Tag: author B. A. Tortuga

A MelanieM Review: Calling His Bluff (Club Raven #3) by B.A. Tortuga

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

callinghisbluff1400x2100Patrick’s loss is Remy’s gain.

A Club Raven Novel

After his twin dies in battle, it’s Patrick Daniels’ duty to marry his brother’s fiancée. Too bad he can’t make himself do it, and in his distress, he manifests a psychic talent that’s stronger than the tornadoes in his native East Texas. Then a mysterious man from a place called Club Raven steps in and sweeps Patrick off to the booming East Coast city of Baltimore.

Club Raven veteran Remy Blanchard sees Patrick and knows, even though Patrick is very ill, that this is the challenge he’s been waiting for. He nurses Patrick back to health, and begins to teach Patrick to control his talent. His methods might be unconventional, and Patrick might be new to the kinds of sexual games Remy knows best, but the two of them find something in each other that might be just as magical as the gentleman’s club where they meet.

 

Calling His Bluff (Club Raven #3) by B.A. Tortuga is the best of the 3 Club Raven stories in my opinion.  All three are have at their center Club Raven, a mysterious living structure located at the locus of paranormal and/or supernatural power.  On the outside its a gentlemen’s club for the wealthy with kinky tastes, occasional dungeon parties in the 1890’s sort of thing but inside?  It houses men (and beings) with varying powers who conduct research, provide their own sort of paranormal law enforcement, power training, well, they do whatever they feel is necessary to protect themselves and the fact that paranormals exist.  It  provides these authors with a broad base with which to have their stories and character flow in whatever direction they choose within the vaguest of constraints.  There is only a  small circle of characters that interact with each other in each story.  And yes, all three definitely use the BDSM and D/s elements in their relationships.

Here, B.A. Tortuga uses those two elements in the strongest most logical manner.  Its also one of the reasons I feel this is the best of the three stories.  That and the characters have layers, real depth to them lacking in the other stories.

Patrick Daniels’ twin brother has died on the battlefield that Patrick survived.  Those circumstances are mysterious but now he’s being pushed by his family to marry his brother’s fiancée and take over his brother’s responsibilities.  There’s a couple of problems with this plan of his father’s.  One is Patrick’s attraction to men (not a legal or understandable thing in the 1890’s).  The other?  A head injury that has left Patrick with memory issues and now the power to call up a power with enough destructive force to blowup buildings.  Of course, his family would call it the devil in him.  So he’s hauled off in a cage to Club Raven.

Tortuga gives us the man with memories that come and go, flashes of something full of pain, stresses that bring on power he can’t control, and a wound in the back of his head he won’t let anyone near.  He’s a danger to himself and everyone around him.  The choices are dire.  Kill him or teach him.  Immediately.

This is where Remy Blanchard comes in.  Another great character who understands and sees something in this young, wounded man.  And not just because Patrick is gorgeous.  But his pain and need.  In so many ways, Patrick is a blank slate because of his wounds (physical and emotional).  Here the D/s dynamics make sense as does the need for the relationship to start immediately.  There is no time for them to move slowly because of the threat Patrick’s uncontrolled power poses to everyone (towns) in the vicinity and the possible exposure of paranormals to the outside world.  Something to be avoided at all costs. Still Remy is as gentle and kind as he can be.

I actually wanted to rate this story higher yet a few things held me back.   One was some of the unanswered questions that remained at the end of the story.  I wasn’t sure if that was because the author intended on revisiting this couple or what have you.  I don’t want to go into these “holes” here but they pertain to Patrick’s history and brother.  It was hinted at and I kept coming up with several possible options of my own.  But to never know exactly what the truth was is still a teeth grinding issue.  Other than that?  Just an terrific tale.  Read this, skip the other two. And yes, I hope BA Tortuga eventually comes back to this and gives me the answers I seek about Patrick and his brother.

Cover art  again works for the series branding and for the characters in the story.

Sales Links

Evil Plot Bunny | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 201 pages
Published January 17th 2017 by Evil Plot Bunny LLC
ISBN139781942831426
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesClub Raven #3

Club Raven Blog Tour for BA Tortuga, Julia Talbot, and Kiernan Kelly (3 books, one series)

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Title: Calling His Bluff, Happy Medium, and Wishful Thinking

Author: BA Tortuga, Julia Talbot, and Kiernan Kelly

Series Title and Number: Club Raven, Books 1-3

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: January 17, 2016

Pairing: M/M

Genre/Tags: Romance, Paranormal, Historical, Alternate Universe, Spanking, Mediums, Mind Readers

Add Calling His Bluff to Goodreads

Add Happy Medium to Goodreads

Add Wishful Thinking to Goodreads

Synopsis

callinghisbluff1400x2100Calling His Bluff by BA Tortuga

After his twin dies in battle, it’s Patrick Daniels’ duty to marry his brother’s fiancée. Too bad he can’t make himself do it, and in his distress, he manifests a psychic talent that’s stronger than the tornadoes in his native East Texas. Then a mysterious man from a place called Club Raven steps in and sweeps Patrick off to the booming East Coast city of Baltimore.

Club Raven veteran Remy Blanchard sees Patrick and knows, even though Patrick is very ill, that this is the challenge he’s been waiting for. He nurses Patrick back to health, and begins to teach Patrick to control his talent. His methods might be unconventional, and Patrick might be new to the kinds of sexual games Remy knows best, but the two of them find something in each other that might be just as magical as the gentleman’s club where they meet.

Happy Medium by Julia Talbothappymedium-1

Andrew is out to debunk Max as a medium, not make love to him…

Max Bellame is working his way through 1870s Baltimore as a medium, even if he knows nothing about spirits. He uses the power of his mind to move objects, convincing his clients he’s the real thing.

Andrew Meechum works for Club Raven, a gentleman’s club that doubles as a paranormal research facility. He sets out to debunk Max, only to be fascinated by the man. Can Andrew convince Max to take a chance on love, and to find his true calling as a medium, or will their personal demons force them apart?

Wishful Thinking by Kiernan Kellywishfulthinking

Tony Brazzio, co-owner of Club Raven, Baltimore’s premiere men’s club in 1875, has a pocketful of cash and a chip on his shoulder. He’s out to prove to his co-owners — and himself — that he’s not a fluke, that anyone can be successful give the opportunity, no matter how poor his beginnings.

Bull O’Brian and Dandy Gilroy are two hoodlums from the rough streets of New York’s Five Points. They’re pickpockets by trade, and both possess psychic talents that make them two of the best. When Tony offers to bring them to Baltimore and give them the chance at a life of riches in polite society, they jump at the chance, if only to steal the members of Club Raven blind.

The best of plans rarely work the way they’re intended, and things swiftly go from bad to worse for Dandy and Bull. There’s murder afoot and a detective on their trail, and not even copious amounts of hot, sweaty sex can ease their fear or guilt.

As for Tony, he’s faced with admitting his experiment is a failure, something he’s loathe to do. It’ll take a great deal of persuasion, a little luck, and a lot of lube to make sure his plans for Dandy and Bull become more than just wishful thinking.

Purchase

Purchase all three Club Raven novels below!

Calling His Bluff: Evil Plot Bunny | Amazon

Happy Medium: Evil Plot Bunny | Amazon

Wishful Thinking: Evil Plot Bunny | Amazon

Meet the Authors

BA Tortuga

Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting, and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.

Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head.

You can find out more about her by following her online.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Julia Talbot

Julia Talbot lives in the great Southwest, where there is hot and cold running rodeo, cowboys, and everything from meat and potatoes to the best Tex-Mex. A full time author, Julia has been published by Samhain Publishing, Dreamspinner Press and Changeling Press. She believes in stories that leave a mark, and that everyone deserves a happy ending, so she writes about love without limits, where boys love boys, girls love girls, and boys and girls get together to get wild, especially when her crazy paranormal characters are involved.

You can find out more about her by following her online.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram

Kiernan Kelly

Kiernan’s award-winning stories of gay romance envelop diverse themes, varying from paranormal, to fantasy, and science fiction to contemporary romance. She has over eighty titles in ebook and print, published through a variety of houses. Her horror short story release, “Cletus,” appears in the Coscom Publishing’s book “Bits of the Dead.”

Kiernan also writes young adult GLBT fiction under her Dakota Chase pen name. As Dakota, she currently has three novels and several shorter works available in print and ebook. Mad About the Hatter, her YA gay romance, is a finalist for the American Library Association book list for 2017.

You can find out more about her by following her online.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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