Review: A Clap of Thunder (Arcane Hearts #6) by Nazri Noor

Rating: 4.75🌈

When I finished a Hand of Glory, the fifth in Nazri Noor’s Arcane Heaets series, A Clap of Thunder was supposed to be the series finale and I was wondering how all the many complicated storylines were going to be resolved in one novel.

Turns out they aren’t and I’m thrilled the author chose this path rather then cram all the answers into a overly dense narrative where something has to give. There’s going to be another book after this one and after all the events that occur here? It’s got it’s own action packed mission to fulfill as well as wind down the series.

A Clap of Thunder continues to see Noor using his incredible imagination to bring new characters and elements into this universe. We get new schools of magic, their universities, and Professors. Each uniquely endowed with fascinating magical themes, beautifully defined elements, and mystical beings.

Noor has created different spells associated with each type of magic too, one’s that continually expand as our found family of mages and artificers grow their potential magically and become more powerful within their respective guilds.

This is a richly complex universe that contains multiple species, realms, even gods. And all the tortured, convoluted relationships that comes with all that.

Newly engaged couple Jackson Pryde and Xander Wright are happy, in love, and working on rebuilding the shattered home of the guild of artificers while still investigating the origin of the purple Chrysanthemum crystals which has terrorized their home, the Black Market, and the various universities.

Greyhaven, Xander’s university, was the recent site of a savage raid by infected Fae and now it’s headmistress intends to invade the Realm of the Fae.

It a painful tumultuous time for all and it’s captured vividly in scene after scene, from the Black Market to Greyhaven to Philippine jungles and beaches. Always keeping our group together and their dynamics front and center.

Still there is more here to uncover and investigate if they, including Lore, the first family AI, can get all the memories from the second newly found AI cube, Whitby. How I adore Lore. It’s a enormous mystery pertaining to Jackson’s parents deaths and the explosions that destroyed the artificers guild.

Then there’s the heart of Oberon. And the Fae themselves.

So many inventive, fantastic storylines here, and one great twist.

No cliffhanger. And we are ready for The Claws of Winter coming in February of 2023.

I can’t wait. This is a wildly entertaining and complicated story, with great characters , magical actions and battles! Dragons even!

Plus a loving couple with a bit of kink.

I’m highly recommending Arcane Hearts as it’s winding down, A Clap of Thunder is a highly entertaining read!

They must be read in the order they are written to understand the characters, relationships, and universe.

Arcane Hearts series, 6 of 7 books:

✓ A Touch of Fever #1

✓ A Stroke of Brilliance #2

✓ An Iron Fist #3

✓ A Velvet Glove #4

✓ Hand of Glory #5

✓ A Clap of Thunder #6

◦ The Claws of Winter #7 – Feb 24, 2023 (series finale)

https://www.goodreads.com › showA Clap of Thunder (Arcane Hearts, #6) by Nazri Noor – Goodreads

Some secrets are best left buried.

Jackson Pryde and Xander Wright are happier than ever. The guild of artificers grows stronger thanks to the Black Market’s masters. The second AI is awakening, closer to divulging its forgotten secrets. And most shocking of all, Jackson has finally invented something worth selling.

But war is brewing in the arcane underground. Madame Catherine Grayhaven does not forgive easily. The grand dame of the elite academy has rallied her students for a vengeful attack on the Verdance, the realm of the fae.

Jackson and Xander join the fight with their own motives: find King Oberon and hold him accountable for his crimes. But what awaits beyond the portal may shatter everything they believe in.

A Clap of Thunder is a 65,000-word M/M urban fantasy romance with a HFN ending. Join a fast-talking artificer and a snarky sorcerer, childhood friends who become bitter enemies, then lovers, as they explore a world filled with strange flora, mythical fauna, and magical murders. If you like your urban fantasy with humor, horror, and a whole lot of heart, you’ve come to the right place. Experience A Clap of Thunder today.

Review: Rogue (A Mike Bravo Ops #2) by Eden Finley

Rating: 4.5🌈

Eden Finley’s done it again with another wildly entertaining and suspenseful black ops novel! This time, it’s Rogue, the second book in the Mike Bravo Ops series about a black ops security firm made up of LGBTGIA ex military.

While Rogue has some similarities to the first book , like the couple already knows each other, it also differs largely in topic and tone.

First, Travis West is the owner of the now well and highly established Mike Bravo Ops security company. He’s a millionaire plus, not just one of the company. Although he did meet Dylan Rodriguez years earlier.

But he’s secure and a man of substance. A ex military leader who’s seen the best and the absolute worst the service has offered. And has the scars and experience to prove it.

Dylan Rodriguez, a DEA agent, is someone we met in Iris. He’s younger, idealistic in the best, most believable way. He’s not naive, but someone with a code of ethics he’s trying to follow.

Their interactions are often hostile, entertaining, frustrating (for Dylan), and a cat and mouse game the DEA agent never seems to exactly understand.

Once they get together, they are engaging, supportive, and sexy. The communication that’s ongoing between them about their philosophical differences in their careers, black versus gray areas seems realistic. Especially considering the situation.

Finley’s threads gets complicated, wonderfully so, as this becomes a espionage/murder/law enforcement mystery as well as a romance entanglement.

With everyone not knowing who exactly they can trust.

Talk about high octane action! Especially as Dylan “ Rogue “ Rodriguez starts to figure out exactly who and what Trav West and his family of black ops stand for and can do at any given moment.

Most of the family as we’ve come to think of them are here. Atlas, Ghost, Angel, Domino, Zeus, and of course, my favorites Iris, Saint, and even Princess Smooshy Face. Say yes to that trio!

There were some issues here that were inconsistent with the first book and characterizations laid down there.

Atlas is given a job he’s absolutely uncomfortable with and yet Trav makes him go. That’s inconsistent with the observations and standards put down in the other story.

Trav himself didn’t always seem like the man we met in Iris. However, I’ll chalk that up to love on the run and a relationship under fire.

I’m hoping that Atlas will get the next book and we will see a family book for our favorite trio, Iris, Saint, and Princess Smooshy Face. They cry out for a sequel.

I’m recommending this and the series! Happy reading!

Check out the series below!

Mike Bravo Ops series:

✓ Iris #1

✓ Rogue #2

https://www.goodreads.com › showRogue (Mike Bravo Ops #2) by Eden Finley – Goodreads

Synopsis:

TRAV

I remember the first time I met Dylan Rodriguez. It was one sweaty encounter I’ll never forget.

The second time we met, he arrested me. I can still see the hot scowl on his beautiful face as he slapped handcuffs on me and realized I was … me.

Dylan’s main goal in life is to forget he ever met me. My goal is to make him mine.

Turns out, I’m better at this game than he is.

DYLAN

When my law enforcement career falls to pieces in front of my own eyes, I don’t know who I can trust.

I have nowhere to go. No one to turn to.

Asking Trav for help is a last resort, but I’m desperate.

If he can’t get me out of this mess, I may as well turn myself over to the guys hunting me down.

I’m not sure which will be more difficult: protecting my life or my heart.

Because when it comes to love, my heart wants what my brain doesn’t. It wants Travis West.

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Trials By Fire (Shadows of London #3) by Ariana Nash

Rating: 5 🌈

It’s been almost a year since I finished Tide of Tricks (Shadows of London #2), which left Nash’s incredible characters and tightly woven storylines in a bit of a cliffhanger. Ok a major one.

So the minute I saw this was released, I grabbed it up and started reading, diving back into Nash’s wildly addictive urban fantasy world of people with latent talents, governments who both fear them and want them, as well as those who strive to possess power and knowledge for goals unknown. The layers for the storylines and the characters the author’s has crafted feel both familiar and absolutely imaginative, the magical and ghastly soaring to creative levels that engage both our hearts, and our minds.

In Trials By Fire we get to see characters we’ve grown to love expand personally in their ability to love, become more vulnerable and make commitments yet also place themselves at greater risk. It’s Alexander Kempthorne’s time to reveal more of himself, his past history, as well as his ability to love. If I didn’t already feel deeply connected to Alex, this book will let Alex ‘s powerful personality open up , become even more layered and fascinating then before.

John “Dom” Domenici is in enormous danger when the story opens. He’s been the heart and key to Alex and the series, or so I thought. This book really has me rethinking several of the theories I had drafted in my own mind about where Nash was taking this and the couple. Dom is such a extraordinary character. He’s complex, immensely “talented latent”. His past history with his criminal king father and military training just further the complexity to his personality. And with all that, he still manages to have a huge forgiving heart.

The other characters are extremely well written and actions that occur are complicated, fast paced, and highly suspenseful. You’ll be tightly gripping whatever device you’re reading on much of the time, trust me!

We end , yet again, on a smaller cliffhanger. But the overall storyline has been satisfactorily resolved. But not without some truly pain filled, traumatic moments, and times of heartbreaking loss.

Shadows of London is a outstanding urban fantasy series and Trials By Fire is a magnificent installment!

I’m ready for Truth or Dare, the forth book on the series. It’s coming soon!

Until then, if you’re not familiar with this series, start at the beginning. They should be read in the order they are written so you can understand the relationships and the situational development.

I’m highly recommending them all.

Shadows of London Series reading order:

Twisted Pretty Things #1
Tide of Tricks #2
Trial by Fire #3
Truth or Dare #4 – coming April 22,2022
Without a Trace #5

https://www.goodreads.com › showTrial by Fire (Shadows of London, #3) by Ariana Nash – Goodreads

Synopsis:

It’s not just Alexander Kempthorne’s secrets bubbling to the surface of London’s streets…

Time is running out for John “Dom” Domenici.

Outmanoeuvred at every turn by the figure known as “M”, only Kempthorne can free Dom, but juggling the horrors of his own past, containing a rising preternatural threat and the twisted machinations of “M” might just be too much, even for Kempthorne. Can Kage Mitchell be trusted to help?

Alexander Kempthorne lost an agent before. He’ll not lose another. He’ll do anything to save Dom, and if that means revealing who and what he truly is, then his time has come.

***

Trial by Fire is the mid-series finale, in this action-packed all-new Shadows of London urban fantasy series. Action, mystery, and gay romance combine in this fast-paced adventure from the author who brought you the award-winning Prince’s Assassin series.

Content warning: mention of past mental and physical abuse.

Please note the Shadows of London series is set in London and the characters are all British (so is the author). Although the series has been edited in US English for the US market, to include US spelling and grammar, many English slang words and spelling remain as part of the character of the work.

Action/Suspense And Romance? Check Out the New Release Blitz for Hitting Black Ice (Heart and Haven #1) by Heloise West (excerpt and giveaway)

Title: Hitting Black Ice

Series: Heart and Haven, Book One

Author: Heloise West

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: August 19. 2019

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 75100

Genre: Contemporary, LGBT, FBI, double agents, action/suspense, medical profession, contemporary, action, suspense, theft, gay

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Synopsis

Shawn is on the run from the law and love, to protect himself and anyone else involved. Until he meets Hunter, and he no longer wants to run.

ER physician’s assistant Hunter guards his heart carefully, but that doesn’t stop him from falling for the temp front desk clerk. He keeps his distance from relationships for a good reason but just can’t help himself when it comes to Shawn.

Forced into a hostage situation, buried passions explode in the aftermath, and sex in the supply closet brings both their hearts back to life. But as they explore their relationship, the past catches up with Shawn.

FBI agent Nick Truman has finally found his man, and when Shawn escapes, he focuses his attention on Hunter. Will Shawn sacrifice himself to save Hunter from the man who framed him for murder?

Excerpt

Hitting Black Ice
Heloise West © 2019
All Rights Reserved

Hunter had a crush, a big one.

In the cafeteria late one night on his break at the hospital, he sipped at a coffee and focused on Shawn, the night desk clerk for the ER, sitting a few tables over. With long black hair tied back neatly and eyes of faded denim blue, Shawn had a lean body, his face long and bony. Tonight, he wore a brown turtleneck under a white-and-green-striped button-down. The rolled sleeves revealed muscled forearms dusted with golden hair, as mismatched to the dyed black hair as his pale eyebrows and lashes. A silver skull ring and silver studs in his ears appeared at odds with the lanyard and dangling ID card.

Hunter drank more coffee, barely tasting it. He’d tried to talk himself out of it, but he couldn’t squirm away from the attraction. When he’d walked past the registration desk to the water cooler—again—or hung out there a moment too long with an empty clipboard in his hands, he caught those tiny flicks of interest in Shawn’s eyes. Hunter must have given away his interest, because the nurses smirked at his pretended obliviousness.

He bent to the not-very-engrossing crossword in the newspaper, imagining what tattoo might lie beneath Shawn’s cool demeanor. Maybe gargoyle wings across a broad and muscled back, or a snake wrapped around his thigh. Something more esoteric—a phrase in Latin, like Hunter’s own primum non nocere, or a bit of wisdom in Chinese characters. Or an old-school Aerosmith tat? Hunter glanced up from filling in the little squares with black ink blocks. He could have sworn Shawn hurriedly dropped his attention down to the paperback in his hands. He turned the page and shot a second glance at Hunter. Gazes locked and jumped away.

Shit!

Heat rushed through Hunter all at once and climbed up to his face. Too aware of the black-haired man with biceps to die for and long legs to—well, never mind. Taking a boner back to the ER was not a good idea.

He had touched those biceps once when he gave Shawn a flu shot back in the fall. Shawn had taken the needle without a flinch.

Shawn stood with his tray in hand and walked toward the trash container behind Hunter. The back of his neck prickled as if Shawn breathed on the little hairs there. Hunter picked up his coffee cup once more but tasted only the dregs.

Good thing he’d decided to become a physician’s assistant and not an actor. He didn’t talk to Shawn unless he had to, the worst giveaway of all. No shy bones in his body, yet he feared conversation led to more conversation, to flirting, and the next thing he knew, they’d be going on a date, Hunter falling head over heels, and then the asshole—

Stop. You know how the story ends.

Behind him, Shawn cleared his throat. Hunter didn’t turn around. Shawn returned to his seat, picked up the paperback, and slumped down into the chair with a scowl.

Marisa slipped into the seat across the table from Hunter, and he smiled.

“I’m onto you,” she whispered.

“Uh-huh.” Hunter moved his body slightly so he could still see Shawn around her.

“You’ve been taking late lunch for three weeks now. I know why—or who.” She smiled, a small Hispanic woman with curly chestnut hair framing her heart-shaped face and hazel eyes. If Hunter weren’t himself, and she weren’t married, he thought he’d be with her. Her lips always gleamed with gloss, and her eyes snapped with fire when she got pissy. He loved it, most days, even when she aimed for him.

She leaned toward him. “Shawn, right?” Her eyes took on a warning snap now and dared him to contradict her.

“I don’t even know if he’s gay.” Which wasn’t true, but he knew better than to deny it to her face.

She sipped at her coffee with her gaze on him. Her mouth left lipstick smiles on the rim of the cup. “There’s something different about this one. And he’s lovely to look at.”

“Lovely.” Hunter snorted. Dead sexy Shawn. Hunter spied him out at the clubs twice now but avoided him there too. Shawn undulated like liquid fire across the dance floor.

“Talk to him, honey.”

“Please. Don’t.” He must have spoken louder than he meant to. Shawn glanced at them and away again.

“You’re letting Jerry’s death run your life.”

Hunter slapped the magazine down. “I’m too sober for this conversation.”

“It’s like he’s locked your heart away.”

Mindful of the potential audience, he lowered his voice. “You’re jumping way ahead here.”

She shook her head. “I know you. You have so much love to give, and I hate to see you suffer.”

Her probing questions about Hunter’s past, family, present situation were all familiar ground. Friendship he could manage; he recognized it when it was offered to him. He’d been out since he was nine. Always been out was what he told people. She was one of the few friends to whom he could confide nearly everything. Jerry’s addictions had killed him, but his family and friends blamed Hunter, and on a deeper emotional level, he blamed himself too. Marisa knew this, and it worried her. She wanted him to find love and move on, be part of a couple. She knew, but she didn’t understand.

He wasn’t abstinent now, not at twenty-five, and never got involved with anyone beyond one- and two-night stands. Hunter didn’t want to take responsibility for another heart.

When the tide of emotion and memory washed through him and left him able to speak again, he said, “I’m not suffering here.” He kept much of the darkness at bay with whiskey and anonymous sex. Who needed Prozac with a warm, muscled body in the bed?

“Stagnating,” Marisa said.

“Maintaining.” It had been a far prettier day in May, eight months ago now, when he walked out of the ER at Boston General to Jerry waiting for him in the parking lot with a gun.

“Ask him out on a date. An old-fashioned date where, at the end of the night, you kiss him good night.”

“No!”

“Don’t get angry.” She patted his hand.

He whipped it away. “Too late.”

Marisa sighed. “I’ll make it up to you. Toni, Anna, and I are going to Twisters tonight. I’ll buy you a drink.”

Hunter gathered up his tray. He liked the ER crowd. They always had fun when they got together in off-work hours, and he agreed to meet her at Twisters before hitting the clubs.

When his shift was over early in the morning, he drove back to his apartment and crawled into bed as the day glowed behind the blackout curtains. The end of the week had left him exhausted, and his sleep was blessedly dreamless.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Meet the Author

Heloise West, when not hunched over the keyboard plotting love and mayhem, dreams about moving to a villa in Tuscany. She loves history, mysteries, and romance. She travels and gardens with her partner of fifteen years, and their home overflows with books, cats, art, and red wine. Find Heloise on Facebook

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Love a Little Thrill in Your Romance Stories? Check Out the Blog Tour for Triple Threat (Haven Heart #6) by Davidson King (excerpt and giveaway)

Triple Threat

Haven Heart Series, Book 6

Davidson King

Release Date: June 27th

M/M, Suspense, Romance, Action, Menage

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Blurb

Lee, Jones, and Ginger deal with dangerous situations and mounting stress daily working for the most powerful assassin organization in the world. All of those things seem like a walk in the park compared to the friction that sparks between them. When all three are assigned to the same job, ignoring the heat from the inferno of desire becomes impossible.

Lee is a master at deciphering codes, skilled in hacking complicated systems, and never misses a target, even from over fifty miles away. His feelings for Jones and Ginger, however, may be the first code he’s unable to crack.

Jones deals in absolutes, but the road to his past is paved with bodies and regrets. Getting Lee to acknowledge the pull they both feel toward Ginger may be the hardest mission he’s ever had to face.

Ginger struggles to cope with the overwhelming guilt that accompanies this new job. Falling for these hired killers will be a risk—one that could wind up with him losing in the end or gaining everything he’s ever wanted.

As the three work together to take down a human trafficking ring—and save a desperate soul—time is of the essence. Their lives are on the line as mysteries unfold and unexpected encounters throw them off course. Will Lee, Jones, and Ginger let doubts come between them, distracting them from their mission and blocking any hope of love? Or can they face the toughest challenge of their lives and become…a triple threat?

UNIVERSAL LINK: mybook.to/TripleThreat

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Excerpt

With Lee and Jones busy, I popped my earbuds in, hit play on my Spotify, and drowned in the sounds of Pat Benatar. I loved the ‘80s, some of the ‘90s, but damn the ‘80s had amazing music. As with every time I listened to my music, I started swaying in my seat. I closed my eyes, let my hands tap, my feet slide, and that chorus in “We Belong”… it possessed me, and I couldn’t help myself but to sing. I sang softly as to not disturb Lee and Jones.

“What the absolute fuck!” The sound of Jones’ voice broke through. I opened my eyes and pulled my buds out. The van had stopped and now Lee was standing, staring at me, too.

“Hey,” I said meekly. “What’s up?”

“You scared the crap out of me,” Jones said, and Lee nodded in agreement.

“How?”

“One second it’s all quiet, then it’s like opera cats or something,” Lee answered, and this time Jones agreed.

“Wow, that’s harsh.” I drew my legs up to my chest, hearing the faint sounds of Tiffany singing that she thinks we’re alone now.

“Just warn us when you’re going to break out into song is all,” Lee grumbled, and then got back into the driver’s seat. I slipped the earbuds back in.

A tap on my leg had me pulling out my earbuds again.

“You listen to all ‘80s or you got some not shitty crap in there?” Jones asked, and I gripped my phone like he just shit on my dreams.

“Nothing of what I have is shit!”

Lee started to laugh as he pulled back onto the road and Jones had a huge grin. It was a change I hadn’t really seen in a while. Those two actually enjoying each other. I knew there was history there, everyone did.

If they wanted to be that way, okay. “Just for that,” I said as I put the phone on speaker and hit play. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts started singing about loving rock and roll, and because they love it so much, I sang with them.

Jones’ eyes widened and Lee once again pulled to the side of the road and turned in his seat. Seemed I was entertainment. I knew I didn’t have the best voice, but I had rendered these two dangerous men speechless. I was loving the power, the control.

Feeling daring, I inched over to Jones who looked positively terrified, and began drumming on his legs.

“Sweet Jesus,” Lee said and laughed so loudly I lost track of my words and watched him. Tears ran down his face, and he had his arms wrapped around his middle. It was a contagious laugh, and suddenly the three of us were in hysterics.

Davidson King, always had a hope that someday her daydreams would become real-life stories. As a child, you would often find her in her own world, thinking up the most insane situations. It may have taken her awhile, but she made her dream come true with her first published work, Snow Falling.

When she’s not writing you can find her blogging away on Diverse Reader, her review and promotional site. She managed to wrangle herself a husband who matched her crazy and they hatched three wonderful children.

If you were to ask her what gave her the courage to finally publish, she’d tell you it was her amazing family and friends. Support is vital in all things and when you’re afraid of your dreams, it will be your cheering section that will lift you up.

LinkTree to ALL links: https://linktr.ee/davidsonkingauthor

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New Release Blitz for Ostakis by Angelica Primm

Title: Ostakis

Author: Angelica Primm

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: February 18, 2019

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: M/NB

Length: 52600

Genre: Science Fiction, LGBT, sci-fi, action, intersex

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Synopsis

The Human Planets Collective sent young Ambassador Kaj Deder to the former colony planet Ostakis to establish relations. But in the twenty-five hundred years since Earth lost contact with Ostakis, the people of that colony have dramatically changed. Kaj is tasked with finding the reason for these changes while he forges trade links between the HPC and Ostakis. Without trade with the HPC, the dwindling resources of Ostakis will ultimately end human life on the planet. But his mission faces a huge obstacle in the form of Most Reverend Thyenn Sharr, the head of the Faith Progressive Church, who sees the arrival of Kaj as the beginning of the end of the Church. Kaj’s powerful attraction to Trademaster Klath’s son, Arlan does not smooth relations.

Arlan Klath, the son of the Trademaster of Ostakis, bears the secret that the pious people of his planet want to hide from the homeworld and the HPC. The Curse of the Unspoken, wrought through the unspeakable acts of the First Colonists, afflicts all Ostakians, but some more strongly than others. Arlan is totally Cursed, considered born sinful and he lives without legal rights or property. He is scrutinized by Sharr who is enraged that Arlan’s father defiantly refuses to submit Arlan to a cruel act to “redeem” Arlan’s soul. The stakes increase when Arlan and Kaj form a relationship that Thyenn Sharr considers ample justification to usurp the Trademaster position through the power of his Church.

Excerpt

KAJ

Dearest Marta,

You would ask if I’m upset with my new posting. No. Not that. Discomforted. Yes. That is the correct word. You know I am a man who likes his routines, the stuff that meshes you to the pleasurable aspects of living. A delicious cup of coffee in the morning. Grilled vegetables on the barbecue and a nice glass of wine on the terrace in the evening. Everyday things.

Where I head is not ordinary…

Landfall is the most dangerous part of the journey.

The transport shook and rattled as it descended to hit the atmosphere of Ostakis. Flames flared from the heat shield and now I know why the pilot told me to pull the shade on my seat window. It’s terrifying watching the flames of friction ignited ionized gas shimmer outside the window and engulf the ship. To take my mind off my impending death I mulled over my last briefing with Director Kotel.

“How terraformed is this planet?” I had asked the director. We both paged our copies of the sparse notes and reports on Ostakis on our government issued readers. Survey had just turned in the information, and I was eager to see it. But, at the director’s request, I had to wait until this meeting to go through it thoroughly.

“Not quite Earth normal,” said Director Kotal. “Ten percent of the original plant and animal forms still survive. The Ostakians fight the planet’s encroaching desert sands. The shield wall the colonists built is in disrepair.”

That was an interesting bit of information. “Any reason why?”

“Our survey found abandoned population centers. Grey and Jacobs in Analysis think the number of people is shrinking. They may not have the workers to maintain it.”

“So, after all this time, it has begun.”

“Yes. It had to, didn’t it?” She stood and stared out of the port window that revealed the desert planet beneath us. “If any planet needs what the HPC offers, it is Ostakis.”

A silence hung between us. The urgency of the mission weighed more heavily.

“And another thing,” she said. “The scout team reported rumors, or myths, of aboriginal tribes hiding in the desert.”

We looked each other in the eye. The first hope of Earth had been finding indigenous sentients, but to our disappointment found none.

“Our lack of knowledge of the basis of the Faith Progressive Church hampers us. They didn’t send literature on their precepts.”

“Odd. Religions like to proselytize.”

“Exactly. So we can only assume that there are things they don’t want us to know. Be careful of Thyenn Sharr, Kaj. He’s the church’s head man. I can’t impress this enough on you. Their highly conservative religious movement does not condone much that isn’t praying and preaching. The hardest part of this assignment is conforming to the societal norms of the planet.”

“Until I otherwise need to.”

“Yes,” she said with a nod of her head. “Until that. So tread carefully.”

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Meet the Author

Born in a century far less progressive than how her brain is wired, Angelica engages in occupations now considered now less than reputable, one of them being a ghostwriter of erotic and romance fiction. Since time travel is not an option, in her off time she contents herself with writing about people and places in a far distant future with the twists that only come with traveling to the stars.

Angelica lives in Connecticut with an odd assortment of cats and humans and putters at hobbies ranging from art to bird watching when she’s not turning a phrase for her supper.

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A MelanieM Review: A Matter of Justice (Hong Kong Nights Book 3) by J.C. Long

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

The battle between the Dragons of the Eastern District and their bitter rivals, the Twisted Vipers, is reaching a dangerous point. The Anti-Gang Task Force is hard at work trying to bring down the Vipers. Tensions ratchet when Johnny Hwang guns down a prominent inspector on the task force, and Conroy Wong, Wei Tseng’s second-in-command is a witness. Now, to keep him safe long enough to locate a second witness and put Hwang behind bars, Conroy is forced into close quarters with Allen Hong, a man who once fought side by side with the Dragons until he turned his back on them by joining the police, betraying them. As sparks fly between them once more, the two men must put aside their differences and work together, because the Twisted Vipers aren’t going to let Hwang go down without a fight.

A Matter of Justice (Hong Kong Nights Book 3) by J.C. Long is a tense, complicated and terrific novel. Gritty and intense, it delves into the corrupt landscape of triads, gang wars and bought cops in Hong Kong. Throw in a old wounded romance between a triad member and a detective and all the elements are there for one memorable story. Which is exactly what Long gives you.

My only issue is that it took some time to remember who all the cast of characters were. This is definitely not a standalone novel and the importance characters and their relationship to each other almost needs a chart at the beginning if you haven’t just read books one and two in the series. Without all the relationship dynamics being fresh in my mind, it took a while to get into the story, hence the lower rating. But once it snapped back into place, then the story took off and I sunk deeply into the drama and fast paced action of a gang war under way and a heinous crime boss who will let nothing stand in his way of revenge.

Conroy Wong and Allen Hong are the reunited couple at the center, one a triad member and one a cop. I loved the tension and anger here. I did have some issues with the sex scenes. Again, another reason for the lower rating. Not the angry sex, no that made perfect sense given their past relationship and how it ended. But that old “no just use spit” thing that keeps cropping up now and again. Please can we all agree that this is just exceedingly painful and needs to disappear? I mean how realistic is this? Especially when there was still some lube left to use. Nope, it stopped me during their sex scene and it should have stopped them. So yes, another drop in the rating there. Just my opinion. Otherwise one hot couple.

J.C. Long brings us into Hong Kong with the food, the people, and the language. There’s even a dictionary Long supplies for us at the back. Very revealing, especially about some of the epitaphs hurled during the story. It definitely sinks you into the city and the situation.

I recommend the series but for clarity purposes, read the stories close together. It helps keeping all the people and their relationships fresh in your mind as many as they are. But its one thrilling ride of a narrative and some wonderful couples. I’m recommending them if you like action, law enforcement stories and in this case, lovers reunited.

Cover art: Natasha Snow is dramatic and works for the story and location.

Sales Links: NineStar Press | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 301 pages
Published February 26th 2018 by NineStar Press
ASINB079PL9FG6

Honk Kong Nights Series:

On Tour with ‘The Vampire’s Protege (A Vampire’s Angel’s story)’ by Damian Serbu (author interview, excerpt and giveaway)

Title: The Vampire’s Protege

Series: From the Vampire’s Angel universe

Author: Damian Serbu

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: August 21

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: No Romance

Length: 99600

Genre: Horror, paranormal, abduction, action, blood and gore, cisgender, contemporary, crime, dark, death, gay, paranormal, vampires

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Damian Serbu today on his tour for The Vampire’s Protege. We have a wonderful author’s interview, excerpt and giveaway. Don’t miss any of it, starting below!

✒︎

~ Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Interview with Damian Serbu ~

When did you write your first story and what was the inspiration for it?

I wrote my first novel after several years of contemplation and fascination with the concept. I was completing my doctorate in history at the time, and would escape from the concrete world of facts and past events by writing fiction. That particularly story was inspired by the movie “The Man in the Iron Mask.” It eventually became Dark Sorcerer Threatening, which is currently out of print but I hope to reprint someday.

Do you have a writing schedule or do you just write when you can find the time?

Because I have full time job, I maintain a pretty strict schedule or I would never get around to it! I write at least twice a week, for a good chunk of time.

Briefly describe the writing process. Do you create an outline first? Do you seek out inspirational pictures, videos or music? Do you just let the words flow and then go back and try and make some sense out it?

I am way too much of a historian, even in my writing of novels, to go without an outline! So I sketch out the entire story before I begin. For a long time before I outline, I keep notes and jot down ideas for the story, then I take that mess of ideas and shape it into the outline, which I then edit several times. That being said, the outline serves as a general guide, not something written in stone. I let the muse take me where it will, which often necessitates tweaking the outline as I go. As for inspiration, I let that hit me wherever it appears. Sometimes it’s a movie or song or picture, but more often than not it comes out of nowhere and just blasts me in the head. It seems to happen a lot on my morning jog. And I just let the words flow when I write – but that requires going back and doing a pretty thorough edit.

Where did the desire to write LGBTQIA+ stories come from?

From being gay! It’s what I know, it’s what I like to read, and so it’s what I want to write.

How much research do you do when writing a story and what are the best sources you’ve found for giving an authentic voice to your characters?

The amount of research for the story depends on the story, really. When I set it in the past, I do a great deal of research. For example, I’ve written about the French Revolution, Antebellum America, and pirates. Those all took extensive research to get the history correct. That’s where my academic background comes in handy! I know how to gather books and articles that give me solid history, and then weave that reality into the writing. I do all of that research before I even start outlining. But other stories, including The Vampire’s Protégé, don’t require as much research. There, I may need to research something that pops up. For example, this time I suddenly found myself writing about Bitcoin, which I didn’t know a damn thing about. So off I went to learn a tad so I didn’t make a fool of myself! But my novels set in a contemporary setting don’t require as much extensive research.

Synopsis

A sinister vampire offers Charon a choice he can’t refuse: play a deadly game of winner takes all, losers die.

Charon relishes the competition and molds himself into a sexy vampire who defies vampire law, savoring his power and embracing the role of villain. He also loves surrounding himself with hot young men. But when an alluring vampire stalks him and threatens to turn him into the Vampire Council unless he helps with a seemingly impossible task, will Charon risk his perfectly narcissistic life on the challenge? Does he have any other choice?

Excerpt

Prologue

Introducing Charon

Everyone thinks they adore the Vampire Council with its rules and regulations that allegedly govern all vampires and thereby ensure the safety of virtuous humans. People want to lose themselves in the tales of the Council members: Xavier and Thomas and their love; Anthony and Jaret and their guarding of humanity; Catherine and Harriet and their whims within a righteous vampiric empire. Most of all, the Vampire Ethic provides comfort with its guarantee that goodness protects an individual from a vampire attack, with its promise that all vampires defend innocence.

Vampires accept this reality because it gives them a collective soul. The ethic protects them from the stereotype of evil incarnate preying upon humanity. Or, in the least, obedience to it keeps them alive, lest the Council hunt them down and murder them for transgressions against it.

Humans desire the Council’s laws to maintain their fantasy of security from the supernatural realms. Who would dismiss a hidden force of vampire police that might swoop in at any sign of danger and annihilate the perpetrator?

Yet deep inside, so many long for something different, something that avoids this utopian trope and perfect world, all tied up in a pretty bow. Part of everyone, that piece so desperately stamped down and derided, seeks an alternative story.

To be sure, many will deny it. Fight against these words and honorably cast them out as the devil’s temptations. Yet no proof of Satan or such demonic forces presents itself. Because even those thoughts really stem from the inner being in everyone, that secretly locked-up atom inside a person that pines for freedom and seeks release, even as the goodness scolds it.

Still people contest these words. Deny them.

Yet a fascination with villains thrives in America. Think of the great antiheroes of history and their legendary fame. The Wicked Witch of the West. Darth Vader. Hannibal Lecter. The Joker. The infamy of historic figures such as Adolf Hitler or Ted Bundy or the Son of Sam. The people who don the costumes at Halloween of Lord Voldemort, Dracula, or Vlad the Impaler because it empowers them for a night with beautiful wickedness. People laugh at Scar, Ursula, and even Mr. Potter. They read the tales of Lex Luther and Cujo, privately wishing they would eventually triumph over the heroes of the story and bring a bit of destruction to the globe.

Jack the Ripper lives through the ages because he successfully hid himself, true. But also because his perfect malevolence went unpunished. People want that for themselves. His legend draws them back again and again to that story with the hope of their own misdeeds going unchallenged.

Thus, whether admitted or not, people long to meet Charon. Yes, so many cry out for Charon and his story. People want him. Readers desire him, need him, really. The world will have no choice but to love him. All will embrace him as they have these other villains of history. They will celebrate his perfect treachery.

Unlike those obedient to the Vampire Council, Charon hardly worries about a bit of notoriety from time to time. Fear of retribution never enters his vocabulary. He need not concern himself with the Vampire Council and its regulations. Nor does Charon often fret over any other person or entity cracking down on his masterful empire.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Meet the Author

Damian Serbu lives in the Chicago area with his husband and two dogs, Akasha and Chewbacca. The dogs control his life, tell him what to write, and threaten to eat him in the middle of the night if he disobeys. He previously authored several novels now out of print, and is excited to reignite his writing with Ninestar Press!

Facebook | Twitter

Tour Schedule

8/21 Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

8/21 Outrageous Heroes of Romance

8/22 Shari Sakurai

8/22 MM Good Book Reviews

8/23 Drops of Ink

8/24 love bytes reviews

8/24 QSF

8/25 The Novel Approach

8/25 Bayou Book Junkie

8/25 Erotica For All

8/25 Happily Ever Chapter

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In the Spotlight: Soothsayer by Cari Z (excerpt and giveaway)

Title: Soothsayer

Author: Cari Z

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: January 30

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 68200

Genre: Romance, Action, urban fantasy, magic, magic user, psychic/soothsayer, myth/folklore, mafia, reunited, road trip, spirits, posession

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Synopsis

Cillian Kelly can look into people’s eyes and see their fates. He’s running from a past filled with mistakes, lying low and selling his services on the sly. When he learns that Sören Egilsson, a man who sacrificed himself so Cillian could escape imprisonment two years ago, is somehow still alive, Cillian has to find out how. What he gets is the body of the man he loves possessed by an ancient spirit who draws Cillian into a battle to the death for the right to control Sören’s fate, and the power that comes with it.

Excerpt

My phone buzzed, interrupting my musing. I frowned as I pulled it out of my jacket pocket. Only a dozen people had this number, and I wasn’t expecting to talk to any of them any time soon. I unlocked it and looked at my new message.

Move ten paces to the right.

My feet were moving even before my brain caught up, obedience was so instinctual. Two seconds later, I was out of the mouth of the alley, and three seconds after that, a beat-up silver sedan coming down the road was clipped by a delivery van and veered straight into the corner of the building. It wasn’t moving fast, thankfully, but the crash was plenty loud, especially since I was just a few feet away from the point of impact.

A memory flashed through my mind, one of my personal rare and painful gems. I was in the backseat of an old Lincoln, and I was very small. My feet wouldn’t have touched the floor even if I hadn’t had my knees squished to my chest, and my face was pressed to the knobby joints so hard they were leaving red blotches on my cheeks. The man driving was on a phone—an old-school cell phone, clunky in his hand, distracting. He wasn’t paying attention, but I knew the moment before the car was hit and covered my head with my hands, so when I went flying into the door, it didn’t hurt as much. Metal crunched, and bright spots flashed across the darkness behind my eyelids as the car spun and spun…

I shook my head and took a deep breath, focusing on the present. The van hadn’t stopped, but I didn’t bother trying to catch its license plate number―there were plenty of people exclaiming and getting on their phones. I headed over to the driver’s side and opened the door, but didn’t reach in to touch the woman who had been driving. She was moving under her own power, picking her head up off the remains of her airbag and whimpering softly. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…”

“It’s all right,” I said gently. I might not be a martyr, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t feel compassion for another person, especially one who’d just been thrown into a wall. “You’re okay. Just a little accident. There’s an ambulance coming to help you.” I could already hear it in the distance. We were only a few blocks from a major hospital. “Can you look at me for a moment?” She blearily turned, and as soon as our eyes met, I sighed and backed out of the way. One of the employees at the auto-painting store took my place, and a second later—bam. The fucking Ace of Cups moment. Who found true love as a result of a car accident? This wasn’t exactly the heartwarming scene I’d envisioned getting me through the day earlier.

“Are you all right?” the newcomer asked frantically. “What’s your name? I’m Felix. I’m gonna stay with you until the ambulance gets here, okay? Oh Jesus, are you all right?”

“I’m…I think so?” the woman said, her voice gaining a little bit of strength. “I’m Paula.”

“Paula, hey.” He smiled at her, and she smiled back. I rolled my eyes. “Nice to meet you.”

For fuck’s sake. Well, at least the settlement from the trucking company would give them a nice nest egg to get their new place together. I turned away and walked to the end of the block before getting out my phone again and making a call.

She picked up on the second ring. “Hi, baby.”

“What, you can see me getting smeared across a wall, but you don’t bother to let me know about having a gun pulled on me?”

“Cillian.” My mother sounded half apologetic, half resigned. “You know it doesn’t work like that.”

Yes, fine, I did know that, but I didn’t feel like being reasonable right now. “So you didn’t see that this morning, then?”

“Did you need me to see it?”

I wasn’t about to go down the self-sufficiency road with her. It meant a surefire argument, and I was still buzzing with adrenalin from being so close to the car crash.

“No,” I said flatly. “I guess not.”

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Meet the Author

Cari Z. is a Colorado girl who loves snow and sunshine. She writes award-winning LGBTQ fiction featuring aliens, supervillains, soothsayers, and even normal people sometimes.