Tag: Author K.M. Avery

Review:  The Past in the Present (Beyond the Veil Book 9) by KM Avery

Rating: 5🌈

The Past in the Present (Beyond the Veil Book 9) by KM Avery is an outstanding piece of work by Avery in a series full of great novels.  

The Past in the Present, Beyond the Veil book 9, finishes Seth and Elliot’s journey and inter-series trilogy. 

Seth Mays and Elliot Crane have slowly made themselves into a couple, with Seth just now moving into Elliot’s home on the reservation and Seth working on his firefighter credentials in Shawano, Wisconsin.

Then a shattering phone call from a Sheriff’s Office in Staunton, Virginia , involving his estranged parents, saying his mother has been murdered , and his father is missing, presumably dead.  Noah, Seth’s young brother has been held for questioning in connection with the deaths. The nightmare of Seth’s past is back and he’s got to go back to a place where he promised himself and Noah  he would never have to return. Home. 

The Past in the Present is a haunting, complex, and deeply moving story. It’s dark, layered with the characters past, horrific damaged history, fully immersed in their current tumultuous lives and relationships, and folded into the twisted ways the Arcanavirus settled into certain parts of the country and communities. 

It brings Seth and Elliott’s relationship into a more intimate and complete sense of balance between them, letting Elliott see firsthand what Seth (as well Noah) traumatic adolescent upbringing was like and what they endured before they escaped their father and family. It’s a horror story at times and the author’s note of trigger warnings at the beginning should be read. 

This is also an excellent labyrinthine mystery about the current murder investigation, Seth’s family, wills, and an extreme religious sect. This aspect of The Past in the Present brings in our favorite elf agent, Val Hart (Elliot’s best friend) and his new FBI boss, Tiger shifter, Raj, who will figure in the next series group. 

It’s both a psychological mystery and action horror thriller. A well thought out story of two individuals who have overcome their differences and fears to become a true couple and have a stronger relationship. And it’s one man’s story to work through his personal demons and struggles with self worth and find peace in himself and his own new life. 

I can’t imagine a better story or journey for Seth than the one Avery had written here. It’s just that exceptional. 

Each story often sends me back to reread a certain moment in the series that made me realize how amazing the characters and each element is. 

And now to wait on Rayn’s voice. Highly recommended. 

Series couples to date (not standalone):

Ward’s story (1-3): 

The Ghost in the Hall 

The Boy in the Locked Room 

The Skeleton Under the Stairs. 

Hart’s story (4-6): 

The Dog in the Alley 

The Bones in the Yard 

The Elf Beside Himself 

Seth’s story (7-9): 

The Turning of the Tables 

The Badger in his Burrow 

The Past in the Present 

Rayn’s Story (10 +) (coming 2025-2026) 

Buy Link

        The Past in the Present (Beyond the Veil Book 9)

    

Blurb 

Everything was finally going well. I had a job I liked, a man I loved, and a future we were building together.

And then the past came back to haunt me—and now I have to go back to the house in Appalachia where my parents had made my childhood a living hell. Where Noah and I had been broken, over and over, as the people who were supposed to love and protect us tried to turn us into something we weren’t and would never be.

It was a place I’d never wanted to go again.

But I now I have to. Because the parents I never meant to speak to again are dead, and Noah’s fingerprints were found all over the kitchen.

I didn’t know why Noah went back, what had happened to my parents, or whether my psyche was going to make it through a trip back to middle-of-nowhere rural Virginia. Or my relationship. I’d finally managed to convince Elliot to give me a chance, and he was about to find out about a lot of skeletons in a very deep, very dark closet.

I could only hope that he’d be willing to help me bury the bones.

Book 3 in Seth’s Story

  • Publication date: June 27, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 370 pages
  • Book 9 of 9: Beyond the Veil

Review: The Elf Beside Himself (Beyond the Veil Book 6) by KM Avery

Rating: 5🌈

The Elf Beside Himself finishes PI Valentine Hart’s storyline group within the Beyond the Veil series.

This paranormal series has been following a format that sees each wildly different couple, each of whom has been effected by the Arcanavirus in various ways, through the all the travails of their intense relationships. The author creates such a wonderful, culturally diverse group of backgrounds for each character. And then, using mysteries, police cases, and ghosts of the dead, weaves in the expanding series themes of magic, bigotry, speciesism, deep persecution that occurs when something happens to scare people into believing propaganda or giving into their own worst fears. In this case a disease, the Arcanavirus which changes people into paranormal beings, if they live through it.

Avery’s plots has Human Only Rights groups out in the streets, in gangs, working against any nonhuman creature, as well focusing on the neglect that indigenous peoples criminal cases often face from various law enforcement agencies that allow the criminal to go unpunished. Its layers upon layers in believable, heartbreaking detail.

And each book sees this element only increasing in depth and alarm as the groups grow stronger. It all seems so familiar.

In this story, Val Hart, an elf made due to the Arcanavirus and his dog shifter lover, Taavi Camal, are headed back to Val’s hometown of Shawano, Wisconsin. Its land of the cheese, frigid winter weather, small town Community values and memories of when Val was normal and forgettable. But his childhood friend’s father has died, a man Val also considered family. And his best friend has asked him for his help.

Avery builds such gripping narratives because the author starts with creating compelling complex characters, ones who have histories the reader can in some way relate to, and then place them into extraordinary circumstances. Circumstances that require imagination, intelligence and are often difficult for the reader and characters to comprehend or undergo.

Here in The Elf Beside Himself there is a boatload of emotional elements and personal/professional/life issues to unpack and explore. It starts with deep grief for Gregory Crane, father of his best friend Elliot. Both men badger shifters, as well as members of the Ho Chunk and Mamaceqtaw tribes. The heartfelt grieving continues as investigative factors points to persecution and increased violence towards shifters and indigenous peoples.

Hart is also dealing with bringing Taavi home to meet everyone for the first time under extreme pressure and intense conditions. When they’re just 2.5 months into their relationship and unprepared for the situation, winter weather, and family scrutiny.

Hart, who has been a favorite of mine since he appeared on the page, just shows all the vulnerability, the growth, and depth of his character in the various situations that arise here. Especially in the complex relationships between himself, Taavi, and Elliot.

The writing is exceptional, the characters are so memorable, and well plotted storylines will feed into the next group flawlessly as Seth and Elliot are set up to start a new trilogy while enlarging on the anti-magic, human first movement that’s growing.

I’m so invested. If you aren’t already familiar, go back to the first book and begin your journey there. It’s a fabulous read and a series you will love.

Highly recommended!

Beyond the Veil Series which is broken into couples stories, see below (books need to be read in order they are written for relationships and events development):

Ward’s story (1-3):

The Ghost in the Hall

The Boy in the Locked Room

The Skeleton Under the Stairs.

Hart’s story (4-6):

The Dog in the Alley

The Bones in the Yard

The Elf Beside Himself

Seth’s story (7 +):

The Turning of the Tables (2024/2025)

Buy link

The Elf Beside Himself (Beyond the Veil Book 6)

Blurb

Nothing can prepare you for the phone call from your best friend telling you his dad was murdered. Not even if you’re a former homicide cop.

But here I am, getting on a plane to fly halfway across the country to hold his hand and hope to hell that I’m not walking into a complete disaster.

Who am I kidding?

The police think Gregory Crane killed himself, or at least that’s what they’re telling us, but Elliot is sure they’re wrong. And the dead man can’t tell us what happened, either, so I’m going to have to use good old-fashioned detective work to figure this one out. Except I’m not a cop anymore and all my contacts are half a country away.

Add to that the fact that the state I’m in is in the middle of a huge anti-magic movement, and everywhere I turn I have people spitting in my face and calling me a freak.

My mother is going ballistic, my father is threatening to sue the police department, and I’m trying to juggle a brand-new relationship and my falling-apart oldest friend from childhood.

Yeah, you could say I’m beside myself.

Now if only I can hold it together long enough to put together the pieces, maybe, just maybe I can manage to get through this without losing my best friend, my boyfriend, or my life. Whether or not I lose my mind is pretty low on the list of priorities—I’m willing to give that up if only I can keep the rest.

• Publication date: September 29, 2023

• Language: English

• Print length: 427 pages

Review: The Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil Book 4) by K. M. Avery

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Dog in the Alley switches over from focusing on the relationship between medium/warlock Edward Campion and his partner Dr Mason Manning, orc, witch and respected historian and Edward’s magical growth. That’s was the primary theme of books one to three.

Now the focus turns to Detective Valentine Hart a great character and personal favorite. Hart, an important element in all the prior stories, was changed by the Arcanavirus into a 6’5” violet eyed gorgeous elf who presents himself as a coldly effective, wry, snarky personality who barely tolerates the bureaucracy of the political system and police department he works within. He’s gruff, unbearably rough while being one of the few types of Nids the human population can tolerate simply because he’s beautiful, a elf Fairy Prince of the folklore made a breathing being. Unlike the ghouls, vampires, death witches, shifters and other beings once formerly human who are hated, protested against, and even killed.

Here K. M. Avery explores Hart’s surprising history, reveals the true nature underneath the “sarcastic , cold“ persona Hart uses as a shield,

and brings in a shatteringly horrific case that both ties into the previous stories and yet adds another layer of the growing abuse that the Nid population is suffering under.

Avery also introduces several characters that are just fascinating. One is the dog of the title. I have a slight issue in that we only get partial foundation for what is a major character. Most of that is in his dog form which, admittedly, is utterly adorable. But the man? Remains a bit of a mystery.

The other is a Tiger shifter. He too is a main character who appears to have a journey in the series but is this the last book? I don’t know.

The ending is somewhat abrupt. Both in terms of what has happened in terms of our detective in his life, professionally. We get a here’s where he is now . And the same hint of a surprise in another direction.

After everything that’s gone on, it’s a light ending for a very serious, heavier narrative.

The Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil Book 4) by K. M. Avery is about one of my favorite characters, Detective Hart. It does a excellent job in making a fascinating character even more richly layered. My only issue is that the author just didn’t completely stick the ending. It didn’t quite live up to the complex, well plotted , parts that went before.

I certainly hope the author intends to go on. It’s a great series and is full of characters and elements that haven’t been fully explored yet.

I’m definitely recommending. This and the series.

Beyond The Veil series:

✓ The Ghost in the Hall #1

✓ The Boy in the Locked Room #2

✓ The Skeleton Under the Stairs #3

◦ The Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil Book 4) m

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showThe Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil, #4) by K.M. Avery

Description:

Some days, an elf can’t get a break.

I’m overworked, underpaid and underappreciated, and up to my lavender eyeballs in missing and murdered shifters. To make matters worse, I’ve acquired a dog.

Sort of.

He’s not actually a dog. I don’t know his name or anything about him other than the fact that he’s mostly hairless and is blind in one eye—and he’s a witness to one of the unsolved shifter murders that’s keeping me up at night. We found him at a crime scene, injured and scared, and I just can’t make myself lock him up for obstruction of justice, even though I probably should.

He won’t shift back, so here I am with a dog that isn’t a dog following me everywhere and eating off my plate every time I turn around.

The weirdest part is that I’m not sure I want to go back to living without him constantly underfoot.

A slow-burn M/M Paranormal Shifter Romance
Book 4 in the Beyond the Veil Series

———-

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

Review: The Skeleton Under The Stairs (Beyond the Veil #3) by K.M. Avery

Rating: 4.5 🌈

The Skeleton Under The Stairs is the third book in the Beyond the Veil series and the one that wraps up Ward and Mason’s section of the series.

And while it’s a much better story then the previous one, The Boy in the Locked Room #2, it still leaves so many elements, minor to major, dangling within this couple’s story thread that I find it hard to think it successfully finalizes their part in the series arc.

The main couple consists of Ward Campion, medium via the magical ability granting Arcanavirus, who now has new magical abilities that point to him being a warlock. That new power, plus the recent combination of his business with Lost Lineage Foundation, which helps those find their deceased family, and their upcoming marriage, has him overly stressed about finances and insecurities.

His partner, Mason Manning, ex professor, historian, witch , orc, also has his problems. His very young nephew is a death witch and just coming into his powers. The only people who can reasonably help him are Mason and the overly stressed Edward.

I do like how Avery doesn’t play down Ward’s feelings about taking on a child with terrifying unstable powers into their home when he also feels that he needs Mason’s time and care too. He’s still very vulnerable, the trial for his assault coming up. And then there’s new murders to investigate.

You feel every bit as overwhelmed as Ward does.. He’s a bit ashamed that he’s reluctant to take on a child who needs them, but that’s wholly human.

More so because that child, Jackson, is beautifully characterized and real. His cries for help are heart wrenching.

The shadow magical organization, Antiquus Ordo Arcanum , that’s behind so many horrors, returns in a terrifying mystery that’s the title theme.

We get new fascinating ghosts, new magical powers, and elements as viewed and used by multiple characters. It’s another well done section.

The relationship between Mason and Ward continues to strengthen as each becomes more aware of each other’s issues, theirs feelings that hurt and help the bond they have grow. Avery, thankfully, toned down the number of sex scenes to allow page time for the couple to work through important issues as they came up when certain events triggered them.

There’s a wonderful dramatic climax but it’s hindered by a lack of foundation laid for the final events, that some pivotal elements and key players were allowed to just fade away, while others curiously stayed. As well as the fact that the criminals /company weren’t exactly dissolved but disbanded.

There are other small threads left dangling too. Jackson ‘s power. Ward’s power , the strange tingling in his back. I could go on about elements brought up and either discarded or forgotten.

It just seems as though there’s another book in Ward and Mason’s story needed to finish their story off.

Especially since the fourth book is Detective Hart’s.

So this is a wonderful book but not a great one. There’s many terrific elements, especially the Arcanavirus that changes people but that aspect too is delegated to the background other than people wearing masks in order not to catch it . It’s a shame because that’s a fascinating concept that got sidelined after the first book.

I’ll recommend it , with reservations about the second story. This is the best of the three. If you enjoy paranormal stories, check it out.

I’ll be picking up Hart’s story when it rolls out.

Beyond The Veil series:

✓ The Ghost in the Hall #1

✓ The Boy in the Locked Room #2

✓ The Skeleton Under the Stairs #3

◦ The Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil Book 4) – Oct 27, 2022 Detective Hart’s story

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Skeleton Under the Stairs (Beyond the Veil #3) by K.M. Avery | Goodreads

Synopsis:

There was a poltergeist on the stairs.

And she wasn’t the only one.

The house was full of restless spirits—all of them killed by the Antiquus Ordo Arcanum, a secret society that didn’t seem to care much for the welfare of either the living or the dead. And Mason and I—along with Hart and Sylvia—are right in the middle of it.

Again.

If that weren’t enough, Mason’s nephew, Jackson, is starting to have nightmares, and when you’re from a family of witches, that can only mean one thing—your power is growing, and you’ve also just become a threat to your own family. In our case, that means Jackson has to come live with us so that Mason can help him learn to control his power, which means that my home life is just about as chaotic—and dangerous—as my work life. Let me tell you, I’m getting pretty sick of hospitals and bandages and sleepless nights.

Oh, and I think I might be a warlock.

Things are going from chaos to worse, and somehow we still have to plan a wedding. And we haven’t so much as picked out the cake.

HEA M/M Paranormal Romance

Book Three in the Beyond the Veil Series

The final book in Mason & Ward’s story

Book One: The Ghost in the Hall

Book Two: The Boy in the Locked Room

———-

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

Review: The Boy in the Locked Room (Beyond the Veil #2) by K.M. Avery

Rating: 3.75🌈

The Boy in the Locked Room is a good example of second book syndrome. The first story sets the characters and world building. The second story needs to continue that momentum going, while further developing the storylines (if that’s the format the author’s chosen) as well as allowing for character growth.

It definitely shouldn’t raise more issues than it does contribute towards a bettering a relationship with the characters and the series arc the author’s laying out.

Which is my problem with The Boy in the Locked Room . See full list at the bottom.

At the end of The Ghost in the Hall , a book I loved btw, the MC the medium, Edward Campion, had become paralyzed from the waist down, due to a battle with a evil spirit.

Avery’s descriptions of Ward dealing with his long recovery, his disability and it’s very real impact on every aspect of his life is raw, filled with tears, darkness, and is absolutely believable.

Ward isn’t thinking about the boy who needs saving. And still visits him nightly, albeit rarely in the beginning of the book. Ward is rightfully concerned with his own personal issues. His business, which is taking a hit because of his recovery. He’s depressed and feeling too dependent on others, like his orc Professor boyfriend, Mason . They’ve moved in together but even that’s feeling out of sync. The adjustment isn’t going smoothly.

This is where I’m conflicted because Avery does an incredible job with Ward in this situation , once having made the decision to injure Ward so severely in the story. However, it now becomes so much a part of the current story that any other subjects or threads are relegated to a lesser narrative status.

Including the boy in the locked room.

What comes next in the high percentage of scenes after the turmoil of Ward adjusting to his disability and new reality is his sex life. Or rather his and Mason’s. This does dovetail into how both parties are relating to each other physically and emotionally after Ward’s trauma.

But, there’s so many that just as we start with a scene or storyline that’s connected to Rayn, the tormented boy that’s dream walking, and crying out for help, it’s stopped. And we’re back to yet another sex scene.

The entire subject of the book’s title is given very little space until the story is halfway finished which is a shame because the horror and mystery is a excellent idea, but truly not given the depth or details it needs.

So where did the space go to? Chapter 19. A chapter the author themselves states, in a Dear Readers note within the book , can be skipped over because it includes,“an attempted sexual assault in Chapter 19. Readers who have survived similar experiences may be more comfortable skipping ahead to Chapter 20.” Avery has written a raw, graphic scene that’s hard to read, where a vulnerable person is being sexually assaulted. This includes a suspenseful build up as well as the scene itself. It’s the entire chapter.

This also includes a trip to the hospital, rape kit scene, and police investigation. Raw and brutal, as it would be.

There’s one impactful magical element that’s of note. It could be referenced or brought into this story another way outside of this chapter.

So my issue and question is, if a full chapter and entire major aspect of a plot and character storyline be skipped over, is it really necessary to begin with? Especially one that’s so traumatic, carries with it triggers, and deep emotional pain ?

Was it just needed to bring that one magical development to light?

That’s a chapter that could have been used to further the complicated history and horror that’s Rayn. Or any of the other ghosts or families asking Ward and Mason for assistance. Some including Sylvia are fantastic.

And let’s not forget the fantastic elf Detective Hart. His role here was enlarged, remarkable, and again makes me want a series just for him.

So for me? The Boy in the Locked Room (Beyond the Veil #2) by K.M. Avery suffered from :

✓ too many sex scenes, which leads to

✓ a lack of concentration on the actual title subject matter,

✓ the fact it contains an entire chapter devoted to a brutal attempted sexual assault that the author said could be skipped . So is it really necessary?

Final question. If a book has wonderful characters, great ideas, and moments where it seems to come together but just didn’t because of every reason I just stated, would you be recommending it?

I’ll leave you to decide the final answer.

Beyond The Veil series:

✓ The Ghost in the Hall #1

✓ The Boy in the Locked Room #2

◦ The Skeleton Under the Stairs #3

https://www.amazon.com › Locked-…The Boy in the Locked Room (Beyond the Veil Book 2) Kindle Edition – Amazon.com

Synopsis:

Sometimes dreams aren’t just dreams…

The boy begging for help in my nightmares is very real. He’s trapped, and it’s up to me and Mason to get him out. The trouble is, we have to find him first.

It would be a lot easier if we weren’t also trying to solve a series of magical murders and deal with my horrible ex-boyfriend at the same time.

Oh, and on top of that, I’m trying to make this relationship work, but that’s not the easiest thing to do when you’re a magnet for ghosts and murderers, your ex is a complete narcissist, and your boyfriend is an orc witch.

As they say, when it rains, it pours.

A HFN, M/M Paranormal Romance—book two in Mason and Ward’s story.

Book Two of Beyond the Veil.

Book One: The Ghost in the Hall

(TW: Attempted on page graphic sexual assault)

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