Tag: author Xavier Axelson

A MelanieM Review: Velvet by Xavier Axelson

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

When an irresistible discovery unravels the forbidden secrets of a man’s heart, the very fabric of his existence is threatened.

Virago is the royal tailor of a corrupt prince. Left to care for his blind brother, Virago devotes himself to his trade until an unexpected delivery changes his life, and a wandering minstrel knocks on his door. What he discovers will test the bonds of brotherhood and unravel the forbidden secrets of his heart.

Loosely based on the 14th Century Laws of Sumptuary, Velvet takes readers to a land where cruelty is disguised as allegiance, loyalty is masked by obligation, and the laws of sumptuary govern the people. But nothing is more dangerous than Velvet.

Velvet by Xavier Axelson has all the elements I’ve come to expect from an Xavier Axelson story.  The language is lyrical, hints of the mystical float through the narrative, and the overhaul effect is just plain haunting as a whole.

From the start, the tone is set as Virago is on board a ship.   Virago stands next to a heavily pregnant woman who’s unborn child is a seer interested in Virago.  From there, Virago recounts the journey that has led to this voyage and his strange circumstances.

From happy child with a famous, loving tailor father in a kingdom ruled by a benevolent king to a man living under the rule of a unhinged cruel despot, Virago and his brother undergo so many changes here.  Primarily Virago because he is the character who has had blinders on about so much for most of his life.  About his sexuality, about the prince and his true characters, and about those the prince has “considered his true friends and brothers”.  Things his blind brother has been aware of for far too long.

All changes  when a new fabric comes into Virago’s hands…something called velvet.  Soon an obsession and more is born just as a musician, Seton, arrives for the King’s coronation.  A sexuality awakens, forbidden by law and punishable by death.  So too does a sickness arrive in the city.

Axelson weaves a tale of revenge, cruelty, discovery, passion, and love in Velvet.  You’re never sure if this is an historical novel or if dragons will soon appear because there is an air of heavy mysticism about it that bespeaks of darkness and otherness.

As with most of Axelson’s romances, Virago and Seton find love rather quickly but here it feels natural or rather that fact is subdued under all the  other  elements here.  Perhaps it’s that all the threads are equal, the velvet vest, Virago’s feelings, the whore’s revenge, the peacocks, the court, and more.  It all builds to an uneasy crescendo.

Never was I so happy for that beginning.

Velvet will haunt you.  It leaves you with questions that will never be answered, and scenes that linger on in your mind.  That’s why I read this author.  And you should too.  I absolutely recommend Velvet as a lovely starting place.

Cover art: Winterheart Ink Designs.  Haunting, beautiful cover that is perfect for the story.

Sales Links:  JMS Books LLC | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 161 pages
Published March 24th 2018 by JMS Books LLC (first published October 25th 2012)
Original TitleVelvet
ASINB079ZXG57T

A MelanieM Review: Earthly Concerns by Xavier Axelson

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

It was a peaceful night when Barrett and his daughter were driving home … then something happened. Something sinister.

Something took Barrett’s daughter from him.

Now the only person Barrett can turn to for help is Anson, a man gifted with psychic abilities beyond reason. But Anson is also his ex-boyfriend, a man whose heart he’d already broken.

As Anson delves deeper into the circumstances surrounding Barrett’s accident, he begins to realize he’s in a race against time. Whatever has taken Barrett’s daughter is a force of evil beyond anything either man has ever encountered.

Can both men put aside their heartaches and past to save Barrett’s daughter from an entity that has the power to destroy them all?

It was supposed to be a simple drive home for Barrett and his young daughter, Hilary.  But she was restless.  Kept saying there was something, a large black bird, on the roof of the car.  Then they crashed and when he came to his daughter was missing.  Not dead, not run away, gone.  In desperation and half out of his mind, Barrett turns to the man he rejected, whose heart he had broken because he could not accept his own sexuality, Anson.

Anson hears and sees things not of this earth.  Like his Aunt Cyn, those that dwell in the in between or beyond are visible, are tangible, and oh so very real.  When he answers Barrett’s call for help, he is plunged into emotional turmoil.  Anson is still reeling from Barrett’s rejection.  A Barrett that scoffed when Anson told him of his special abilities. Now Barrett wants him to use that very same gift to help him find his daughter and bring her back.  Anson wants to hang up on Barrett.  But the heart wants what the heart wants and he wants Barrett.  Beyond all logic, beyond all reason and in face of known heartache and despair, he still wants and desires him.  So Anson agrees because as his Aunt Cyn says “If you can see, then you must help…”   Even if the cost is beyond all earthly concerns.

Earthly Concerns has so many levels at which to appreciate it.  I love how Xavier Axelson builds our knowledge of Anson without resorting to physical descriptions of his person.    Anson uses ice trays and sleeps with his windows open, letting the night air and sounds reach him.  Bookshelves sit next to his bed along with crystal from his Aunt Cyn.  With each descriptive paintstroke, slowly a picture of Anson appears, that of a man living simply and in tune with his surroundings with all their layers.  For Anson, those layers go beyond our realities and into the darkness beyond.

Insects play a major role here, from the mundane to harbingers of the supernatural.  It is to the sound of a beetle banging against the screen that first awakens Anson, and then the featherly brushing of antennae, real or imagined, against his shin.  You know the feeling.  We have all had them.  We feel the hair on our skin move ever so slightly.  And we react violently running our hands over the offending section of skin, to no avail, not sure if anything was there to begin with.  The pages are full of such imagery.  Broken carapaces and the fluttering of moths wings, all portend the darkness that is coming.

And come it does, riding on vague shadows, crawling under the loose skin of wallpaper, flying on the wings of black crows, crawling from the broken cavity of a tree.  Xavier leaves you to fill in the dark spaces with your own imagination as Anson and Barrett seek to uncover the truth behind the accident and Hilary’s fate.

I love the way Xavier plays with words as he builds his story.  With lyrical sentences and imagery both beautiful and foreboding, we are alternately filled with anticipation and dread as the end draws near.  I find the sexual interludes, past and present, less successful as they break up the mood he has so carefully built.  They seem jarring, and out of character but perhaps that is his point.  I also found Barrett something of an enigma.  I could not get a handle on him, other than as a bereft father and emotionally unavailable man.  That inability made it hard for me to care what happens to him even as his daughter, Hilary, commands our empathy.  By the end of the story, that impression had not changed for me. He still came across as more of a user, someone less than trustworthy.

I think it is the ending that most readers will have issues with, especially given what I said above.  Xavier Axelson leaves us with a glimpse into second chances without telling us exactly how all the characters arrived at that path and what their final destination is. I find that it is in keeping with the story.  Fulfilling or terribly frustrating?  That will depend upon the reader.  If you must actually see a bird to know it there, then you will go away dissatisfied.  But if you can accept the existence of a bird by seeing a shadow or hearing its wings beat against the air, then you will love this. I think I hear the cawing of a crow and the skittering of a beetle nearby.  A perfect story for a October night.

Cover art is a nice update.  Dark, haunting and I liked the model chosen for Anson.

Sales Links:  JMS Books LLC | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 81 pages
Published September 2nd 2017 by JMS Books LLC (first published January 1st 2012)
ASINB074RLNSCM

Review Tour for Xavier Axelson’s Lavender (giveaway)

 
Buy Links: JMS Books | Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Length: 23,619 words
 
Publisher: JMS Books
 
Blurb
 

Following the sudden death of his father, Lawrence “Law” Crow must not only comfort his bereaved mother, but also find the strength to continue running the family business, a local and beloved lavender farm in the mountains of northern California. At first, consumed with his own grief and struggling to find meaning in life, Law indulges in his vices, mainly by surrendering to his sexual urges with numerous men, all in a desperate battle to forget his pain and to end the emotional turmoil tearing him apart.


But when a stunningly handsome and passionate Spanish soccer player named Garbi suddenly crosses his path, Law discovers light in the possibility of love. Does Garbi have the ability to heal Law’s shattered heart, provide him with purpose, and help him fully embrace the joy of living once again amidst the beautiful and fragrant lavender fields?



September 6 – Alpha Book Club
September 11 – My Fiction Nook, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
September 15 – Gay Book Reviews, Jim’s Reading Room
September 18 – Making It Happen, Sarandipity Book Reviews
September 20 – Bayou Book Junkie
September 22 – Diverse Reader
September 25 – Bayou Book Junkie, Diverse Reader

Read Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review of Lavender by Xavier Axelson here.  Its one of our recommended stories.
Author Bio
 

Xavier Axelson is a writer and columnist living in Los Angeles. Axelsonís work has been featured in various erotic and horror anthologies including Best Gay Erotica 2016 Volume 2, Best Gay Erotica 2015, Men of The Manor from Cleis Press, The Bears of Winter from Bear Bones Books, Tricks of The Trade from Bold Strokes Books and First Time Dead from May December Publications.


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A MelanieM Review: Lavender by Xavier Axelson

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

 

Following the sudden death of his father, Lawrence “Law” Crow must not only comfort his bereaved mother, but also find the strength to continue running the family business, a local and beloved lavender farm in the mountains of northern California. At first, consumed with his own grief and struggling to find meaning in life, Law indulges in his vices, mainly by surrendering to his sexual urges with numerous men, all in a desperate battle to forget his pain and to end the emotional turmoil tearing him apart.

But when a stunningly handsome and passionate Spanish soccer player named Garbi suddenly crosses his path, Law discovers light in the possibility of love. Does Garbi have the ability to heal Law’s shattered heart, provide him with purpose, and help him fully embrace the joy of living once again amidst the beautiful and fragrant lavender fields?

I read  Xavier Axelson for the lyricism of his narrative.  His words can flow with a beauty that can haunt you, surprising you with their imagery and emotions.  From the synopsis, this seemed perfect for that the sort of story I’ve come to expect from this author in the past.  What I found was a mixture of new and remembered.

There’s a rough, gritty side here that I wasn’t expecting.  On one hand, I think it works well.  Law Crow is deep within the misery of his grief over the death of his father, the hole left by his mother’s fleeing to France, and his inability to deal with it all other than have copious amounts of clinical sex.   That’s exactly what we get when we aren’t getting gorgeous descriptions of the lavender fields, the house and memories.  Almost, textbook anatomy sex.  Maybe for some, it might have some appeal.  I feel that the author was letting us know that Law was mechanically “going through the motions”.  But it was too much for this reader.  Not when he was also delivering this:

“Surrounded by lavender fields, the isolated farmhouse stood out against the sunburned sky. My mother, statuesque and graceful, cut a striking image amidst the swaying lavender, reminding me of a knife stuck in the earth.”

Things improve immeasurably when Garbi enters the novel.  Still tons of sex, but as Law starts to recover emotionally so does the story.  You might say Garbi saves both Law and Lavender.  It’s not that you don’t feel for Law, adrift in his mourning.  It’s that the overwhelming sex takes you away from the story  in a way that distracts you and not in a good way. I get what the author was trying to do but imo it just didn’t work with this reader.

I could see and smell the fields of lavender spread out from the house.  I could imagine the aroma lingering on his clothes and body.  I loved Garbi and his teammates.  There is so much to love here in this story.  The characters and raw emotions that Axelson pulls from them and their scenes makes this story one to read, especially at the end.

The dawn broke across the fields, a sight I never grew tired of experiencing. I approached the lavender with hesitant excitement. I placed the urn on the table and undid the lid. The last knot of grief unwound from my heart, and a lightheaded joy washed over me. In my mind?s eye, I saw him whisking my mother across the wooden floors of the family room, and heard the piano.

Play the keys, Law. It’s time.

There’s so much more after that.  A satisfying ending and a HFN romance amidst lavender fields.  It still remains true, Xavier Axelson has a way with words that makes me want to read his stories.  I can’t wait to see what stories are coming next.

Cover art by Written Ink Designs is lovely, if too purple.  I get why.  Lavender infuses everything about this story so why not the cover.

Sales Links:  JMS Books LLC | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Published July 15th 2017 by JMS Books
ISBN139781634864220

Scary Review Redux: Lily By Xavier Axelson (A MelanieM Review)

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Being a single Dad is hard enough but when Pryor loses his daughter Lily in an unthinkable event he thinks he has experienced the ultimate horror but it’s when Lily returns he realizes his nightmare has only just begun…

LilyWhen Pryor’s daughter Lily is taken by a wolf, Pryor is convinced she has turned into the creature he sees lurking in his woods. He swears she promises to return to him. But is it his despair and desperation making him see things or is there something more lurking in the shadows of the forest?

When he meets Ned, a silversmith who helps him with a plan to bring his daughter back into his life, he begins to live again. But can his newfound love help ease the horror that may be waiting? What if the ultimate horror isn’t when Lily was taken but it’s when Lily returns and he realizes his nightmare has only just begun…Its Father’s Day and two men are waiting for a little girl to appear.  They are waiting for Lily.    Lily, his beloved little girl, had been lost a year ago, dragged off into the woods by a wolf.  In the time since, Pryor, consumed with his loss, has retreated to his cabin, his days numbed by his grief. Only the love and support of  Ned, his partner, and a plan to reclaim his daughter has kept him sane.  And now the time has come to see if she will return to him, if only for a day.

What a marvelous short story Lily is.  Lyrical in language and strong in its empathy for a parent’s pain, it has a singular voice in Pryor, Lily’s father.  To Pryor ” still believe being Lily’s father is the most important thing in this world.”  And you feel that hole in his life so acutely as she described just before she is ripped from him, her hair all “wild and white – blonde”.  Pryor’s voice and his descriptions provide a wealth of clues and information about his past.  He hears voices, whether is the derogatory words of his dead mother, or whispers from the woods.    He described his lover’s beard as his “summer fur”, and stares into the moonlight woods searching for signs of his daughter.   All three characters here are beautifully realized, one heartbroken, one steady and one filled with wildness and innocence.  I love how we are fed bits of information until we can finally spin together the fibers that make up the tapestry that is this family and its tragedy.

There is such a distinctive style to this story, as the mundane are juxtaposed with the magical.  Like silk against the skin, this story glides over into your memory.  I loved this and hope you will feel the same.

New cover, much better than the original.  Adds a little more shiver to the tone with the new font and love the white wolf. Although I am never a fan of a division so severe in the design, the red line here, especially when it bisects the title.  That’s a minus.

 

Sales Links:  Amazon | Buy It Here

Books Details:

ebook, 54 pages, every page a must read
Published May 2014 by Seventh Window Publications (first published January 13th 2012)
ISBN139780989606035
edition languageEnglish