Riptide’s Publishing Disaster Relief Effort for Victims of Hurricane Sandy

From November 3rd to November 10th, Riptide Publishing is donating the 25% of all proceeds onsite to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Sandy. If you have waited to pick up any of their releases, now is the time to do it. Maybe you missed the latest in the Cut & Run series Stars & Stripes or The Gravedigger’s Brawl from Abigail Roux or need to pick up Heidi Cullinan’s latest Tucker Springs novel, Dirty Laundry. Or are you overdue to go all gladiator for the latest books in the Rome series. Whatever the genre, make your purchase go further than just your reading enjoyment, let it provide much needed help for those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Go to Riptide Publishing’s website this week, purchase one or more books and go Red, as in Red Cross. You won’t be sorry. Here is the link for Riptide Publishing. There are a gazillion (almost) title to choose from and from a remarkable array of authors. Here are a few of the ones I have reviewed that you might have missed:

Read my review of Stars & Stripes by Abigail Roux here, read my review of Country Mouse by Amy Lane and Aleksandr Voinov here

Read my review of The Gravedigger’s Brawl by Abigail Roux here. Read Frat Boy and Toppy by Anne Tenino here. Read my review of Blacker Than Black by Rhi Etzweiler here .

Read my review of Second Hand by Heidi Cullinan here and all of the Josh of the Damned series by Andrea Speed, starting with Pretty Monsters here.

September’s Over, and The Week Ahead includes an Author Spotlight and Book Contest!

The last day of September is here and once again it seems as though the month just flew by along with the Canada geese overhead. I haven’t seen any hummingbirds for several days now and wonder if the last of the summer migrants have passed by as well. I will leave the feeders up until next week just to be sure but the autumn wreaths are on the doors and the various maple trees have already started to turn glorious colors so the feeders I am steadily filling now are the ones that contain sunflower seeds.

My favorite month is a day away and so much is happening. My fish are getting a deeper pond for winter and the work starts tomorrow. Several family birthdays and celebrations are happening so I am busy with new dishes and desserts to try out. I love new recipes and will be passing on the ones I find most successful. October is also bringing new releases in books that I have been waiting for and closure to the Lost Gods series by Megan Derr. I have loved my journey through the books that are the Lost Gods saga and now await the last, Chaos. Andrea Speed’s anti hero Roan get another installment too on the 5th, a date circled many times in red to make the occasion.

The first day of October starts out with a bang of a new release. That would be My Regelence Rake by JL Langley. JL Langley produces about one book every year. So to celebrate the latest in her Sci Regency series, I will be giving away one copy of her book from Samhain Publishing to a lucky person who comments during the week. It will be a great week ahead as we talk cowboys, shifters, and of course how did Regency end up in Space? The winner of the book will be picked by Kirby on Friday!

Monday: Author Spotlight: J.L. Langley

Tuesday: Sci Regency Series Review

Wednesday: With or Without Series Review

Thursday: Cowboys with JL Langley

Friday: My Regelence Rake and winner of the Contest

Saturday: The Tin Star and why I love it.

Just a Quick Reminder!

October is one of my most favorite months. Autumn is in full swing by then, bringing with it all the colors associated with Fall. Rich reds, all shades of orange and yellow, with white, and purple mixed in. This October will bring some marvelous book releases as well from Andrea Speed’s Infected: Lesser Evils, the latest in the outstanding Infected series to But For You by Mary Calmes. This is Sam and Jory’s last book. You may remember them from A Matter of Time (4 books in all) and the sequel Bulletproof. If you love them as much as I do, this is for you. Another I am looking forward to would be Sean Kennedy’s Tigerland, a sequel to Tigers and Devils, a great book. And the one to start off October for me? That would be My Regelence Rake by JL Langley. This is her long awaited sequel to The Englor Affair and the next in her Sci Regency series that started with My Fair Captain.

So all next week, from Monday to Sunday, I am running a contest to give away a copy from Samhain Publishing of My Regelence Rake to one person who comments during the week. I will be recapping the previous books and talking to JL about Sci Regency, a term she coined. So much is happening around here that I can get a little scattered. So mark this down, please. I look forward to hearing from you all. And what books are you looking forward to? New ones I don’t know about? New authors you have fallen in love with? Give me a shout and fill me in! TTFN!

Review of Making Contact Anthology

Rating: 4.25 – 4.5 stars

Space, the final frontier, as a certain well known Federation Captain would say on his 5-year mission into space, has always consumed our thoughts and dreams. We have always wanted to know what is out there, its vastness and mystery ever present. All we need to do is look up to be faced with the unknown. How will we get there and what or whom will we meet once we do are questions innumerable authors have tried to answer in poems, movies, stories and graphic novels. Making Contact is a new science fiction anthology from Dreamspinner Press that examines some of those questions along with what type of love will be found among the stars?

Making Contact gives us ten stories by eight authors. The stories range from aliens attempting to “fit it=n” among the human inhabitants when they arrive on Earth, humans trying to live in isolation on a lonely outpost, intergalactic conflicts among the races, an alien drunk tank and pirates in space. There is humor, mystery, heartbreak, and a swashbuckling yarn of space pirates and derring do.

I found this to be a really strong anthology and the variety of stories and themes keep me glued to the Kindle one after another. Don’t expect cohesion other than the fact that they fall under the science fiction m/m banner. Just a look at the authors represented should tell you that their visions of space are as unique as they are. Their narratives explore space from so many different perspectives. The first story, Better Than Cola by JL Merrow is the only one to feature an alien so far removed from the humanoid mold that the author had to come up with an equally alien method of sexual exchange. I loved this story as it left me with more questions running around my head than was answered. Some of the aliens are recognizable in form that the authors have put their own twist to, aliens with fur, aliens with different skins tones and facial markings, and even a new take on vampires in space that will break your heart as it did mine.

Normally when I review anthologies, I only mention the stories I loved. In Making Contact, that includes them all in varying degrees. Here they are in the order they appear in the book.

Better Than Cola By JL Merrow

Newly arrived on Earth to work in the Melliti embassy, Summer Storms meets Nathan Chambers, who is tasked with teaching the alien visitor how to deal with human social interaction. The thrill of casual touch exposes an immediate attraction between them, but how far can intimacy go between two totally different life forms?

JL Merrow has done a fantastic job of giving us an alien so far removed from us but still one whose thoughts and emotions can stir attraction in another. Summer Storms is a plurality of beings contained inside a “human shaped envelope”. They have to adjust themselves to casual human touch and the way in which their “envelope” reacts to the human sent to help them deal with interspecies interaction. This story has so much charm while still being sexy and alien. Merrow left me wanting to know more about their physiology and culture while giving me a satisfactory glimpse into the unknown.

Revolving Realities By Cari Z.

Dr. Eliot Hollister is desperate to locate the Ulysses and her crew before tragedy strikes… again. The lone survivor of a hostile attack compounded by human error, Eliot is using an alien artifact to search through alternate realities, trying to change the outcome in a parallel dimension. Eliot’s challenge once he finds the ship? Convince Captain Paul Alvarez he’s for real before the Ulysses falls prey to the same trap.

Cari Z brings alternate universes into play with her story of a lone survivor grabbing as a last chance to save his lover from death, even if it is not his actual lover, but the man he is in another universe. Wonderful characterizations play off against time as Eliot tries to stop the scenario from playing out again in the new universe but runs up against the same scientist hell bent on exploring the world beneath them. His frustrations become ours because we know what will happen if he can’t stop the mission. My only quibble is that it ended too soon.

The Sacrifice By Sue Brown

After twelve years, the leaders of the Free Worlds have finally found a man willing to sacrifice his life to the gods of Segelian to ensure an alliance with the mineral-rich planet. But when Stane raises the dagger to perform the rite, he looks into the human Steven’s eyes and is horrified to discover he is destined to kill his life partner. If Stane doesn’t complete the ritual, it will destroy any chance for a treaty… and it might also change the world of Segelian forever.

Sue Brown uses two worlds, one homophobic (human), one a male/male warrior culture and the extended war between them that will end with a human sacrifice. She does a nice job of world building including a world divided by religious caste and the warrior caste and makes us believe it. I loved Stane and Steven however implausible the final intervention.

Alone By Andrea Speed

Scientist Logan Murakami doesn’t have much to keep him company during his lonely vigil at Outpost Proserpina. But he knew that going in, and it’s the perfect place to focus solely on his work: a neuro-optical interface that would be the perfect engine for artificial intelligence… an intelligence that Logan hopes is taking on a life of its own.

What I loved most about this story is that it plays out internally in the mind of Logan Murakami. Solitude and remoteness are definitely two of the factors to be considered when talking about space travel. How to achieve it, do we need a base of operations to extend our exploration? And what type of person will be able to handle those conditions? All compelling questions that need viable answers and Speed attempts to provide some of them in the person of Logan Murakami. Raised in isolation in Alaska and solitary by nature, he unexpectedly ends up alone at the outpost and uses this time to perfect his neuro-optical interface with the goal of having it attain intelligence. What happens exceeds his expectations and gives him something so much more. Just outstanding.

Losing Sight of the Shore By Emily Moreton

Secondary communications officer Jay is assigned to a boarding crew when the Hydra discovers a seemingly abandoned, powerless ship floating in space. While exploring the derelict ship, Jay finds a barely conscious man with purple skin and silver eyes. After surviving a raider attack, Felix is understandably afraid to let Jay go—even when cultural differences threaten to stop any contact between them.

Moreton gives us romance in space that emerges from survivors of an attack upon their ship. I liked the romance even if I wanted a little more of the alien culture and history of the purple skinned people living in ships among the stars. I got some lovely bits of characterization from Jay and the other members of the crew, I just wish I felt I got the same result from the aliens. A really sweet story that could have been fleshed out a little more to make it absolutely terrific.

Gifted in Tongues By JL Merrow

After inadvertently outraging local sensibilities, space pilot Torvald “Spitz” Spitzbergen faces a five-year stretch in a Lacertilian jail. His only consolation is trading insults with his cellmate, Tao, a six-foot libidinous Felid. But Tao seems to have a distinctly fuzzy understanding of the difference between fighting and foreplay…

Merrow gives us an alien drunk tank! How could you not love this? Spitz seems like the very type to get his drunk on, outrage the locals, and be very surprised to find himself with the remains of a hangover, two very different cell mates and the worst morning after he has had in a while. I chuckled throughout this story, Merrow’s descriptions painting the scene so perfectly that I had no problems picturing it all as it happens. Cracked me up, made me blush, and left me wanting more. Now if only I can talk the author into bringing Spitz and Tao back for further adventures. Pretty please?

Analytic Geometry By Andi Deacon

Kevin Ikoro has an incredible opportunity: his boss at Helix Multicorp wants an analyst’s view of how the corporation’s Exploration division works, and Kevin is now a member of explorer team Alpha 3IG. His teammates, a set of brilliant twins named Cameron and Theo Banark, are fascinating, and Kevin finds himself harboring a serious case of lust for Cameron. But exploration is unpredictable, and his teammates may not be what they seem. The shortest distance between two bodies isn’t always a straight line.

Another neat story full of twists that added dimension and depth to this little space gem. I don’t want to go into this except that I loved the characters where the attraction of the mind trumps attraction of the body. Sexy, humorous and with a little bit of mystery thrown in. Again the characters that Deacon creates here are so terrific, so unique that as the end I wanted so much more. The surprise alone is worth the story but it is the family that is forming that captures my interest, imagination and heart. Just a great job.

The Monsters Below By Lyn Gala

Brai’s never dreamed of fighting the monstrous sub-humans who infest Kestia, but when his lover joins the service, Brai does what he always does… he follows. Then Rick is lost on his first mission, and Brai is left alone in a murderous rage. Now on his own first mission gone terribly wrong, Brai has his chance to get back at the monsters for killing Rick—only the government hasn’t been honest about the nature of the enemy, and Brai might find that the caves hide a secret that could change his life.

I was not prepared for the heartbreak that is this story. Lyn Gala gives us an intense, knuckle biter of an update of vampires in space and makes it hurt even as the characters bleed out and die. Again for me to go into detail would ruin it but Gala’s characters are beautifully realized and the situation they find themselves in so dire that our hearts and minds are caught up in their plight immediately. This story kept me up and thinking into the wee hours of the morning.

Feral By K.R. Foster

Desperate to end a war, the king of the Lunar Pryde agrees to submit one of his offspring to mate with a member of the Sol Pryde royal line. Cynfael, prince of the Lunar Pryde, fled the planet six months ago searching for freedom, and nothing could convince him to return… except his father’s threat to marry off Cynfael’s twelve-year-old sister Adara. After fighting for freedom his entire life, Cynfael must return to Starion to face his unknown mate and an equally unknown future.

What is it about felids or specifically felids that walk upright with many of the same emotions and thoughts of humans that captures our imagination so? I kept running across so many of them from author after author and genre after genre. Still, I end of loving them all. Feral is Foster’s newest addition to felids in space. Cynfael is another prince being forced to wed the son of warring royal line and bring peace to the planet they inhabit. There are so many nice touches here from Cynfael’s ability to communicate with the planet to a comb made of filed down teeth that I wanted an extended version to fill in the gaps left by the story. We are left in the dark about the loss of Cynfael’s mother, the war ongoing, the purity of his genes (does it relate to his color?) and so much more. A little more volume was needed to add layers to an intriguing tale.

Ganymede’s Honor By Cornelia Grey

Colonel Ardeth Connor has been rescued from death, but he’s not sure his new life is any better: he’s effectively trapped aboard a rebel ship that defies the Federation to collect ice meteors, stealing life-sustaining water for the poorest of planets and asteroids. As an anonymous part of Captain Gabriel’s crew, Ardeth is biding his time until he can escape… and learning there’s more to space than just the Federation.

This story reminded me so much of an interview I just saw with an astrophysicist. She was talking about space travel, space ships and the Tardis. Ok, yes, I am a geek. I make no bones about it. She was talking about the fact that our modes of transportation in space didn’t need to be those sleek versions that populate the page and movie screen, that we could travel about in something as funky as a phone booth or a Rubic’s Cube. On in this case, a space galleon similar to those that rode the waves way back when. I loved this story. It left me smiling for hours just picturing the Ganymede under her solar sails in search of meteorites to capture. Cornelia Grey’s story gives us pirates in space or should that be rebels in space and turns it into a swashbuckling story of love, sexy rebel captains who shouts to his crew ‘Unwind those cables, bunch of useless yobs!” as they prepare to harpoon a ice meteoroid out of a swarm, and his crew man the sails and chains as the ship rockets under them. What a scene, what a crew! It got the blood boiling, the eyes wild, the heart pounding…..oh how I wanted to be on the ship with them and maybe snuggled up against Ardeth and Gabriel, just saying. I do have a thing for his tats.

And just the idea of a galleon sailing through space, the stars all around her…that’s magic right there. Grey’s story hit a lot of my buttons and left me cheering the crew on to great glory and many more stories. I feel much the same about every author here with their diverse take on space and making contact. I loved their stories, I wanted more of their aliens and human interaction. I hope this spawns even more novels featuring the being that made me laugh, made me cry and made me exult that space means no boundaries of any sort. No boundaries to the imagination and no boundaries as to who we can love and be loved by in return. More please. Much, much more. Engage.

Cover art by Analise Dubner, cover design by Mara McKennen. Love the cover, great colors and a catchy design.

Autumn Comes to Maryland, Vote 6 for Equality and the Week Ahead in Reviews

Good morning to all and what a spectacular day it is here in Maryland. The sky is that crystalline crisp blue that I only see in Fall, the clouds fluffy white and a huge flock of Canada geese just flew overhead, their cries trumpeting the arrival of Fall. How I love this time of year, my pulse quickens, my step is a tad more brisk (such as it is these days), and I feel like rejuvenated after the sweltering heat of summer. The Monarch butterflies are flitting through the garden on their way to Mexico, and what a journey they have in front of them, over 3, 000 miles of ingrained need to fly to a place they have never been. Amazing when you consider they are fragility on wings.

Autumn is a time of movement, a time of activity, both measured and frantic. Beaver and muskrats are busy with caches of food and antlers, so too are the squirrels and white footed mice. All have plenty to do to make sure the food stores are full for the winter. Bees zoom around the garden, gathering pollen and nectar from the spectacular profusion of gold, white and purple flowers of the season. The New England asters, goldenrod, the Black-eyed Susans, and the Joe Pye weed that linger on. Most people think of Autumn colors as red, yellow and orange, but the fall gardener knows that the harbinger of Fall also carries the colors of white, gold and purple to all the gardens and fields around us.

Fall brings change. Leaves swirl to the ground as the sap returns to their roots in preparation for Winter, seeds are scattered by wind and animal alike, and the animals start their migration to the winter feeding grounds. The songbirds seek the safety of the night for their travels while the raptors, secure as top predators of the air, wing their way south during the daylight hours, soaring above as they follow the coasts and mountains. I watch the squirrels stuffing leaves into the neighbors chimney with all the energy and enthusiasm of teenagers on energy drinks. I have never seen those neighbors use their chimney and hope that for the squirrels sake that this continues. My old bird feeder finally fell apart from the relentless onslaught from the non flighted visitors and a new one should arrive any day, carrying with it the hope of a squirrel proof feeder. Hah, I say from experience. My money is on the squirrels.

I am hoping for another change in Maryland this fall. It is 51 days until the election and I am hoping that this fall brings Marriage Equality for all in the state of Maryland. If you live here, please vote for Question 6 and make it legal for all GLBTQ to marry here. It is long past time for this to happen, equal marriage rights are long overdue. Let’s be a voice for progress and become a partner in movement for equal rights for all. Vote yes for Question 6 and let’s make the promise a reality! I will be there on voting day and hope you will join me.

Finally, October will see several special events on my blog. First up, actually the very first week is Regency Sci-Fi week with JL Langley in preparation for My Regelence Rake release October 1st. I have an interview with JL, recap of the series to date, a discussion about Regency novels, and a contest to give away a copy of My Regelence Rake to someone who comments during the week! Whew! I am also participating in the Howloween Blog Hope at the end of October where I will be giving away a Amazon gift card during the blog hop! So stay tuned, my pretties, we have a great time planned this fall. Change is in the air, I can feel it. Can you?

Here are the books to be reviewed this week:

Monday: Life As A Fairy Thrall by Katey Hawthorne

Tuesday: Making Contact (Sci Fi Anthology)

Wednesday: Nate’s Deputy by Lavinia Lewis

Thursday: Gregory’s Rebellion by Lavinia Lewis

Friday: The Melody Thief by Shira Anthony

Saturday: Wolf’s Own Book One Ghost by Carole Cummings

Why A Series Can Make My Heart Sing!

It’s no secret that I love books and always have. From my earliest memories of listening to someone read to me then transitioning to being old enough to pick up a book myself to while away the time. When I was younger, my family moved around every couple of years or more as my father’s job was to evaluate school systems. While not a hardship, it’s not conducive to the young who find it hard to leave friends and special places behind again and again. As I got older and the moving proved more stressful, I turned to books for companionship. Books, never far from me from birth (a given with parents as educators), became my constant companions. They became my escape from reality, an acceptable form of “invisible friend”, my Harvey. I was lucky in that one of my uncles, a great uncle really, worked at Charles Scribner’s & Sons. Uncle Wade sent us boxes of books of all types and genres, most of which were too old for me (Frank Yerby, really?) and that created its own special allure, to be old enough to read all those books! A new goal and easily fed addiction formed early in life – I was seven by then.

Have I said that books fascinate me? It was always just a matter of minutes before I lost myself in an author’s special universe. Their characters jumped to life on their pages waving swords or crawling through tunnels, the places they created became worlds whose paths I wished to tread and on whose seas I wished to voyage. Don’t you remember picking up a book and starting to read, and thinking please, please, never let it end? That was me, out in the woods or under a blanket in bed, book in hand, eyes shut tight and wishing with all my might for a magic wand and horses with wings.

With some books, just one book is sufficient to satisfy your need for the world the author created. You read it and are happy to have visited there. They were great hosts, told you a marvelous story and fed you a meal that left you full if not completely replenished. When it came time to take your leave,you wished those characters well and felt that while you have enjoyed the visit other destinations were calling and you must be off. My Friend Flicka was one. Treasure Island was another. So was Old Yeller, Dahlgren and National Velvet and hoards of nameless books of my youth. But then there are those books whose characters became friends or heros, the worlds they lived in were places I yearned to go, each and every element necessary and magical to me at the time. Those stories had multiple books called a series! From the mundane to the mystical, I gobbled up series with all the ardor and fervor of a zealot.

For me a series meant never having to leave your favorite characters behind or the universe they inhabited. After you finished one story, you could look forward to a new adventure, a new challenge or a new journey taken with the same beloved people/beings you met in the first book. Sometimes the characters stayed the same, they lived in their old house, had the same friends and stayed the same age. I am thinking Nancy Drew here with Beth, George and Ned. And sometimes the characters grew up like those in C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. But whatever the shape the narrative took, I knew that I would be visiting a familiar place but with unknown consequences. Oh the anticipation, the agony, the time I spent daydreaming about what was to come next for my heros (of all genders and species).

Whether it was L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz books or Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings , book series have been my affordable addiction. Not possible to own a herd of horses in a suburban backyard? Let’s substitute dragons for horses and scarf up Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. My parents inform me that we are southbound, going to visit the relatives again this summer. My first reaction? OK, second reaction? Hide all of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover books in my suitcase to pull out at the cousins first suggestion to Dippity Do my hair and head out to the Dairy Queen. Series after series, genre after genre, my addiction grew and my bookshelves groaned.

Has my addiction to series dwindled as I have aged? Not on your life! Don’t look at me like that! I know you have been there along with me. Haven’t you ever reached the end of a book that has kept you mesmerized from word one and wanted to scream out ‘Noooooooo, I don’t want it to end”? Or had the characters in the latest book you were reading seem so real that the last sentence of the epilogue left you feeling bereft? Or maybe the world that came alive in between the pages was so vivid that you could smell the alien air and feel the magic in the landscape? It still happens to me at 2 or 3 am in the morning (just like always) when I come to the end of a gripping saga I started earlier that day and never put down. I scramble to get back to the pages in front and then in the back to see what else the author has written. If stymied, and who wouldn’t be at that time of the morning, I turn on the computer (ok this part is new) and check for updates at their publishers or websites, never mind the dogs glaring at me because I have disturbed their sleep. And when my search turns up that the book is a part of a series? Well, let’s just say I give the ol’ Rebel Yell a run for its money and make my Celtic ancestors proud!

Some of my favorite series? Hard to separate them out as I have so many in different genre’s. Mystery authors make it easy for me. Love you Martha Grimes and Inspector Jury, same to you, P.D. James and Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, and on right to up Sarah Paretsky and her female private eye, V I Warshawski and Stieg Larsson and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Once a mystery author creates a character, a series is sure to follow. Authors of the supernatural and fantasy are much the same. Look at Laurell K Hamilton and Anita Blake. Hit List is the 20th Anita Blake novel. Or Terry Pratchett and his Disc World series that is comprised of 33 novels. That could be a little daunting if not for the treasure that is Disc world.

Sooooo, where was I? Oh yes, my love for book series. Today with the advent of eReaders and ePublishing, the novel and book series has never been more popular. Especially with my m/m fiction, I have so many favorite series that I hardly know where to start. Perhaps I will start with a series I began my m/m journey with. That would be Carol Lynne’s Cattle Valley series, still going strong today at book no. 27. I love Josh Lanyon’s Adrien English series and Kate Steele’s Bond of the Maleri books. Can’t go wrong there. I would wave Jet Mykles Heaven Sent series at you, can’t miss those! Or JL Langley’s With or Without series with her wolf shifters that are so hot and memorable. So many that I need to start a list. And just look at the books I have reviewed lately. Some of my must read series are among them: Cut and Run from Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux (now just written by Roux), Infected by Andrea Speed (I groan just thinking about Roan – snicker), the Lost Gods series by Megan Derr, the Cambridge Fellows books by Charlie Cochrane, Katey Hawthorne’s Superpowered Love series and so many more. I feel like one of those people at an awards show with a never ending list. I could go on and on and on while a guy in the wings gives me the signal to shut up.

So here I am all these years later and nothing has changed. OK, yes some things have changed. Sheesh! You think you would let a girl get by with some things…but my love of books and a series of books? Never. A great series still fills me with excitement and the expectation of wonderful surprises just on the horizon. I look forward to each new twist and turn the author can think up and that I never saw coming. I can’t wait for the paths unexplored and the roads not yet taken by characters I love on worlds new and known. And that is why a series makes my heart sing.

Small list of my favorite series in no particular order and yes I know I left a lot out. Please send us your favorites:

M/M Series (3 or more books):

Promised Rock series by Amy Lane
Lost Gods series by Megan Derr (fantasy)
Conquest series (rockers) by S. J. Frost
Heaven Sent by Jet Mykles (rockers)
Adrien English Mystery series by Josh Lanyon contemporary
Cut and Run by Urban and Roux, now just Abigall Roux – contemporary
Infected series by Andrea Speed (science fiction)
Sanctuary series by RJ Scott action/adventure
Faith, Love, and Devotion series by Tere Michaels contemporary
St. Nachos series by Z.A. Maxfield contemporary
Cattle Valley by Carol Lynne cowboys contemporary
With or Without series (shifters) by JL Langley
Sci Regency series by JL Langley
Cambridge Fellows series by Charlie Cochrane
A Matter of Time series by Mary Calmes
Warder series by Mary Calmes
Home series by TC Chase
Superpowered Love series by Katey Hawthorne

and all the series I have written about this week, Infected, Cambridge Fellows, Lost Gods, Dance with the Devil, The Sanctuary series…..

Bellingham Mysteries series by Nicole Kimberling – last day to make a comment and be entered into the book giveaway contest for Primal Red.

Favorite Series Covers and Cover Artists!

Book covers have always fascinated me. Some repel me, others draw me in immediately. Think “ooh, shiny, pretty…” lol. Others intrigue me by their content or graphic design, while others leave me “meh” or confused. When I think of series covers that are successful, all they have some of the same elements incorporated into their design. The first being I can tell the books belong together at a glance, they have a cohesive design element consistent in every cover. The fonts stay the same. Each cover contains the same overall design with small changes that don’t affect the overall picture they present to the reader.

So we are looking for consistency, cohesiveness, clarity and recognition. Designs that convey a sense of connectedness between the books. Look over my choices and see if you agree with me. Many of my favorites series also have some of my favorite series covers. Yes, I have let quite a lot out but I need something for the next cover post, don’t I? Lets get started.

1. Cut & Run series by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban, now being written by Abigail Roux,cover design by Mara McKinnon:Simple and elegant. The central object, which is prominent in each storyline, is changed out with each book. I can tell a Cut &Run book in a heartbeat.

2. Lost Gods series by Megan Derr, design by London Burden. Each cover is a map of the kingdom the story is set in. The color is important as it is a prime element for each kingdom and its culture. Blue for the kingdom of Kundou, a land to whom the sea is all important. It’s people have hair in all shades of blue and green, the color of water. The orange/red cover of Burning Bright is self explanatory and so on. Subtle, expressive, simple on the surface yet contains hidden meanings just like the books.

3. Sanctuary Series by RJ Scott, artist/cover design by Reese Dante. Each cover depicts the two men who will be the novel’s romantic couple, usually one is a Sanctuary op. The design stays the same with the men being switched out. The models are consistent with the descriptions of the men inside. Reese Dante does the fantastic design.

4. Dance With The Devil series by Megan Derr, design by London Burden. Effective use of a simple graphic design where the object floating in the center of a black cover is switched out for each new book. Again the main element is important to the storyline. Effective, elegant, and easy to recognize that the books belong together without having to resort to the publishers note.

4. Cambridge Fellows series by Charlie Cochrane, cover design by Scott Carpenter: All the covers have a lovely vintage feel to them, sepia toned with elements such as furniture, buildings and mens clothing from 1900’s included on the design. Unfortunately, the last cover from Samheim had a more modern looking model which threw off the design. The newest title in the series has a completely different look as it was published at the different company. Can you pick it out?

3. Superpowered Love by Katey Hawthorne, artist P.L. Nunn: Just wonderful art by PL Nunn, the covers really set the stage for the stories within. I just love these. Again while the content changes, the style is the same and makes the books easy to identify.

4. Infected series by Andrea Speed, art by Anne Cain, cover design by Mara McKinnon: These covers blow me away. Intense, dramatic, with that hint of menace. Outstanding. They are offered to download at Andrea Speed’s website. I grabbed them, you will want to as well. Andrea Speed’s website http://www.andreaspeed.com.

5. Cattle Valley Series by Carol Lynne, art by Anne Cain. It doesn’t matter if it is Book 2, Book 12 or Book 23, you can tell it is a Cattle Valley book immediately due to the great design and artwork by the wonderful Anne Cain. This series is branded, folks! Total E Bound does more of a series branding than any other publisher or so it seems to me.

6. Sci-Regency Series by JL Langley, cover by Anne Cain. Sigh! I love Anne Cain and her artwork. Especially her cover for My Fair Captain. That one is so drool worthy that I have to bring out the towels. Yeah, I know TMI! But just look at that chest! And the same goes for the other two books in the series, the last of which, My Regelence Rake, is to be released in October 2012.

7. Leopard’s Spots series by Bailey Bradford, artwork by Posh Gosh. What a lush, rich group of covers, They are like a feast for the eyes, I just don’t know where to look next. The design pulls your eye around the cover, so nothing is missed. Just superb.

So that’s my short list. What is yours? Yes, I see the same artists over and over on covers I like. Anne Cain, PL Nunn, Reese Dante, Posh Gosh and London Burden. Lately I have also noticed Alessia Brio too. I know I have missed so many great artists, help me fill in the blanks. And don’t forget to leave a comment and be entered in the contest.

What Series Am I Reading Now?

My reading list has always been a convoluted constantly changing creature (alliteration how I love thee), but lately it is full of authors delivering an addictive group of novels revolving around a select cast of characters and the universe they inhabit, in other words a series! What does surprise me is that most of the series I am currently reading come from authors that were new to me, undiscovered territory as it were. So these series actually represent a double dose of goodness, that of a new author as well as new series. I will note that the series I am listing here are ones that are either not complete or a recently completed series that I haven’t finished reading.

1. Infected Series by Andrea Speed:

It started with Andrea Speed and her Infected series. I can’t remember why I picked up Infected: Prey to begin with but I know that from the moment I met Roan and discovered the story of a cat virus (like AIDS, it is a blood born pathogen) spreading across the States with devastating effects on society, I was hooked. Andrea Speed was a new author for me (as is most of the authors here) but with her creation of Roan, she has given us wonderful reluctant superhuman hero, complete with a unique voice and style of dialog I would recognize as his anywhere. Roan would appreciate it if he were a solitary being but he comes with a close knit group of people in various roles that are as multilayered, as personable as tragic and humorous a bunch of beings as you will ever meet. Roan has esoteric tastes in music so I was not always familiar with his choices of bands (These Arms Are Snakes really?) but Andrea Speed thankfully provides the playlists on her website so I can get up to speed (snort) and so can you. And Roan’s commentary on society, reality tv, religion, ok anything really often has me in stitches when I am not dissolving in tears. Do not pass up this series.

Infected Shift is the latest in the series. Find my review of it here and a list of all the previous books. The books should be read in the order they are written to get the full measure of the story and the characters.

Infected Series: Prey, Bloodlines, Life After Death, Freefall, Shift.

Andrea Speed’s website In Absentia can be found here.

2. Lost Gods Series by Megan Derr:

I didn’t know what I was getting into when I was asked to review Treasure, the first book in the Lost Gods series. I had a vague notion about it being a fantasy series, mermaids, dragons, that sort of thing. But from the first page of Treasure, Megan Derr’s characters grabbed me by the shirtfront, gave me a shake for good measure and pulled me into their complex, richly layered saga of the gods returning to their lands 1,000 years after their deaths. Let’s start with the way Derr has crafted this series. Each book is the story of one kingdom and their Lost God. For each kingdom, Derr created a people whose religion, dress, language and beliefs reflects that culture of their land as well as geographical map to help the reader envision the story. Her world building is dazzling and from novel to novel, the saga changes in scope from a rollicking sea adventure to the sacrifice of innocents, from broad humor to scenes that had me sobbing uncontrollably. Megan Derr leaves nothing to chance in her books, there is myth building, creation puzzles and themes of forgiveness, sacrifice and rebirth. After Treasure came Burning Bright, a book I was in no way prepared for and still holds a huge place in my heart which is odd considering my mouth tasted of ash after reading it. An astonishing novel in a series of the same measure.

This is a 5 book series and Megan Derr has just submitted the last book to the publisher, Less Than Three Press. I have just finished the 3rd book, Stone Rose. Find my review here along with the reviews for the previous books. My review of the covers will go up on Tuesday.

All the books should be read in order that they were written because of the complex saga and the long list of intertwined characters. Treasure, Burning Bright, Stone Rose, Poison, and Chaos.

3. Cambridge Fellows Series by Charlie Cochrane:

I remember reading a review by Erastes of one of the Cambridge Fellows series and found myself intrigued by the high rating and Erastes’ regard for the author’s historical authenticity and writing style. Then it popped up again and again on must read lists on various blogs to the point I found myself ordering Lessons in Love (Cambridge Fellows #1) and got my first introduction to the Drs. Orlando Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart. I will say our first introduction was a little shaky. I loved Cochrane’s descriptions of 1906 Cambridge from the language/terms spoken at that time to the shoppes of the day but it took me some time to warm up to Orlando and Jonty. I liked them well enough, respected them but felt a little removed from their characters. Then came Lessons in Desire (Cambridge Fellows #2) and the distance between the characters and myself dissolved never to return. With each book the relationship between the characters deepened as more of their backstory came into light and I become more engaged, more connected to the characters and their fate. By Lessons in Discovery (Cambridge Fellows #3), I was seriously in love with Orlando and Jonty, and paid close attention to each case they investigated (oh yes, there are mysteries in each book).

There are some hard subject matter buried in these stories, including one of child abuse and rape. Charlie Cochrane handles it with sensitivity while never deviating from the emotional devastation it visits upon her characters. The author’s use of language and location gives her stories such depth and authenticity that I often find myself running to do research on some topic she has brought up long after I have finished the book. Every part of this series is beautifully done. I just finished the fifth book of this series, Lessons in Temptation (Cambridge Fellows #5) and thought I saw the end of the series with All Lessons Learned (Cambridge Fellows #8). Then Charlie Cochrane published Lessons for Survivors (Cambridge Fellows #9) this month with a different publisher and the series continues. Huzzah!

Find my review of Lessons in Temptation(Cambridge Fellows #5) here and all the reviews for the previous novels.

The list: Lessons in Love, Lessons in Desire, Lessons in Discovery, Lessons in Power, Lessons in Temptation, Lessons in Seduction, Lessons in Trust, All Lessons Learned and Lessons for Survivors.

Charlie Cochrane’s website is http://charliecochrane.livejournal.com

4. Dance With The Devil Series by Megan Derr (yes, Derr again):

This was easy. My co-reviewer Sammy was reading these novels and I picked up the first based on her recommendation and my knowledge of the author. Right away, the method Megan Derr used to create her narrative delighted me. We are introduced to Chris White, supernatural detective, and his associate detective Doug who happens to be an imp by the means of detective cases. Each chapter is a different case Chris White has been involved in. Here Derr does not follow a strict timeline for the first case ,Case No. 507 The Devil’s Consort, finds Chris already the consort of Sable Brennen, the demon Lord of the city. The next chapter, Case No. 37 finds Chris just starting out in the business. Here he meets Sable for the first time as well as so many more unusual and delightful characters that reoccur throughout the novel. The next case is Case No. 532, Bad Blood Part 1 which moves the story forward. Then the case immediately after is one from the past bringing with it the backstory of whatever character is now front and center. If that seems confusing, trust me its not. And as for Chris himself? Well, he happens to be part ghost with the ability to walk through solid surfaces, handy when you are a detective facing locked doors!

I have just finished with book four in the series (yeah, I know I didn’t see it before I started writing this all down, I am on or at another book 5), but it seems that Derr is taking us on a tour of the various territories of this world she created. The first 3 books are very connected together as there lands are adjacent to each other and then with book 4, she starts introducing the dragon lands which are the subject for books 5 and 6 so far. Within these pages we have demon lords, vampires, werewolves, imp, gorgons, warlocks, witches, pixies, brownies, dragons, knights, and almost every supernatural or fantastical being you can think of. A veritable smorgasbord of fantasy characters, all realistically portrayed (as real as supernatural beings can be), all so personable that you love them, hurt for them, care greatly what happens to them, even if they are the walking dead.

Pick these up, don’t pass go, don’t stop for anything, even a Margarita before getting the first book, Dance with the Devil. You are going to be my BFF for this one!

The list: Dance With The Devil,Dance In The Dark, Ruffskin,Midnight, The Dragon Pit,The Sword of the King

Read my review of the last book Midnight and you will find a list of the previous books as well.

Megan Derr’s website is http://maderr.com. Also check out Less Than Three Press!

5. The Sanctuary Series by RJ Scott:

Take one crime family, The Bullens, add in gorgeous sexy, competent operatives working for a secret agency dedicated to keeping witnesses safe and investigating crimes that the other alphabet government agencies are involved in or won’t handle and you have the Sanctuary series by RJ Scott. Guarding Morgan (Sanctuary #1) is our introduction to Sanctuary, their operatives and the Bullen crime family. Morgan is the eyewitness to the brutal murder of a young woman, and is the first domino to topple over in the line of events that will eventually bring the Bullen family to justice. Each book gives us a new romantic pairing and more leads/clues into how widespread are the Bullen family’ crimes, extending into the Senate itself. Scott gives the operatives a realistic feel, they screw up, they bleed, they are stressed out and sometimes overwhelmed. These are real people who are overextended just by the nature of the job they perform. And while there are at least one HEA, most are HFN which is believable given their jobs and responsibilities.

The Bullens are a despicable bunch and Scott throws us quite a few false leads and surprises here. The investigation gets compromised, there is a FBI mole, and things are not always what they seem. It is a great ride full of characters I came to care about, there is not one cardboard cutout to be found in these novels. The Bullen Family saga ended at Full Circle but the Sanctuary novels will continue or so RJ Scott assures me. What a happy reader than made me.

So here is my review of Full Circle with the complete list of the Sanctuary books to date. Read them in order. Guarding Morgan, The Only Easy Day, Face Value, Still Waters, and Full Circle. You will love them if you like great action adventure and sexy special operatives!

RJ Scott’s website is http://www.rjscott.co.uk

6. Cut & Run Series by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban, now being written by Abigail Roux:

How do I love this series? Let me count the ways. I love it to thee to the depths and breadth and height my soul can reach, I love thee purely, I love thee….well I am sure you get my drift. This series is brilliant. It all started back in 2008 when Dreamspinner Press published Cut & Run, the first in the series then written by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux. It was here that Ty Grady met Zane Garrett in the offices of the FBI. Neither man had a partner, both were coming off undercover assignments, and in Zane’s case, a deep undercover assignment that left him with a drug and alcohol addiction. As they saw it, they were polar opposites, Zane liked to “crunch the numbers” as it were, and Ty flew by the seat of his pants. This was not a partnership that had long term or even short to middling term written on it.

Their first assignment has them looking for the murderer of a pair of FBI agents. They are squabbling, constantly finding fault with each other’s techniques and personalities. Then the murderer turns his attention to them and they must act together as a team to track down the killer before they become his next target. Cut & Run sets the tone for the series. A tight, suspenseful storyline that contains a complicated assignment that somehow furthers Ty and Zane’s complex relationship. This is not a case of instant love or even instant like. Instead we are given a relationship that is built slowly and with great care over six published books so far and Abigail Roux has stated she plans to go to at least nine in the series.

And what remarkable characters we have in Ty Grady and Zane Garrett. They have fervent, obsessed fans who have Team Ty and Team Zane t-shirts (Edward and Jacob eat your hearts out). And all that obsession, all that mania is totally warranted. These are not your larger than life superheroes. Instead we have two human beings, with all the frailties, faults, and traits that make it easy to identify and empathize with them. Ty comes from a family steeped in military tradition but only now are we finding out why he joined the Marines. And Zane’s background? We have only gotten hints of it, with a fact thrown in here or there. Stars & Stripes (Cut & Run #6), coming out in August 2012, will answer some of our questions, but not all. That is in keeping with the slow leak of information as each man still has much to learn about the other.

Is there a difference now that Abigail Roux is writing the series alone? No, absolutely none. The flow is as seamless between Fish & Chips and Divide & Conquer as Divide & Conquer and Armed & Dangerous. In fact, I found Armed & Dangerous to be the best yet (without taking anything away from the wonderful skills of Madeleine Urban who no longer writes). Abigail Roux is a master of location, character and plot and it shows in these books. When she writes about Baltimore, you know this person has been to Baltimore, walked the streets there, taking in the flavor unique to the city. It is the same whether Ty and Zane are in Chicago or on the high seas in a cruise ship, there is nary a false note that is hit. Such authenticity keeps everything so real that at times it is hard for me to come out of the stories.

I cannot recommend this series enough. If I could, I would run the streets waving a Ty and Zane banner myself. And no I won’t tell you which shirt I have in my closet! Now go and get Cut & Run, start there, read them in order (no peaking or reading in advance)! You will be sending me flowers over this one!

Cut & Run,Sticks & Stones (Cut & Run #2).Fish & Chips (Cut & Run #3),Divide & Conquer (Cut & Run #4),Armed & Dangerous (Cut & Run #5) see my review here, Stars & Stripes (Cut & Run #6) – coming in August from Riptide Press.

Abigail Roux’s website can be found here.

So, that’s my short list. What an amazing group of authors to go with some of the best series I have ever read. Are there others? You betcha. JL Langley’s With/Without Series and her Regency series, Andrew Grey’s Range series, Mary Calmes’ Panther series and so many others.So let’s consider this installment number 1 in my new What Series Am I Reading Now column, shall we? And check in with me all week. Be sure to leave a comment along with an email address to be entered into the contest for a copy of Primal Red from Nicole Kimberling.

Now tell me what series are you reading now?

Review of Infected: Shift by Andrea Speed

Rating: 5 stars

Shift is the fifth book in Andrea Speed’s Infected series. This is a tightly linked series and the books should be read in order. This review may have some spoilers for previous books in the series.

It’s a typical day for Roan McKitchan in that there was nothing typical about it. His new client is a wall of a man who just happens to be a hockey player with a 10 year old case involving a transgendered person’s suicide that just might be murder. Roan’s relationship with his artist/bartender boyfriend, Dylan is especially rocky these days and all his friends seems to think that Roan is so depressed that he is seeking to die. And then there is that little matter of another possible aneurysm next time he shifts.

When his partial transformation is caught on tape and uploaded to YouTube, the crazies start coming out of the woodwork with vicious attacks on himself and those close to him. Everything about Roan’s world is in flux, his stress increasing, and yes, his depression is getting worse even as his virus mutates yet again. What is he to do when the shifters start to look to him for leadership just as he is struggling to handle all the major shifts in his life? Leader or vigilante? Life or death? Roan needs to find those answers himself and soon.

Shift picks up the story of Roan where Freefall left off as everyone around Roan is still reeling from the aftermath of Roan’s brain aneurysm. The fact that Roan survived the unsurvivable for no discernable medical reason has left Roan, Dylan and his circle of friends on edge with Dylan especially fragile. Still sustaining himself on drugs and partial shifts, Roan McKitchan tries to continue business as usual. But his reckless behavior and depression has seen his relationship with Dylan grow increasingly problematic as the daily stress that is Roan’s life and his precarious mental state leave Dylan’s composure in shreds. What others see as his suicidal tendencies, Roan believes to be his normal state, at least for him. To Roan, his outlook and actions are in tune with someone uncertain of his humanity and life span. And as we get pulled deeper into latest Infected novel, the story of Roan McKitchan and the cat virus continues to shift and evolve, turning into a series as unpredictable and infectious as the virus itself.

Andrea Speed’s spectacular talent ensures that we are able to absolutely understand and empathize with Roan, one of the most unique characters I have come across. A virus child who lives and thrives against all odds and laws of nature, Roan’s “fuck you’ attitude is at odds with his bruised romantic soul. Roan constantly lives with the truth that he is mutating along with the virus and we feel his terror and pain as the virus mutates and shifts his view of himself from human to monster. One of the threads that keeps him tethered to his human status are his boyfriend/husbands as Dylan continues to anchor him in the present as Paris’ ghost visits his dreams to comfort and annoy. Roan’s such a complicated character as one would expect of a man bedeviled by his abusive past and mutating physique. One can be reading along, laughing out loud as Roan muses on the state of music, societal goings on, whatever grabs his attention and then suddenly plunges us into tears with remembrances of Paris, the victims that cross Roan’s path, and Roan’s very real fears for his future. From his music to his t-shirts and books, Roan is a character so remarkable in dimension that finding words to do him justice is confounding at times. I may not be able to explain satisfactorily explain the beauty that is Roan but it is clear from book one that he is one that will always stay with you.

Dylan is another unexpected character who continues to grow with the series. As the boyfriend with the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Roan’s soulmate, Paris, it would be as easy to dismiss him as other characters in the book do. A Zen Buddhist, his calm outlook is constantly under attack by his role in Roan’s life, and by Roan himself as his infected status throws them all into daily turbulence. Dylan has always seemed to accept his secondary place with Roan, but that starts to change here as the doubts creep in. I found this so authentic and wonder where Andrea Speed will take this romance. It is Roan’s nature to be a monogamist but there is more to be considered here. The lion’s needs must be brought into the equation as well and here the relationship with Dylan seems less certain. The lion clearly loved Paris, a tiger shifter who was Roan’s equal if not more in so many ways. And as I watched Roan and Dylan struggle to maintain and strengthen their relationship, the thought remained in the back of my mind “what does the lion think of Dylan as a mate?” Can a lion accept a lesser human? And for me their future together got blurry. And that just points up the strength of Andrea Speed’s writing. She has the reader constantly thinking about the events and relationships in the story, nothing is concrete, everything is constantly shifting, including our perceptions.

Shift is divided into two stories as is typical of this series. The first is Shift. It is in this section that a wonderful group of characters is introduced, the Seattle Falcons, minor league hockey team. While Roan has always had a small group of friends, with the addition of Grey, Scott, Tank and others, a wonderfully crazy element of support for Roan has been met. All strong, with a love for a fight, these modern warriors have depth beneath the hockey player stereotypes that made them instant favorites of mine, especially Grey. I hope to see them often along with Holden, Dr. Rosenberg, Dee, Fiona and the rest of the circle that revolves around Roan. The case Grey brings Roan is heartbreaking in content and conclusion. Bloodbath is the second story in the novel and aptly named as the blood flows through all the events in this tale of vengeance and vigilante justice. There is a common link of attacks between the two stories that remains unsettled at the end as does so much else here.

The virus remains a phenomenal character all it own, as it’s continuing mutations bring new challenges, questions, and pain to Roan, Dylan and everyone else around him. Andrea Speed has sprinkled some truly tantalizing notions throughout the novel, a sentence here, a snippet there, that had the ability to bring me to an absolute standstill when I extrapolated them out in my mind. One involves a painting Dylan had in mind when thinking of Roan and wondering if it could happen. Where that thought took me made me breathless with anticipation for Roan and his future.

So this rollercoaster called Infected has come down from the stratosphere, depositing me earthbound once more, leaving me with more questions,more stymied and with more anticipation than ever before. What a magnificent job Andrea Speed has done with Shift. I can’t wait to see where she takes Roan next. I will be sure to follow.

Cover: These Infected covers are fantastic. Art work by Anne Cain, design by Mara McKinnon. Dynamic in graphics and design, I just love them. They are available also as wallpaper on Andrea Speed’s website.

The Infected series in order they should be read to fully understand the characters, their backgrounds and storylines:

Infected Prey

Infected Bloodlines

Infected Life After Death

Infected Freefall

Infected Shift

Freedom Is Not Free and the week Ahead

It looks as though the sun might come out for our Memorial Weekend here in Maryland after all, humid but at least it’s sunny. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Please don’t forget to spare up time to think about our veterans, what they have sacrificed for us and the Nation. With so many still fighting abroad and many more fighting to survive their injuries here at home, take the time to send a prayer if you are religious, send thanks if you are not and perhaps visit a memorial. If you are close by, start with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial here in DC and Arlington Cemetery in Virginia. Two places where service, honor, and sacrifice spreads out before us in stark contrast to each other. One in black, one in white. Unforgettable and painful in every way.

Freedom Is Not Free is a website dedicated to aiding wounded service members, their families and the families of the fatally wounded. Listed here are poems from the enlisted honoring veterans and sharing what it means to them to be a part of the military. Be prepared with tissues, as many of these poems strike straight into your heart.

My thoughts also turn to the fallen gay soldiers for whom the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was far too late. Let us not forget their additional sacrifice as well. I would leave you with these images for Memorial Weekend: