment they are together in the story is one you treasure as much as they do.

How does it end? With stunning danger, heartbreak, tears and laughter. And love, so much love. I adored this story. Winter Oranges by Marie Sexton is its own delightful treasure. One to be taken out, reread for its magic and romance, and love against all odds relationship. Perfect for the holidays no matter what holiday that would be. I highly recommend this story and this author.

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Twenty percent of the proceeds from this title will be donated to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) National Help Center. Love for the Holidays: A Charity Bundle Benefiting the GLBT National Help Center – See more at: Riptide Publishing

Cover design by L. C. Chase is perfect, just perfect for this story. I loved it because it drew me in and made me need to see what was inside.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing preorder Other links to follow closer to release date

Book Details:

ebook, 325 pages

Expected publication: November 30th 2015 by Riptide Publishing

original title Winter Oranges

ISBN13 9781626493575

edition language English

A MelanieM Review: The Firebird and Other Stories (Beings in Love #5) by R. Cooper

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Being(s) in Love Stories

Magical creatures known as beings emerged from hiding amid the destruction of the First World War. Since then they’ve lived on the margins of the human world as misunderstood objects of fear and desire. Some are beautiful, others fearsome and powerful. Yet for all their magic and strength, they are as vulnerable as anyone when it comes to matters of the heart.

A firebird in 1930s Paris is drawn to a writer with a haunted past. Upon returning from fighting in the Pacific, a jaguar shifter finds a third-gender human on his doorstep. Early rock ‘n’ roll DJ Hyacinth the fairy shocks his listeners with his admiration for his quiet assistant. During the AIDS crisis, a gruff, leather-wearing troll dreams of a settled life with a mixed-species elf across the bar. An imp, who remembers only too well how cruel the world can be, tells himself he’s content to stay behind the scenes—if only his chaotic, impish magic would stop getting in the way. And a shy human tending his poisonous and carnivorous plants is convinced no one will ever want him, certainly not the handsome werewolf grieving for a lost mate. Human or being, all must overcome fear to reach for love.

I have loved R. Cooper’s imaginative series from the moment I found his story, A Boy and His Dragon, a couple that make an appearance here at the end. From the magical beings Cooper brings forth looking for romance to the sly, rich, and subtle manner in which the tales are told, R. Cooper’s stories have enchanted me, delighted me and in the case of some of the tales told here, left me more than a little haunted. Let’s look at them one by one.

The Firebird. 4.5 stars. 1934, Paris, France. Kazimir, a lone firebird, perhaps the last of his kind, sings on the famous stages along side Josephine Baker, in a tragic opera written for him. He knows little of his kind, only what his previous deceased owners have told him. Now free he sings, then retires to his flat, always filled with people, magical beings, and flowing champagne. Until a starving ex pat American editor/ writer invades the soiree, with a book he needs to publish and stories he refuses to write. Rifkin is drawn like everyone to Kazimir. But now for the first time, the attraction starts to be returned. But the war is coming, sides are being chosen, and firebirds are immortal, aren’t they?

Such a perfect bittersweet story to set the collection with. The Firebird will appear again, as well others in this story. Kazimir has been used, those that want him, who seek to own him often find themselves lost. What happens when love is finally part of the firebird’s existence? Quite a story if not exactly a romance. The threads laid down here appear throughout all the other tales.

The Warrior’s Sacrifice. 5 stars. 1947. Los Cerros. Mexico? Or Mexico/California combination. Teo has been taken, beaten, tied up and dumped at the doorstep of the tehuantl—the jaguar, left there as a sacrifice by the neighborhood gang, one of which Teo has just rejected. Thugs really who never understood Teo, the way he dressed, or acted. And now it had come to this. Teo has had a crush on the jaguar for most of his life, even before the jaguar had been sent to fight in the Pacific. War over, now the Jaguar was back, dangerous and often bloody. And Teo had been offered as a sacrifice to the one he wanted more than anything. What would the jaguar do?

This is an amazing blend of mythology, culture, and romance. Teo is such a special character, that I hesitate to give him definition here. The jaguar too is a strong, engaging character, one that pulls you towards him because you need the answers to the questions he poses. Combine Teo with mythology come to life in the tehuantl, a warrior back from the Pacific in a vibrant little village, well, this story has so many layers and hidden “notes” that it is one you will want to revisit to again and again to see what you missed the first time around. I would change nothing in this story, not even the length. Unforgettable.

Hyacinth on the Air. Rating 3.5 stars. 1961. Los Cerros Fairy Hyacinth and human Walter work on the air at a radio station in Los Cerros. Hyacinth has been among the humans for 70 years and still has no regard for human censorship, especially on the air. Something he can often get away with just a small fine as a fairy but poor Walter could lose his job over. And Hyacinth does find Walter so very attractive, even if that’s something he’s also not supposed to notice. Strange humans! But once Hyacinth realizes Walter is noticing right back, all bets are off! Its sexy, kinky and even sweet. Its light-hearted and whimsical tone sometimes worked against other elements of the story of gay rights to take away its power.

I liked the bending of history here. They are talking about “the war”, and other 60’s facts like Lee Dorsey music but with all sorts of twists and turns. I like it but when put along side some of these other stories it just pales by comparison.

A Giant Among Men. Rating 4 stars out of 5. 1982. Los Cerros. Tank, a troll with his Viet Nam MIAs/POWs Never Forget and Love Is A Many-Gendered Thing pins on his lapel, is a lovely character. Tank is his own neighborhood watch, but Mami Wata’s a neighborhood bar is a special place because of Simon. Tank’s in love with Simon, the bartender. Simon, best described as elf and ?. Delightful Simon was a bit more of a question mark but intentionally so. They made a great couple in the end and I would love to have seen this story expanded.

The story basics are recognizable but the manner in which R. Cooper has folded a AIDs like virus into this story, a similar fear environment infecting the country, it all feels so very relevant. R. Cooper’s touches to indicate the 80’s vibe which includes mentions of the movies about a murderous fog were just terrific.

The Imp and Mr Sunshine. Rating: 4 stars out of 5 2005. Los Cerros. Rennet (the child imp from The Firebird) is now grown and Los Cerros is a liberal city seeming to embrace its magical beings. That includes trying to see imps as something less demonical, and more as beings to be accepted, like fairies and elves. What Rennet likes, or moreover loves is John Summers, the deputy mayor “The Incredible Unflappable Mr. Sunshine” who he sometimes does odd jobs for. What follows is a tale of a closeted politician coming out of the closet in his love for an imp. Its charming, Rennet is endearing and the reader will have no problem connecting with the romance and the characters.

The Wolf in the Garden. Rating 4.5 stars out of 5. 2014 Los Cerros. Miki (who has a definite connection to the Firebird). Miki is a gardener who the reader will adore. Miki grows the plants needed for sale in Cassandra’s magic shop. The gardens and greenhouses exist behind the shop and they are Miki’s domain, the plants are Miki’s companions and confidants. The reason behind Miki’s shyness are easily guessed at,and his gentleness and huge heart bring the reader easily over to his side. Then Diego the werewolf arrives, mourning, dying of loss and a shocking thing occurs.

Again, what an amazing story. It moves with an awareness of the fragility of life, how easily things change, along with the need to accept new paths when they open up before you. For a story that contains so much pain, it is also full of hope and sweetness. I loved it. And would love to see more of this couple down the line.

The Dragon’s Egg. 4.5 stars out of 5. Present. Bertie the Dragon and his Arthur are back from A Boy and His Dragon. The egg appears after a night of passion. More than that I will not say. I fell back into their relationship easily, and loved seeing where the two had progressed since last time I had seen them.

But for those unfamiliar with their story, this might be a little problematic. A Boy and His Dragon built Bertie and Arthur’s relationship with great care, its foundation that of Arthur’s abandonment and ill treatment as well as Bertie’s love for his Boy. Without that background, someone new to their history and story might flounder a bit, which would be a shame, because this is a darn good story. Tender, emotionally revealing, and deep as R. Cooper’s stories tend to be. That ending was priceless, and of course, it made me want more.

From a story full of fear and despair to one that ends on such promise and love, R. Cooper takes us on a incredible journey with The Firebird and Other Stories, its one you won’t want to miss. Pick it up and being your magical voyage today. I highly recommend this collection and the other Beings in Love stories.

Cover artist: Paul Richmond. I love the cover, Vibrant, unusual, but I wish the Firebird had more of the story elements.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 350 pages

Published September 18th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN 163476403X (ISBN13: 9781634764032)

edition language English

series Beings in Love #5

Beings In Love:

Some Kind of Magic (Beings in Love, #1

A Boy and His Dragon (Beings in Love #2)

A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate (Beings in Love #3)

Little Wolf (Beings in Love, #4)

The Firebird and Other Stories (Beings in Love Stories #5)

A MelanieM Review: Lessons for Sleeping Dogs (Cambridge Fellows #12) by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Cambridge, 1921

When amateur sleuth Jonty Stewart comes home with a new case to investigate, his partner Orlando Coppersmith always feels his day has been made. Although, can there be anything to solve in the apparent mercy killing of a disabled man by a doctor who then kills himself, especially when everything takes place in a locked room?

But things are never straightforward where the Cambridge fellows are concerned, so when they discover that more than one person has a motive to kill the dead men—motives linked to another double death—their wits get stretched to the breaking point.

And when the case disinters long buried memories for Jonty, memories about a promise he made and hasn’t kept, their emotions get pulled apart as well. This time, Jonty and Orlando will have to separate fact from fiction—and truth from emotion—to get to the bottom of things.

I am always thrilled to find that Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith have returned for another mystery and here they are back in Charlie Cochrane’s Lessons for Sleeping Dogs better than ever.

With the last few stories we have been flip flopping back and forth along the time line as laid out in the novels released to date. Lessons for Sleeping Dogs now moves that time line forward once more another year. The men are older, their relationship more established and yet, their love for each other has never been so deep and committed as the one we see here. Orlando and Jonty are starting to think past their time at St. Bride’s, perhaps even into retirement age, a startling thought considering we first met them 16 years ago when their world was far more innocent (at least on the surface) and WWI was not even a faint grumbling politically.

Charlie Cochrane is easing her Fellows into the aging process with a smoothness most would envy. Its acknowledged, through a gentle gesture or wry remark, a memory to those so sorely missed, lost to war or old age, and then the story moves on as it should. Its a lovely realistic touch and its inclusion makes me appreciate this author even more.

Oh the mysteries, yes, more than one. I think this must be the most convoluted of them yet. Shades of Sherlock Holmes! There is an echo of an earlier story but you don’t have to have read that to get the gist of it here. Most of that backstory is included. There are several mysteries ongoing at several levels of importance, or so you think. I loved them of course, but I thought that too many puzzles almost took away from the main murder mystery. I get what Charlie was after, but this was a lot to juggle and it was hard for the reader to keep track of all of the facts, places and people while still dealing with the many emotional scenes and fallout for Jonty and Orlando. This aspect of Lessons for Sleeping Dogs kept it from a perfect 5 star rating, but oh it was so close.

There is so much darkness here. The aftermath of WWI lingers on in the broken minds and bodies of the soldiers who returned, included Orlando and Jonty. The bleakness and pain of their childhood must also be dealt with once again as parts of their case brings their memories surging back to overwhelm them. Their past histories are alluded to here but this remains another definite reason why theses stories should be read in order (in my opinion). You can only get the full impact of what happened to them in those previous novels not here. Jonty and Orlando have so many issues to deal with, and they must do it using their hearts, their intelligence and their trust in each other. What a outstanding story to have Jonty and Orlando make their reappearance!

Yes, it all works out. We get to see some of our favorite secondary characters and Hyacinth Cottage. I absolutely loved it. What’s next for Jonty and Orlando? It’s anyone’s guess and only Charlie Cochrane knows for sure. But one thing is for certain, I will be there, waiting in line, to pick up the story and see what happens next and hoping that the author won’t tear my heart out.

I highly recommend this story and all the novels in the Cambridge Fellows Mysteries. I have them all listed for you below. Don’t miss out on any of them.

Cover artist: Lou Harper. I love these new covers. They are my favorite covers so far for the series.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 243 pages

Expected publication: October 12th 2015 by Riptide Publishing

ISBN1626492735 (ISBN13: 9781626492738)

edition language English

series Cambridge Fellows #12

Cambridge Fellows Mysteries:

Lessons in Love (Cambridge Fellows, #1)

Lessons in Desire (Cambridge Fellows, #2)

Lessons in Discovery (Cambridge Fellows, #3)

Lessons in Power (Cambridge Fellows, #4)

My True Love Sent To Me

Lessons in Temptation (Cambridge Fellows, #5)

Lessons in Seduction (Cambridge Fellows, #6)

Lessons in Trust (Cambridge Fellows, #7)

Once We Won Matches (Cambridge Fellows, #7.5)

All Lessons Learned (Cambridge Fellows, #8)

Lessons for Survivors (Cambridge Fellows, #9)

Lessons for Suspicious Minds (Cambridge Fellows, #10)

Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows, #11)

Lessons for Sleeping Dogs (Cambridge Fellows, #12)

A MelanieM Review: Where the Grass is Greener (Seeds of Tyrone #2) by Debbie McGowan and Raine O’Tierney

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Mistakes were made, that’s for sure. But was it the night of passion? Or walking away afterward? That’s the question Seamus Williams must face when he gets a late-night phone call from someone he never expects to hear from again.

“I miss you, Shay.”

Chancey Bo Clearwater is a cowboy through and through. He spends his days finding work on whatever ranch will take him and his nights at the pool hall. He’s always done what needed doing and never thought much about what he wanted. ’Til that drunken night with Seamus.

A world of problems now stand between Seamus and Chancey exploring what might have been, the least of which being the Atlantic Ocean. On one side, there’s Chancey’s daughter who mood swings from angel to demon in two seconds flat; on the other, there’s the new lodger, hogging Shay’s telly and his cornflakes, and making private Skype time hard to come by.

Is this relationship doomed before it ever begins? Or can a surprise announcement from Seamus’s brother be enough to help the two find their second chance?

Several things drew me to Where the Grass is Greener. I was familiar with Raine O’Tierney, one of the authors and loved her writing. It involves lovers divided, a favorite trope of mine, and one of the settings is Ireland. Be still my heart! Where the Grass is Greener pretty much fulfilled my expectations for the story, the romance and exceeded it for the characters. Oh those wonderful characters.

Where the Grass is Greener by Debbie McGowan and Raine O’Tierney is the sequel to Leaving Flowers, a story I haven’t read and didn’t need to. This novel really does work as a standalone. Having said that I will go back and read the first story. I am curious to see what parts it fills in here. At the start of the story, the story’s initial framework leaves a new reader open to so many questions. All of which could be made more substantial by laying in a little more history. Chancey Bo Clearwater is a divorced father of one, a ranch hand by job description, doing what he has to keep himself and his thirteen year old daughter afloat. Irishman Seamus Williams,temporarily in the States, was another ranch hand on the same ranch. They dance around each other during the duration of Seamus’ stay, each being in the closet, have a night of passion, and then Seamus returns home to Ireland full of regrets, leaving Chancey behind full of the same.

This section of the story feels fleeting and their relationship up to then hard to get a handle on. Then that phone call comes.

“I miss you, Shay.”

The men slowly reconnect through a serious of shaky phone calls and Skype sessions, sometimes hilarious, full of misunderstandings, bad signals, raw emotions, and frustrations. Especially of the distance they have put between themselves.

The authors give us duel points of view, necessary when you have men on two continents. Chancey dealing with his country singer ex wife and his thirteen year old daughter along with his love for Shay in Ireland. And Shay in his small village in Ireland, in his falling down cottage, trying to figure out his life and where he belongs, now that Chancey has come back into his life, at least in a long distance way. Shay’s village life is vibrant, alive in the way that small town “in every body’s business” life can be. Especially if you grew up there and are now trying to reintegrate yourself back into village life and still be gay.

The picture we get of Chancey’s life is more focused, down to his family unit of father and daughter and their troubled dynamics. His self centered wife sees only herself and her career, the daughter is at stressful age, poised between child and grownup, with emotions going haywire. Chancey becomes someone we can understand, even connect with because he’s trying so hard to protect his daughter, be the “good dad”, even if it means giving up on love, remaining stuck and alone.

McGowen and O’Tierney build a strong relationship between Chancey and Shay based on conversation and yes, Skype sex. The authors string threads of connections throughout the story from reader to the men’s growing relationship, to Michael, the young Irishmen thrown out by his family when he comes out as gay, to Chance’s daughter, Dee, so fierce and amazing to other secondary characters so strong and supportive you can’t help but wish for more of them as well.

Where the Grass is Greener is a novel that gets gains in depth and heart the longer it goes on. The narrative moved back and forth from the States to Ireland, gathered up more characters, picked up steam and got better as it headed towards the end until I just wanted to say, no, you can’t end it here! I had fallen completely under everyone’s spell and now I wanted to know how it all turned out. I want more. I want book three.

McGowen and O’Tierney have really hit on something here. They have a cast that has so much heart and staying power, and the ability to bring in others around them that can realistically move out into their own stories. So that I hope that more novels will follow, specifically Michael’s.

Now I plan to head back and pick up Leaving Flowers and see where it all started. I will let you know what I find. Until then, do what I did, and grab up Where the Grass is Greener. Get to know Chancey and Seamus and Dee. Its a wonderful story and I think its only the beginning, one I highly recommend.

Where the Grass is Greener is book two of ‘Seeds of Tyrone’ and features characters from Leaving Flowers , but can be read independently.

Cover art by Debbie McGowan is perfect for the story and characters,I loved it.

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