Tag: character death

Review: Brick and Brass (Hammer and Fist: Lextalion Book 2) by Jennifer Cody

Rating: 4.75🌈

If this wasn’t such an exciting and exceedingly well written story, I’d be taking a smidge of rating points away for sheer frustration with Cody over that ending and the fact it’s probably going to be a while before we get around to finding out what happens next.

Yes, no surprise, it’s cliffhanger time again!

This whole universe is so weird and crazy that I have to look back at my notes to remember how things and Cody’s other books fit in with these stories. It’s like a madhatter’s 10, 000 pieces puzzle but cut out into insane shapes.

Thankfully, Cody gives us a recap why Lex is in a coma but mentally aware as the book opens. I had to dig through my memories about the last book for all the events as they happened, complicated as they were by a immense cast of characters, worlds accessible by portals, gods, dragons, aliens, slavers, you name it. Tied together by murders, mysteries, hellacious plots galore and the agents like Lex that work for The Inter-dimensional Immigration Agency—IDIA, the government agency that enforces the laws that govern non-humans on Earth.

So we pick up after that nasty explosion and the search is still on for Dominus, the being/person behind all the slave trafficking/inter dimensional world kidnappings and plain old horrifically bizarre goings on. His identity is unknown, as is why he’s able to make himself disappear into obscurity without a trace.

Cody has to address the blood hexes that tie a Geminatus to him so they’re unable to return to their homeland, as well as Lex being in thrall to Tor, an agent of the IDIA. A huge element itself.

But the author addresses each subject, separating them so they can have the impact and narrative development they deserve, while simultaneously being a fluid piece of the total story fabric. That’s quite the gift.

Tor and Lex especially, as it’s not just Lex that’s feeling the emotional attachment and passions of the bond between them. It’s the monsters he carries within him. And they have different opinions about Tor and the way he should fit into their lives. What a sexually dynamic and hot area of this book and one that adds to my frustration because the cliffhanger cuts short so much of the relationship follow up here , big stuff that’s waiting to happen.

Same for the Geminatus aspect. The “twin” Geminatus born on Earth get a chance to meet a Geminatus born on the planet, and it’s oddly very different and disturbing for both. This is such a huge element that it’s going to be explored in the second of the Geminatus books in the Hammer and Fist:Geminatus series.

That leaves this story with Lex’s character’s greater expansion into his background, current status, and interpersonal mingling of the beings within himself. It’s also the growth of his and Tor’s own dynamic as they search out what the curse means emotionally.

And finally, it’s the biggest threat and storyline. Who’s Dominus? Where are they? What are their plans and how does Lex stop them?

It’s mind boggling how much is dumped into this book and how well it all fits together.

The ending is shocking. There’s a character death, and then a several consecutive dramatic events that lead to one unbelievable cliffhanger.

Then an author’s note that the next book up is the second in the Geminatus series! Noooooo.

So how one goes about reading a series and they feel about multiple cliffhangers, should let a reader decide what they want to do about reading the series. Read them as then release acknowledging that there will be cliffhangers and a good amount of time between stories or wait and binge.

But one thing is for certain. This is a must read. However it’s resolved, whatever tragedy consequences or happy turns of events, however unlikely, it’s a great convoluted epic tale of worlds, gods, monsters and love.

A fabulous story.

One I’m highly recommending no matter how frustrating that ending still makes me.

Read each series in order. It won’t make any sense if you don’t.

Hammer and Fist Series

✓ Sledge and Claw (Hammer and Fist: Lextalion Book 1)

✓ Brick and Brass (Hammer and Fist: Lextalion Book 2)

✓ Inferno (Hammer and Fist: Geminatus Book 1)

◦ Gale (Hammer and Fist: Geminatus Book 2) July 2023

Buy Link:

Brick and Brass (Hammer and Fist: Lextalion Book 2)

Description:

Lex:

Of course waking up from a coma wouldn’t come easy for me; thankfully I have friends willing to fuck me back to life. Once I’m on my feet again, playing catch up on the trafficking case makes me want to eviscerate someone. I hate that I’ve lost precious time hunting down Dominus, but I’m awake now and ready for action.

With weird things happening to the portals, an Ethensian hopping realms when he shouldn’t be able to, and trying to figure out how to end the blood hex I’m under, I feel like I’m drowning in tasks and making no progress. I want to end Dominus and put Knoxville behind me; instead, I get a one-off accidental prophecy taking me straight to a battlefield I didn’t even know existed.

Brick and Brass is a 65k MM Urban Fantasy. This is the second in the series and not a stand alone. Content includes: horror descriptions and gore, public sex and sex magic outside of the romantic subplot.

Review : Keep It Together (The Undead Detective Agency Book 2) by Shelby Rhodes

Rating: 4.75🌈

“I, Detective Octavius Evander, continues! To start off on a positive note, prepare to be amazed my precious human, Turney,”

The adventures and romantic journey of the ancient vampire Octavius Evander and his human companion, the wonderfully named Turney Pimms, continues in Keep It Together.

This series starts with Octavius deciding to open a paranormal detective agency, with nothing but money, whimsy and time behind it. As the first book progresses past a strangely endearing flyer, The Undead Detective Agency begins to accumulate its unique employees and accept cases. Among its employees are Turney Pimms, Cormac the werewolf ,Scarlett the zombie , and Min-ji the powerful witch. Each finds their way to working for Octavius in an most unlikely scenario.

But it’s Octavius himself who’s the paranormal puzzle at the heart here. He’s ancient, incredibly intelligent, lost more knowledge than anyone around while accumulating more powers, and yet he’s still not the figure you’d expect.

And this is where Shelby Rhodes does the hardest work narratively and the best that’s threaded through out the series to date. It’s in creating a character so lovable and endearing that we pay little attention to the darker aspects of his story the author’s hinting at.

Honestly I’d pay just for the fabulous sketches of the character of Octavius at the beginning of each chapter. He’s just that winning a personality, especially in his costumed fruit bat form.

So as Octavius runs around chasing his favorite types of glitter, or between cases, has sexy romps with his Turney, the author starts to smack the reader with a clue. Then it’s back to silliness. Then a harder smack to make us pay attention, then notice something about Octavius, then everything isn’t quite so simple or silly anymore.

That perhaps it’s deep trauma and a shattering experience that’s brought about a need to shy away from looking at things too hard and instead concentrate on glitter and scrapbooking. Suddenly the character of Octavius takes on another troubling aspect and damaged perspective of someone who’s been abused.

The ending is both something the author is preparing the reader for and is still unexpected. It’s a cliffhanger.

I have such a deeper appreciation for the layers the author is writing into the story and characters here that I wasn’t aware of in the first book. I’ll be rereading it again soon to see what I missed.

I’m highly impressed by the story and plots . I’m recommending it. There’s a character death. That’s not a spoiler as it’s mentioned in the description.

Part of me thinks that there should be a trigger warning for trauma but I can’t think of how I’d word it at the moment. It’s that sort of story.

The Undead Detective Agency:

✓ Get It Together #1

✓ Keep It Together #2

◦ In Death Together #3 TBD 2023

◦ Forever Together #4 TBD 2024

Buy Link:

Keep It Together (The Undead Detective Agency Book 2)

Description:

Back again, I see. Well, you are in luck, for the story of, I, Detective Octavius Evander, continues! To start off on a positive note, prepare to be amazed as my precious human, Turney, falls into my hands!

Okay, technically, I already had my hands on him—all of him—but that didn’t make him mine, mine. But now it is time to show how I captured his heart with my lovable personality! No doubt my adorable and sparkly new hobby had something to do with it as well!

But enough about the gooey emotions. On to the cases! There will be a new adventure or two with my team to entertain. Though the adventures this time, well, not all end as pleasantly as one might hope. While I would say to prepare for the return of old faces, none of you have seen them before. Just know that their reappearance in my life leads to an unfortunate event. But in the paranormal world, fun and death go hand and hand, does it not?

CONTENT WARNING: This is a M/M paranormal romance book that ends on a cliffhanger. There will be violence and a main character death—a temporary death.

Review: The Blight by Missouri Dalton

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

The Blight coverNoah Abbott is the only one who knows he isn’t crazy.  He knows what he saw all those years ago when he was a younger was real just as he knows the fantastical beings, the trolls and the goblins he sees walking around him unnoticed are too.  The trouble is no one else sees them.  Just Noah.  And that fact got him a trip and long stay in a psychiatric ward when he was 16 and Noah’s not going there again.  Now Noah keeps his head down and his eyes to the ground, he works in a box factory doing menial work for menial wages, and he says nothing to anyone.

Then things slowly start to change.  One of his coworkers, Christian, follow citizen on the outskirts of society, takes an interest in him, one that goes far past friendship into that of potential lover, new ground for a virgin like Noah.  And a young woman, Hannah Regent, approaches him and asks for help.  Turns out she sees the trolls and goblins too and needs Noah to help fight them off and keep her safe.

And with Hannah’s appearance, Noah’s reality is shattered.  Turns out he’s an elf on the run. Hannah too.  And that monster he saw all those years ago?  Well, that monstrous troll is back and hunting them both.  With  a Goblin King,to aid them, Noah and Hannah flee to another  universe, one that is their home.  There awaits a mighty quest for Noah, and the fate of all the elves hangs in the balance. But Noah isn’t sure he is up to the challenge.

Wow, what a story.  It has been several days since I finished this book and I am still trying to decide how I feel about it.  Missouri Dalton brings a number of intriguing and thought provoking elements to this story of a “Magpie” child. Noah has been hidden in the human world to protect him (and Hannah) until he can be found and returned to his rightful place as one of the remaining elven royalty.  But that world, Noah’s  “human world”, is that of most people’s nightmares.  He sees things.  Awful things that do harm to others and they are coming for him.  A basic bump in the dark  nightmare that explodes into reality for Noah only no one believes him.  Dalton plays further into our fears by having Noah confined to a less than desirable  psychiatric ward for years, abandoned by family and friends.    This element of the story is so artfully conceived and accomplished that it kept me up thinking for hours on end.

The Noah that is let out of the ward after learning to “play the game” is a person that anyone might meet on the streets today.  Head down, eyes averted, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible.  His posture is exactly that of a person recently released from a mental institution.  That has also been his persona at work, a box factory that is one of the few places willing to hire excons and the mentally unstable.  Again Dalton has found the perfect setting for Noah and his post “crazy ward” life.  Her descriptions of Noah’s job and coworkers is grounded in the reality of such workplaces and it plays out that way in the story too.

Noah is such an interesting character because he is such a dichotomy himself.  A fake human, a false past, a newly reclaimed elf who just happens to be young by elven standards, a elf teen going through pubescence, it all throws Noah through the proverbial emotional and mental loop until he is not sure who he really is.  Is he a hero?  A virgin turned slut by his own Elvish pheromones?  It is a tumultuous journey that Dalton takes both Noah, now Neiren and the reader on.  Trust me when I say its not a real enjoyable journey, nor are some of the situations and events that happen along the way.

One issue I had with The Blight is that the multiple romances were all too new and shallow to become as meaningful as they needed to be.  Noah/Neiren is a highly charged hormonal elf, new to sex and possibly love.  And he behaves just like you think such a character would.  He is promiscuous, conflicted about love and relationships as well as what is truly acceptable behavior now that he is an elf once more.  So much of human morality has been ingrained in his mind and emotions but that has nothing to do with his current and true reality and quite naturally Noah/Neiren is having problems adjusting.   I thought the author did a great job in making Noah’s dilemma real but those readers who have issues with multiple sexual partners (m/m, potential m/m/m, m/f, m/?) as well as what might be seen as “cheating” will feel uncomfortable with these elements.

And the same can be said about the deaths that occur within the story as well.  They happen fast and the events that follow leave little room for grieving.  I think most readers will be shocked and hurt by these deaths.  We won’t see them coming and neither do the characters making their impact on all of us genuine and  pain filled.

There is something here to upset everyone.  Main character deaths, deaths of beloved characters,  characters behaving badly, polyamorous relationships (no one on one relationships here), and finally maybe a happy for now ending.  Missouri Dalton gives the reader instance after instance of moments and events that will have the reader wanting to put this book down and walk away.

And that would be a mistake.

Because as put out as all of above items will make you, there is also so much substance and wonder to be found here as well. The magic of the Goblin Kingdom, and the Goblin King himself.  The grotto of lost elves, shaking mountains and black dragons, its all here too. I can’t call this story heartwarming because its not.  But it has so much to recommend it, the lovely descriptions of magical place hidden away from our mundane human society, and all the beings trying to survive a calamitous time of war and race death.  The scope of this story and the descriptions make it worth your while to pick it up and decide for yourself.

For me, it was worth the journey.  Here is a taste of how it all starts:

“Noah Abbott, this court has found you incompetent and your parents have decided it is to your benefit to give over guardianship to the state of California. It is the decision of this court that you are to be remanded into the custody of the St. George Psychiatric Hospital until your twenty-first birthday, upon which time you will be re-examined for mental fitness.”

She banged her gavel down. “Court is adjourned.”

I felt the shock of it run over me; it was like being hit by a truck. As I’d been hit by a truck, I was able to make this comparison with some accuracy.

“I’m not crazy, I know what I saw! I am not crazy!”

“Bailiff, please remove Mr. Abbott.”

The men took my arms to take me away; I jerked in their grips, and my tired body protested.

“I know what I saw! I know what I saw!”

The bailiff and his friend dragged me out of the courtroom.

“I know what I saw!” I screamed, my voice hoarse. “I know what I saw!”

That cover illustration by BS Clay is magical.  I love it and think it is one of the best of the year.

Book Details:

ebook, 192 pages / 53000 words
Published September 11th 2013 by Torquere Press
ISBN 1610405714 (ISBN13: 9781610405713)
edition language English