A MelanieM Advent Story Review: Mission Mistletoe By Jessica Payseur

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Captain Archer Pfeil’s current assignment has been nothing but one long string of disasters. As if being dumped right before Christmas wasn’t enough, the mounting misfortunes indicate he’ll be out of a job by the end of his mission.

But it’s difficult to salvage the assignment with Ambassador Ilin a’dlen Jhex around, pushing all Archer’s buttons. He struggles to keep his distance from the out-of-bounds ambassador, but Jhex has other plans in mind….

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2015 Advent Calendar package “Sleigh Ride”

I always like to see what the unusual holiday short story has to offer so Jessica Payseur’s Mission Mistletoe seemed to fit the bill. But unfortunately I think the author was trying a little too hard and crammed her story full of too many elements that took away from the holiday cheer and overloaded it with cumbersome world building that didn’t always make sense or feel necessary in a Christmas short.

Poor Captain Archer Pfeil. His mission seems doomed with everything going wrong, from fuel to food source. On board is an important ambassador who is evaluating the humans now pushing into their territory in the galaxy. Payseur tells us that Ambassador Ilin a’dlen Jhex looks similar to a bat (ears, fur) but dresses like someone out of 1001 Arabian Tales. He has an unusual type of society with multiple sex partners plus he likes to sculpt. So many holes in this character..we get too much or not enough depending on the information. There is no real logic to the buildup of the species of the ambassador which is part of the problem if you want the reader to feel a connection to him.

If you look closer at the world building, more questions appear. Why would a crew who loves its captain lie to him for a alien they don’t know anything about? Think about the trust that breaks. Under that shaky surface just lies more questions. The characters and circumstances just don’t produce any heat, or substantial logistical groundwork needed for the reader to engage their feelings about the characters or relationship. Thank goodness, Payseur doesn’t go for any instant love here, that would have been disastrous.

As it is, if you aren’t a scifi fan, if you don’t look too deeply or ask any questions of the world building, then this is a sort of pleasant little space romance.

Cover art by Bree Archer is nice but a little jarring, doesn’t come together as a composition, exactly like the story itself.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 49 pages
Published November 30th 2015
ASINB018RRVVH8
edition languageEnglish
seriesSleigh Ride – 2015 Advent Calenda

A MelanieM Review: Red Dirt Christmas (Red Dirt, #3.5) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Travis had been here at Sutton Station for just over a year. We were technically engaged, not that we’d told anyone. He was happy just knowin’ I’d said yes, and I had some head-clearin’ stuff to work through. Knowing I was good enough for Trav was one thing, but knowing if I was good enough to be a husband and father was somethin’ else entirely.

Life at Sutton Station had never been better. Business was strong, Trudy and Bacon’s little baby, Gracie, was a few weeks old now and as cute as a button, Ma’s health was good, and my relationship with Laura and Sam was in a pretty good place. And Travis? Well, life with him was still all kinds of perfect.

But, to Travis’s dismay, Christmas at the Station was just another day. Another day of getting up before the sun, feeding animals, fixin’ what needed fixin’, and checking water troughs all while tryin’ to keep out of the blistering heat.

And this year weren’t much different. Only that it was Travis’s first Sutton Station Christmas. The fact we didn’t go all out with decorations and celebrations baffled him, and if I was bein’ truthful, it disappointed him too.

Which was why I had to make it a special kind of Christmas…

When I first starting reading the Red Dirt Heart series by N.R. Walker, it didn’t take long before I was deeply and permanently in love with every part of Sutton Station, the men, the way of life, even the wildlife from the deadly to the adorable (see one particular wombat). And at book four, I felt so much a part of their lives that it was painful to see it end, albeit happily and with satisfaction.

So imagine my surprise and delight when I heard that N.R. Walker had returned to red dirt country and the Sutton Station to bring us Red Dirt Christmas. Yes, I was overjoyed. Charlie and Travis were coming back for Christmas. Was it the Christmas present I hoped for?

Well, if it wasn’t it was close. Red Dirt Christmas takes place before the fourth book, so quite a few events haven’t occurred. But in many respects we get the best of the story threads. Charlie’s mother and brother are here. along with Ma and George, Trudy, Bacon and little Gracie and a certain wombat I never get enough of. Charlie and Travis, one of my favorite couples, are as close as ever even as Travis is fighting a case of the Christmas blues and homesickness. It seems that Charlie and Sutton Station don’t really celebrate Christmas and Travis is missing the way his family decorates with all the American trimmings.

To say any more would tempt me to head into spoiler territory. But what follows is tender, full of laughter and family, and of course, love. N. R. Walker doesn’t forget to leave out the dangers of living in such a extreme climate and geographical location. There is an encounter with one of the area’s venomous wildlife as well as one more element to be aware of during their “winter” season, one so costly it was a little scary there for a while for a main character. All these threads flowing beautifully through a story I never wanted to end.

Red Dirt Christmas is full of scenes real, vivid and heartfelt, the people inside were back to feeling like old friends revisited, even when Charlie and Travis where feeling frisky and hot, it was sexy, warm and loving. I hope we can talk N.R. Walker back into these short stories, small glimpses into the Sutton Station from time to time so we can check in on everyone. There’s Australia Day, Roundup, Give A Wombat a Hug day…I don’t care. Any excuse will do. N.R. Walker, are you listening? This was wonderful, now can we please have some more?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Red Dirt Heart series, what a treat is in store for you. I have listed them all at the bottom. I highly recommend them all as must reads for readers of M/M romance. Like the red dirt of the Northern Territory, this Station and this couple will get into your heart and never let go.

Happy Reading.

A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Must Read Series any time of the year:

Red Dirt Heart Series:

Sales Links: |All Romance eBooks | Smashwords | Amazon | Buy It Here

A MelanieM Review: Status Update (#gaymers 1) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Adrian Gottlieb is winning at life. He’s a successful video game designer with everything a man could ask for, including a warm comfy ride to Denver and a date for his sister’s wedding. But he finds himself in need of a total reboot when he’s left stranded at a snowy campground in Utah. Holiday plans? Epic fail.

That is until Noah Walters offers him shelter for the night and a reluctant cross-country ride. Nothing about the ultraconservative geoarchaeologist should attract Adrian, but once he discovers Noah’s hidden love for video games, the two connect on a new level. Soon, a quiet but undeniable chemistry sparks.

Something doesn’t add up, though. As the miles accumulate and time runs out, Noah must face the most difficult choice of his life. Meanwhile, Adrian must decide whether he’s ready to level up. Is their relationship status worth fighting for, or has this game ended before it’s even begun?

If Annabeth Albert hadn’t already made me a fan with her previous stories, this is the one that would have sealed the deal. Status Update, the first in a new #gaymer series, proves to be a sweet, sparkling romance, with filled with endearing characters that grab at your heart. That holds especially true of the main couple, both men are unusual, layered, and real. Throw in two irrepressible dog characters like Pixel and Ulysses that are a perfect match for their owners and I was in love from the moment the story rolled out in that campground’s off leash dog area in Utah.

The Capitol Reef National Park campground in Southern Utah is a strange meeting place for these two men to collide. Adrian Gottlieb, successful video game designer is on his way to his sister’s wedding in a rented RV with a man he barely knows. Noah Walters, a geoarcheologist, is holed up in his camper, his home away from home, trying to finish his book that will get him tenure at his conservative bible college in Texas. But in a wildly painful yet could be expected turn of events, Adrian, 25, and Pixel are left stranded in the campground until Noah offers not only refuge but an passage to Denver and Adrian’s sister’s wedding.

Sounds so simple, but the men and story are so complex. Noah’s upbringing has left him firmly in the closet, His choice of profession and job has kept him there. Noah realizes that to come out would be losing his teaching job, which he loves and any chance at tenure in a profession where jobs are scare. That choice has also left him a virgin and celibate at the age of 35 and up until he meets Adrian, Noah has accepted the limitations of his life and its loneliness.

If for no other reason that the character of Noah Walters, this book would garner high praise for its author. He’s an adult, with a mature outlook on his life, taking responsibility for the choices he has made. He’s rueful, awkward, gruff, and intelligent. I found him to be so remarkable and wonderful. Add to that he put away his sexuality and committed to a path of celibacy for the sake of his profession, that extra bit of unexpected vulnerability just makes you ache for him and gives Noah that one more twist to his already different persona.

But then comes Adrian Gottlieb, a character who is on par with Noah in every respect. He too is complex, full of his own layers and unexpected depth. His success and commitment to the popular videogame, Space Villager, has left him little time for a social life, which also helps to explain the disaster that led their meeting. That adage that ‘appearances can be deceiving’ certainly applies to Adrian as Noah finds out almost immediately. Both men, highly intelligent, find themselves oddly compatible, as are their dog companions. Their relationship within Noah’s small RV, their time on the road as their explore each other boundaries…sexual, personal, emotional, takes the reader on such an a rewarding journey along with these men to Denver and the wedding that you hope it will never stop.

Then it does.

And the story gets better. Because when their trip stops, decisions have to be made. Its reality time. And Annabeth Albert takes these two serious men, the slow, sometimes painful journey they have been on and completes it in the most wondrous, satisfactory way. It makes sense, its real, and not without a prick or two of regret. So yes, its perfect. Except for one little detail.

Space Villager does not exist. How I wish it did. There was this teaser as the end…just no… it does not exist. But I won’t take away any stars for that disappointment.

Book Cover was a delight. I loved that the dogs were included. Great job.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 195 pages

Expected publication: December 7th 2015 by Carina

original title Status Update

ISBN 1459290593 (ISBN13: 9781459290594)

series #gaymers #1

A MelanieM Review: Cardinal Sins (Hidden Gems #2) by Lissa Kasey

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Paris Hansworth, star whore turned senator and the most powerful man in City M, has been hiding his terminal illness for years. Searching for a way to reverse the toxic environment that’s killing him, Paris stumbles upon a lost research facility, and a merman named Rain.

Years alone have made Rain long for companionship, and the beautiful man on the other side of the glass intrigues him. But Rain speaks the wrong language, and is decades out of touch. He isn’t quite sure what to think of the new environment he’s been thrust into.

As a virus spreads through the city targeting City M’s most private residents—A-Ms—Paris realizes he’s out of time. He’s willing to sacrifice everything, even his own life, to stop it. But Rain might just be the missing DNA link to explain the mutations created in the last plague, maybe even the cure.

Watching Paris race to save his friends, Rain knows he’s found someone special and will do anything to stay by his side. But the past Paris thought he’d escaped is seeking revenge, and he’s forced to adapt yet again, possibly even becoming a monster. He only hopes Rain will still want him.

Hidden Gems, the first novel in this series, was also my first introduction to this wonderful author. That story, a dystopian novel full of dark flights of fancy, fallen chemically engineered angels of your nightmares and so much more captured both my mind and my heart. Now Lissa Kasey has returned to that pain, disease wracked world with a new story Cardinal Sins and I am more than delighted with what she has delivered.

Hidden Gems is the name of a fancy whore house in City M, operated by Paris Hansworth. A former whore, turned powerful senator and businessman, Paris has found a long abandoned gambling casino called the Cardinal Sins (think along the lines of Las Vegas, maybe it is Las Vegas, we never know) on the outskirts of the city. Paris intends to bring the Cardinal Sins back to life, including the major feature of enormous fish tanks with tunnels that go from gambling hall to hall throughout the looming old construction. No matter there may be no more salt water fish to fill it after the disaster, still Paris has plans and only a short amount of time in which to complete them.

The power of Kasey’s stories lies not only in her plots but in her almost magnetic descriptions that, from scene to scene, make you lean closer and closer towards your tablet, pulling you towards the story…into the story itself. From the eerie feel of the gambling hall to the icy cavernous research lab where mysterious things flashed behind dirty glass walls, I felt I needed to be there. Don’t be surprised to find yourself nose to nose with your Kindle in no time! Her images filled my mind, dancing there, long after the story was finished.

Kasey picks up her story after the events of Hidden Gems, so it does help to have read that story. Why? Well, the first book is a wonder and should be read. But also because no matter how much background the author gives you here it can not give you all the intricacies of the politics, or the layers of the events that took place for you to get the full picture. You will enjoy it, don’t get me wrong. But you will love it more with more knowledge about the people, places, and their relationships. Plus that first book is so good you just need to read it.

In Cardinal Sins, Kasey expands on her initial (and beautifully done) world building to go beyond the chemically engineered A-M’s, people cruelly experimented on by the government for weapons warfare and extends her universe into something new. I won’t include any spoilers but it is a natural progression and one I thought was so smart to include here. I hope she goes further with this element in the next story or stories because its such a great one and has so much potential as far as characters and plot. We still have people that turn into wolves, big cats, winged taloned beings and now a whole buried research facility designated towards sea creatures. Its a great mixture of all the old and new elements here, blending into a great new dynamic. This is fluidity is wonderful in a story where the atmosphere and environment is toxic, the chemical nature of the population is unstable and nothing is certain, not even their form. Just wonderful.

Lissa Kasey’s characters are more than a match for her narrative. I love Paris, such a complicated man. Here he has never been so vulnerable then here at the end of his life as the virus is taking hold and killing him. Its heartbreaking to all around him. This includes Rain and Paris because of the new plans Paris formed, especially when he finds Rain under all that ice and Paris doesn’t think he will have time to complete his plans for him. That’s another astounding piece of this story I won’t spoil for you. How I loved that element of this story. Magic! Rain holds so many mysteries within his tank, including that of his origin. That is not completely solved during this story…a thread I hope to follow to another book. Other characters from the previous story return. Aki and his mate,a private investigator as well as Candy, a whore without boundaries finds that he may have a new role in life and someone to love after all. Kasey remembers all her characters and keeps them in play at all times. She also continues to add several more important ones, beings I can wait to see again in a new novel.

Romance and relationships. Its there and probably more subtle than you might expect when dealing with a book full of whores and whore houses. There is talk of whipping and knot work but that’s it, talk. There is romance and love but its on equal par with the action, and suspense and mystery. There are so many elements here. Assassination, plague, military experimentation on children…so yes, romance and love is so desperately needed when things get so dark and deadly. Love and hope. Lissa Kasey remembers to give us and her characters both. Eventually.

If you are looking for hot, hot sex, this is probably not the book for you. But if you are looking for mystery, outstanding world building, suspense, a little heartbreak, and yes, romance, wrapped up in a dystopian thriller, than I think you should look no further than Lissa Kasey’s Hidden Gems series. Start with Hidden Gems and run direct here and start reading Cardinal Sins. Rain and Paris will make their way into your heart! I can’t wait to see where this series is going next.

I highly recommend them both.

Cover artist Shobana Appavu delivers a gorgeous cover. interesting and in tune with the story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 290 pages

Expected publication: November 13th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN13 9781634765817

edition language English

series Hidden Gems #2

Hidden Gem (Hidden Gem, #1)

Cardinal Sins (Hidden Gem, #2)

Scary Review Redux: A MelanieM Review of The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men (Valley Books) by Eric Arvin

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

Winifred Walterhouse lived in the mansion on the top of Black Hill. She was aware of the secrets the river and the valley held. She knew of the river sprites, and of the forest passions, small beings becoming fewer and fewer in number. She had helped hold off the outdwellers, those who would steal the valley’s magic and destroy the old ways. But now she is dying, unable to take care of herself let alone a young girl of a certain stubborn temperament.

When her parents died, little Calpurnia Covington was sent to live with her eccentric aunt in the mysterious River Valley. And by her arrival changed everything. With her aunt, Winifred Walterhouse, dying and confined to her room, Calpurnia is free to roam throughout the estate and nearby woods. Missing the outside world, Calpurnia is frightened by the beings and things she sees in the Valley and resolutely turns her back on the magic all around her, thus setting her path away from the light and those coming after her.

Minerva True is a mystic who lives deep in the Valley, aware of the magic and light all around her. She is also aware of The Prophecy and the coming darkness. Although Minerva tries to warn the river valley’s inhabitants, she is ignored and the darkness is allowed to grow and thrive. In the future, it will be the mingled destinies of Minerva, the young hero Leith, his lover Aubrey, and the mute boy, Deverell that will tilt the fate of the valley and perhaps the world towards the light or darkness. Who will succeed and who will fail in the ultimate of all battles?

The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men by Eric Arvin has to be one of the most memorable and complex books that I have read recently. It is an extraordinary and sometimes confounding mixture of gothic horror, Grimm’s fairy tale, and dark fantasy. Arvin pulls from a number of sources, from elementals and the Industrial Revolution to the Bible and uses them to help him create a lost river valley where magic still exists along side the human and the mundane. Inside the valley, power flows through the woods and into the river. Here river dwellers and passions live but no longer flourish. The Outsiders and Industry test the borders and darkness has come to claim the valley and its souls for its own.

With this novel and the books to follow, Eric Arvin conceived his version of the eternal war between good and evil, the battle between the light and the darkness. This story has a language so lyrical that it will remind you of sonnets and characters so beautifully defined and textured that their loss will haunt you for days. Arvin’s story feels so old and timeless that the aroma of old leather bindings and yellowed pages of text will commingle in your mind along with the title, an effortless interface of ideas both ancient, fantastical and still somehow quite new. All of which makes The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men a book of emotional heft and extraordinary value.

In keeping with the epic scope of his story, Arvin’s novel encompasses a rather large time span that starts from Calpurnia’s arrival in the valley as a young girl through her marriage and birth of her child and further still as that child, Leith, grows up and becomes a featured player in this timeless spiritual war between good and evil. Circling around Calpurnia is a convoluted and intertwining group of relationships that will include beings of power to Leith, her son. Arvin has created a large and incredible cast for his story and series, including Azriel, a angel and the fundamental Mother True. These characters live and breath and love with an realness that will grab you. Some love with a lightness of being and others, well, others are weighed down with such a darkness of spirit that it seeps right off the page. Some of Arvin’s creations just exude such a presence of evil that they carry a stench of corruption that threatens to flow off the page. And with any tale of good and evil, there are so many losses that will cut to the heart as the story and the fight progress.

Its that unrelenting parade of death as the story proceeds with its inexorable march towards that final battle between good and evil that might turn away readers looking for a warm tale of love and romance. This is a true fantasy, horror story. An epic tale that must, by its very nature, come with the deaths of characters the reader has come to love. I think it is those character deaths here will cause not only consternation but pain as the losses add up. Not only because we didn’t see these deaths coming but because we had come to care for these people in the short amount of time we knew them, a required ingredient of great characters. It is this aspect of the story that most readers will shy away from, especially those looking for a strictly m/m romance. This is not that book. Yes, there is a m/m romance, but there is also heterosexual love, familial love and so much more. This story has great heart to go along with great loss.

One of the real revelations here is Arvin’s ability to reveal a true contamination of the soul, a slow defilement of character so extraordinary that you almost weep for the promise of the child that was thrown away, seduced by her own needs and a greater evil. The author’s prose and descriptions delivering both a story of great emotional impact but also of spiritual warnings that go unheeded to the sorrow of all involved. The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men is easily one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2013. Consider this tale highly recommended and a must read for all.

Cover photography by Amy Morrison. This book needs an extraordinary cover to measure up to the greatness of the story within and it gets it with this great cover by Amy Morrison. Also one of the best covers of 2013.

Sales Links: Wilde City Press | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 286 pages

Published April 24th 2013 by Wilde City Press

ISBN13 9781925031065

edition language English

series Valley

A MelanieM Review: Put a Ring on It (Ready or Knot #1) by K.A. Mitchell

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Kieran Delaney-Schwartz—adoptee, underachiever, and self-professed slacker IT guy—lives his under-the-radar life by the motto: Don’t try, don’t fail. His adopted siblings are all overachievers thanks to his driven, liberal parents, but Kieran has elected to avoid disappointing anyone by not getting their hopes up. He’s coasting through his early twenties when he’s hit head-on by Theo. The successful decade-older Broadway producer sweeps him off his feet for a whirlwind thirteen months that are pretty sweet until it all comes screeching to a halt on Valentine’s Day, with an unexpected proposal via a NYC Times Square Flash mob.

Now everyone wants in on the wedding, except the grooms…

K.A. Mitchell’s Collision Course remain’s a dog-eared favorite read of mine. And with each new story, I hope to find the same magic and character dynamics that made that novel such a comfort read for me. Unfortunately, Put A Ring On It is not that story…at least for me.

Several elements kept it from that status and it starts right at the beginning with a flashback. Thirteen years ago, a group of men, all close friends, head to Coney Island for a post-graduation get together. It turns into a promise to continue to meet there, no matter where they are and what they are doing. Only one of them is our main character, the rest of his friends will each have a book in the series. But in starting here with so many voices (and continuing with them with their multiple points of views and plots throughout the story), our focus on the main characters and their troubled relationship is diluted before any connection is made.

Another element that threw the book off for me? Kieran and Theo is a couple that lacked charisma on many levels. I don’t mind relationships with a age span between the individuals, especially if the author makes a good argument for it or makes the difference in years seem inconsequential. Not here. Kieran seems immature. He doesn’t want to make a commitment (which is fine) But he goes along and does. He won’t meet Theo’s friends or go to functions important to Theo. He reads young, self involved and immature. Which, again ok, but not a fit for Theo. Theo reads too old for Kieran. He loves his job, producing musicals, he’s a over the top extrovert who doesn’t stop to think what his younger lover might want. Or that his younger lover might not want the things he does. Again not a good fit and Mitchell never makes the reader feel as though these two have any common ground for their feelings for each other. Its one awkward clash after the other with the reader caught in the middle and not happily as might be the case in another story.

Put A Ring On It definitely has a ring at the center, one that comes out at a proposal gone hideously wrong and then continues to pop up all through the story, mostly as a promise to “think about getting married”, a serious dilution of the commitment the ring represents. The ring turns things around but that aspect feels unrealistic by the time it finally happens because of all the events that came before.

This story is well written, the characters believable and yet for me it doesn’t hold together as a romance or wholly cohesive narrative. Too many points of view, too many foundation plot threads laid down that obscured the main one here, and in the end two main characters that lacked the essential “magic” needed to make them feel like they would make it past the one year marker.

Cover art by Reese Dante is spot on and totally adorable.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here (preorder until Sept 9)

Book Details:

ebook, 204 pages

Expected publication: September 9th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press

original title Put a Ring on It

ISBN139781634763813

edition languageEnglish

urlhttp://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6833

seriesReady or Knot #1

A MelanieM Review: Dead Man’s Hand: Jack of Spades #4 by Lee Brazil (Pulp Friction 2015:Altered States Book 13)

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Barton Montoire, the ghost of a nineteenth century riverboat gambler, is devastated and angry. His lover, physics professor Sabine, has exorcised him. Again. This time, there’s no denying the professor’s actions were intentional. Worse, Bart can’t seem to convince their friends to aid him in his quest get Sabine to listen to his side of things.

With his lover Bart safe from shadowy threats of eternal damnation in the “other realm,” ghost hunter Sabine Brusilov is free to pursue his own risky investigation into the mysterious circlet and its connection to the shadow figure that’s been tormenting the unlikely couple. With the help of his friends, he determines to take control of the situation and bring Bart home.

I may have been a little harsh towards Sabine in the past, mostly because of his behavior and attitude towards Bart, his ghostly lover and favorite character of mine. However, with Dead Man’s Hand (book 4), Lee Brazil start’s repairing Sabine’s reputation, in my eyes and in that of his friends as well as supplying some explanations for some of the more bizarre actions and events that Sabine has been involved in. Has this made me mellow towards Sabine? Yes, it has, damn, it. Still that amount of arrogance has cost him.

Forty four pages isn’t a lot of time to turn a impression of a character around but Lee Brazil does it concisely and within the framework of a complicated plot. Its not, however, that Sabine changes but that our perspective of Sabine that gets revised now that we get to see underneath the surface of his actions. We see how the things he said and weird things he has done now fit differently into the whole picture. That tilt in viewpoint also shifts the story into another mode – a renewed sense of needing this couple to be together, something that might not have been there before.

Bart is still desperately trying to find his way “home”, seeking answers, for his own scary actions and Sabine’s. That dark evil influence had spread wider than anyone had thought possible. With Brazil reinstating Sabine as more in need of our compassion than scorn, Bart blindly trying to come come to Sabine, and the plot more deeply layered and vicious, the author is setting the stage for the explosions and fires that book 5 is sure to bring. Demons anyone? Evil demons that is? This is going to be painful, bloody, and someone, perhaps more than one is going to get hurt, but who?

Ah, Book 5, here we come, I can’t wait for the paranormal explosions to begin!

I highly recommend this story and all the stories that came before. Pick them up and devour them like the scary bon bons they are!.

Cover artist Laura Harner. Still wish they were darker and more frightening.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 44 pages

Published August 14th 2015 by Lime Time Press

ASINB013XZ611A

edition languageEnglish

☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠

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 HarnerRound 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 HarnerRound 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
Diamonds Edge (Ace of Diamonds #3) by Laura Harner

Round Four:

Dead Man’s Hand (Jack of Spades 4) by Lee Brazil

Blind Heart (King of Hearts 4) by Havan Fellows
High Stakes (Four of Clubs 4) by Parker Williams
Diamond Flush (Ace of Diamonds 4) by Laura Harner

A MelanieM Review: The Terms of Release (The Release Series #1) by B.A. Tortuga

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

They say a man can always come home. So after doing hard time, Sage Redding heads to his family’s northeast Texas ranch to help his ailing daddy with the cutting horses.

Adam (Win) Winchester is a county deputy and the cousin of one of the men killed in the incident that sent Sage to prison for almost a decade. While Win’s uncles, Jim and Teddy, are determined to make Sage and the entire Redding family pay for their loss, Win just figures Sage has paid his dues and maybe needs a friend. Maybe he needs more than a friend. In fact, Win’s counting on it.

No one’s denying Sage is an ex-con who went to prison for manslaughter. Regardless of the love he has for his father, he’s returned knowing things will likely go badly for him. Maybe a man can always come home, but he may not be able to stay.

The Terms of Release is the first in a new series by BA Tortuga. Its set in one of her favored locations, northeast Texas, where the regional twang of the Texas accent and cowboy colloquialisms is as prevalent as the searing summer heat. These are used as the basis for a romance between two more basic characters found in BA Tortuga’s stories, a cowboy and a ex-soldier, each here with a twist.

Sage Redding, a pocket cowboy, coming off of hard time in a penitentiary for manslaughter, but the story behind his conviction points to something or someone else. Adam (Win) Winchester, former soldier, now a county deputy, who uncles and family were instrumental in Sage’s conviction and length of time behind bars. Sage has returned home because of his father’s ill health to help his parents run their ranch to the consternation and hate of the townfolk and local police department, except for Win that is.

Immediately the author sets the whirlwind of small town prejudice, poor economics and personal gain into play with Sage’s homecoming. Its not just one issue plaguing Sage’s return but a multitude. He’s a con, he’s a murderer, “they don’t need his kind here” sort of thing. It should be cliche but that’s exactly the sort of mindset found in small communities and BA Tortuga gets it exactly right. Never mind that his parents have been a fountain of support for many within town limits, that is easy to forget until Sage’s wonderful mother brings it up. I adored his parents. They are just two more reasons that I find this author’s stories so easy to sink into, her characters come across as perfectly earthy and human. Snarly, wounded, stolid, and supportive. Amazing how quickly I can take them into my heart.

Adam (Win) Winchester is another terrific character with roots in this community. He’s wondering why he came back at all and finding that Sage maybe the best reason to stay. I loved Adam but the real story is Sage.

Sage is tiny and he did hard time in a state penitentiary. That has left him with permanent scars, ones mentioned and ones left to the imagination…all horrific and life changing. How BA Tortuga handles this aspect of her character and story deserves special mention and admiration. Ever think about how someone who has been convicted of manslaughter handles prison time? Especially if you think they might deserve it? What if they were actually innocent as some are being found these days, after the fact, in the Texas system? How do they handle what happened to them inside? How do they handle being outside once more? Tortuga has Sage go through all these things, from checking in with his parole officer, to missing out on simple cultural things we take for granted to things I will leave up to the story. And we get some of the confusion we might feel present in Win who doesn’t always understand Sage’s state of mind. That’s equally important for the story and for the reader. Tortuga gives us two points of view and the time needed to develop them both to the degree that we understand and commit to both men and their relationship.

Sage maybe be a tiny pocket cowboy but by the end of the story he had captured my heart, along with Win’s. Theirs was a romance to root for and a journey to love that will captivate you. The Terms of Release doesn’t always flow evenly but it moves with heart, and courage and grit. A wonderful story and I can’t wait to see where BA Tortuga takes this series next.

Cover art by Leah Kaye Suttle. If the intent is to draw you in by the hot torso and hot landscape then done. But if the job is to let you into some idea of the storyline? Fail.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 240 pages, also in paperback and audiobook from Dreamspinner

Published March 24th 2014 by Dreamspinner Press (first published March 23rd 2014)

original title The Terms of Release

ISBN 1627986146 (ISBN13: 9781627986144)

url http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

series The Release Series #1

The Release Series:

The Terms of Release

A MelanieM Review: You Are the Reason (The Tav #2) by Renae Kaye

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Davo’s a pretty average guy. He has a decent job, owns his own home, and spends his weekends at the pub. He fully accepts that he’s gay, but doesn’t want to be one of those gays, who are femme and girly. He likes football and other masculine pursuits, and firmly avoids anything that could be seen as femme—including relationships that last beyond fifteen minutes.

Then Davo’s friend and gay idol not only gets a boyfriend, but also adopts a baby girl. Davo is seriously spooked and scuttles down to the pub in fright. That’s where he meets Lee, who is cute from her cherry-red hair, to her pretty little dress and pointy red shoes. Davo is charmed—but how is that possible? He’s gay. Isn’t he? Then Lee tells him he’s actually a guy—he just likes to wear women’s dresses occasionally. Thoroughly confused about an attraction that’s out of character for him, Davo begins the long journey to where he can accept himself without caring what everyone else thinks.

I found Renae Kaye through her novel The Shearing Gun (which I loved) but the the stories that followed captivated me just as fully. Whether it was Safe In His Arms, The Blinding Light or the hilarious Shawn’s Law, in each Renae Kaye continued to address serious issues such as sexual abuse, PSTD, and physical disabilities while framing them within a loving, realistic romance. Her characters were just that smidge outside the norm that you felt like you hadn’t read about them before, and the locations in Australia, often Melbourne, made her stories fresh and unknown (at least to this American’s eyes). Now comes, You Are The Reason, and everything I love about Renae Kaye’s writing and storytelling abilities is showcased here once again.

Two of the serious elements here, cross dressing and the shameful impact of bullying, are dealt with the author’s typical sensitivity and knowledgeability. I love that Kaye brings the two elements together in such a gentle disarming way instead of the hate filled clash we normally see. Davo’s past history isn’t really hinted at in the blurb and the reality we find here isn’t pretty. Why Davo thinks and acts the way he does (anti fem all the way) is a past that is given out in bits and pieces to begin with. As Davo starts to break down why he thinks and reacts the ways he does now , more and more information starts to flow about the past events that caused it. I think this is a terrific way of plotting the story to help the reader really see the impact of childhood events upon the adult man. And who’s helping him with this makeover?

That would be Lee, a man who challenges Davo’s idea of what being a “ok gay” means, even the idea of what is male. Lee likes to cross dress and is great at it, its part of who he is. In order to accept Lee, all of Lee, something Davo wants desperately, he must first address what the bullying and fear has done to his self image and notions of acceptable homosexuality. Its quite the journey in Renae Kaye’s hands and I loved every sentence and paragraph.

Lee is such a strong character,yet his frailties lurk there for all of us to see. Lee and Davo have layers to their personalities, as well as a depth that makes them surprising in places in the story where we might expect otherwise. Back to help Lee and Davo are Jake Manning and Patrick Stanford from The Blinding Light. They play a major part here in this story. I didn’t think it possible but I like them even better as an established couple coping with new parenthood and all the joys and issues that arrive with a new baby. That scene with the poopy diaper from hell is hilarious!

I noticed that Renae Kaye is calling You Are the Reason, a story from The Tav. That’s The Coolgardie Tavern or The Gardie Tav is a bar owned by Charlie Lombardo. Why The Tav? From author Ranae Kaye:

Because this little pub seems to be the place to fall in love, and it definitely has more stories to tell.

Well, be still my heart. Already we have had The Blinding Light (The Tav #1). Now this I can only hope that The Tav has a ton more stories to tell. I’m going to pull up a bar stool and wait. Join me.

I highly recommend this story and this author. Love contemporary M/M romance that makes you think, laugh, and wave that fan over the heat of the couples inside? Want to fall in love so deeply that you will forget that these men can’t be found walking the streets in Australia? Pick up You Are The Reason and discover why Renae Kaye is a must read/auto buy for me and so many others.

Cover artist: Bree Archer. Its a nice cover but it is so generic it could be for any contemporary M/M romance. In that respect, its disappointing.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 226 pages, also in paperback
Published August 7th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781634764834
edition languageEnglish
url http://renaekaye.weebly.com/you-are-the-reason.html
seriesThe Tav #2

A MelanieM Review: Coming Back (The Belladonna Arms #3) by John Inman

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Barney Teegarden knows what it’s like to be alone. He knows what it’s like to have a romantic heart, yet no love in his life to unleash the romance on. With the help of a friend, he acquires a lease in a seedy apartment building perched high on a hill in downtown San Diego. The Belladonna Arms is not only filled with the quirkiest cast of characters imaginable, it is also famous for sprinkling love dust on even the loneliest of the lovelorn.

At the Arms, Barney finds friendship, acceptance, and an adopted family that lightens his lonely life. Hell, he even finds a cat. But still true love eludes him.

When his drag queen landlord, Arthur, takes it into his head to rescue a homeless former tenant, he enlists Barney’s help. It is Barney who shows this lost soul how to trust again—and in return Barney discovers love for the first time in his life.

It’s funny how even the hardest battles can be fought and won with laughter, hugs, friends, plus a little faith in the goodness of others. All it takes to begin the healing is the simple act of coming back.

Two books ago I fell in love with a dilapidated apartment building on top a hill in San Diego, filled full of gay misfits looking for love. The Belladonna Arms, old neon sign sputtering to life each night, apparently is home to love pollen, the stuff just “rains down the walls” as one resident after another finds their soulmate in John Inman’s wonderful heartwarming Belladonna Arms stories. With one tragic exception.

In Coming Back, John Inman, heals that terrible wound and gets the Belladonna Arms love pollen working overtime again with a new arrival in Barney Teegarden, a friend and coworker of Pete (husband of Sylvia’s). Barney is looking for a new place to live and for someone to love and love him back. The latter being important. Most of the people Barney has loved haven’t returned the emotion and he’s ready for that to change. Pete swears that the Belladonna Arms can work magic but after seeing the rundown place Barney’s just not sure. Barney has just arrived at the multi-couple yard sale in front of the Belladonna Arms so he can meet Arthur, the owner and manager.

The next thing I knew, I was face-to-face with the gigantic drag queen in the platinum Veronica Lake wig. At the moment, he had four feather boas draped around his tree-trunk-sized neck, each gaudier than the next. He was waving them around, trying to attract a buyer, until Pete shoved me into his face, and said, “Arthur, I want you to meet Barney. Barney needs a place to live.”

Arthur slipped ham-sized hands into my armpits and lifted me a foot off the ground to stare directly into my eyes. I hung there like a Christmas ornament, wishing the fuck he would put me down. “You’re a cutie,” he said in a booming baritone that rolled through lips saturated with peach-tinted lip gloss. “And you’re a friend of Pete’s?”

“Yes, sir. I mean, ma’am. I mean, sir.” His lips spread wide in a grin. He gave me a little shake, as if he were trying to dislodge some fruit from my branches, then gently set me on the ground.

“Done,” he said.

“What’s done?” I asked.

“Your apartment. It’s ready for you to move into whenever you’re ready. There’s a vacancy right next to Pete and Sylvia.”

I blinked. “No shit?”

“No shit.”

“I’m a tenant?”

“You’re a tenant.”

And just like that Barney has become a member of a wonderfully quixotic and dear group of people who make up the family that is the Belladonna Arms. It helps that Pete and Sylvia are next door neighbors and good friends already.

“Thank you, Arthur!” Pete cried. “Barney will be your best tenant ever.”

Arthur pinched Pete’s cheek and ruffled his hair. “I’m sure he will.” Then he turned to me. “Got a lover?”

“Uh… no.” Arthur pulled me into his massive, hairy, Opium-scented arms and squeezed me so hard I thought I felt an organ burst. “Well, don’t worry, honey. The building will take care of that.” “The building,” I grunted, trying to draw a breath. He eyed me with his one visible eyebrow cocked high. “That’s right. The building. Ever hear of love pollen?”

“Uh, nope.”

He blessed me with a secretive smile. “You will. It simply rains down from the walls in this place. And when that pollen touches you, you’re lost.”

I gazed over the feather boas draped across Arthur’s shoulders, tried not to sneeze because one of them was tickling my nose, and stared up at the homely old edifice standing in front of me. “Love pollen,” I whispered beneath my breath, wondering what the hell the guy was talking about. I gave myself a shake to dislodge any droplets of insanity that might have drifted down upon me like the ever-present glitter, and thought, Oookay, not my circus, not my monkeys. But since the Belladonna Arms was apparently my circus now, and since I would soon be one of the many monkeys inhabiting the joint, I found myself grinning in spite of myself. Because I suddenly knew—I just knew—this particular circus was going to fit me like a glove. Love pollen or no love pollen, for one of the first times in my life, I felt as if I’d come home. I blushed one last time when Pete planted a kiss on one of my cheeks and Arthur planted a kiss on my other. Both men loomed over and around me, patting and cooing, making me feel safe and loved and welcome. Embarrassed by the sudden surge of emotion welling up inside me, I plucked one of the boas from around Arthur’s neck, and draped it over my own. “How much?” I asked in a ragged voice. Arthur gave the boa a theatrical flourish, fluffing it beneath my chin and flipping it rakishly over my shoulder so the end trailed down over my ass. When he was satisfied I was properly adorned, he gave me another peck on the cheek. “For you, honey? Nothing. It’s a housewarming gift. Welcome home.”

The way John Inman writes that scene, I feel as though I had been swept up in Arthur’s embrace as well. And into the Belladonna Arms Barney goes. But you have to be a special sort of person to look past the dated exterior, the patches and painted over windows to see the magic, and Barney is that sort of person, knobby furred knees and all. Barney has an open mind and heart that’s a perfect match for the quirkiness and eccentrics that reside in the Belladonna Arms and for the events that occur there. And Arthur has a plan in mind and needs Barney’s help to make it work.

If John Inman is able to bring laughter to love, he doesn’t forget the pain that sometimes arrives as well. In Coming Back, Barney and Arthur try to deal with the horrific aftermath of a love affair gone lethally wrong in the previous book. In some of the most moving moments in the story, Arthur and Barney go to reclaim a human being and bring them back home. I cried buckets. I loved this whole aspect of the story. It was beautifully written, sensitive and real. It brought the Belladonna Arms stories into another level of authenticity and grittiness it did quite have before.

Of course, then it then switched course and we flow into some of the funniest passages John Inman has ever written, starting with:

“THUS BEGAN, according to Arthur, an orgy of butchery not seen since Vlad the Impaler started hosting block parties at his fixer-upper castle with the dungeon to die for back in Romania in the fifteenth century.”

No, no, we’re talking cutting hair! Really, people. And the author brings back that apartment jumping cat, only even that cat seems to be wanting some stability and a home. How I love this series..

Coming Back is a book to warm your heart, make you cry more than once and make you feel so good that you go to sleep smiling, thinking about the story and the characters and love pollen. This is a feel good novel and one I absolutely recommend as I do all the Belladonna Arms stories. I know there are more stories on the way, I can’t wait to see who the next newcomer is to get their dose of love pollen!

Cover art by Aaron Anderson is a little too dark and sepia toned for me. I get what he was going for, still too one color for a place as full of vibrant characters as the Belladonna Arms.

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