Tag: first in a series

In the Spotlight: Falling (Fall or Break #1) by Barbara Elsborg (author interview and contest)

STRW In The Spotlight Header

Falling (Fall or Break #1) by Barbara Elsborg
Samhain Publishing

Falling cover

Author Barbara Elsborg is here today to talk about her book, Falling, and the Fall or Break series.  Check out our interview below and the book details  that follow.

Contest: Enter to win a eBook from Barbara Elsborg’s library.  Leave a comment below, along with an email address where you can be contacted.  And also click on the Rafflecopter link below as well.  Contest ends midnight, April 21st (2 weeks from today):
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

An Interview with Barbara Elsborg on “Falling”….

1. What prompted you to write Falling?

I hate the idea of someone being put in prison for something they didn’t do. I hate the idea of someone being accused of something they didn’t do! It made me think how awful it must be to be in prison and be constantly encouraged to admit your guilt and how hard it must be to stand against that pressure. It used to be the case that if you didn’t admit your guilt you spent more of your sentence behind bars. That’s not really true now BUT since a parole board has to agree to your early release, if you haven’t accepted your guilt it can be a reason to deny you the chance of life outside on license. I had to do a lot of research to check I had my facts right!

2. Where do you draw your inspiration?

Everywhere. Things I’m told, things I read or see. An addiction to Google! Another inspiration for Falling was when a friend told me of a young man she knew who was a teacher in Scotland – accused of abuse by a pupil. He was innocent. The accusation was withdrawn but the damage was done and he left teaching. I think in these days of political correctness, you have to be so careful what you say and do and in a way, it’s a shame. We need a better balance.

3. Falling is the first in the Fall or Break series. Will you continue with the couple in Falling or will each subsequent book feature a different set of MCs?

The next book Breaking – features Conrad – a minor character out of Falling. It’s a stand alone book but it does help to know who Conrad used to be with. Malachi and Harper have a little part in Breaking – out in July. I prefer writing books that tell the story of one couple, and end it rather than let it run to several books.

4. Or will the series chart the progression of the relationship?

So no – LOL – the series will be about different MCs!

5. Were you a prolific reader as a child?

Huge reader. I used to be trouble with the local library because I took books back to change them for new ones before they’d filed the cards for the ones I’d taken out. (that dates me!) I read very fast. 80 pages in 30 minutes of a paperback – often even quicker. I also read up to 3 books at the same time – not actually at the same time but I have 3 by the side of the bed now, all part read, plus the one on my Kindle. I read according to mood! I’m not always in the mood for romance. I like suspense and thrillers.

6. If so, what book or author made a impact on you as a child reader?

That’s really hard. I think I might pick the Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. I loved the idea of another land up a tree!I was scared of heights though so I never climbed trees.

7. And has that impact continued into adulthood, as a reader and writer?

No. Enid Blyton was of her time. Some stories like the Magic Faraway Tree can be read now, but the others are dated. I didn’t have a favourite author. I just read anything. Once I was in my teens I was addicted to James Bond books. Then I branched out to the classics. There aren’t many genres I won’t try. The one I have the most difficulties with is hard core sci fi. It’s too technical for me.

8. Who do you consider your influences as an author today?

Impossible to say. I’ve read so much and loved so much- Adele Parks, Jennifer Crusie, Fiona Walker, Freya North – but I love thriller and suspense writers like Mark Billingham, Tom Wood, Karin Slaughter, Harlan Coben, Mo Hayder – so many. I also love regency romances – Eloisa James, Mary Balogh, Julia Quinn… too many to mention. I think any good author that you read has to have some influence if only to encourage you to write better.

9. What drives you to write? And have you always written?

What drives me? The love of telling a story, the need for a happy ending, a belief in love, an interest in what makes people tick. I have always written. I started with fan fiction as a teenager for TV shows and wrote my first novel in my early twenties. I found writing was a way to escape a not very happy time at school. I could dive into my own world, make myself the heroine and give myself a HEA.

10. What’s next for Barbara Elsborg?
I have an MM called The Demon You Know out in April. An MMF called Talking Trouble out in May. Breaking out in July and I’ve just finished writing an MM tentatively called Give Yourself Away. It’s going to be a year of many releases!! But on a personal note, I’m going to be at RT in Dallas if anyone would like to meet me!

STRW Author BookSynopsis

About Falling…

Falling is easy. Landing without breaking your heart? Impossible.

Harper is no longer behind bars, but it doesn’t feel like it. Ten years serving time for a crime he didn’t commit have left him shut down, numb, and a frozen wreck over the simplest of choices.

He’s acutely aware of the dark-haired young man checking him out in the supermarket, but he’s too deep in panic mode to even meet the guy’s gaze. Afraid the slightest move will trigger a fall that will never stop.

Fresh off a long-term relationship with a controlling man, Malachi is stuck living with relatives who think he’s a waste of oxygen. The tall guy in the long, gray coat is the first bright spot he’s glimpsed in a long time…though the man’s unblinking stare at a bottle of shower gel is a touch alarming.

Hard experience tells both of them to turn away before lust turns to hopeless attraction, and inevitably to disaster. But once their sparks connect, the arc of electricity is too strong to deny. Even if the cost is too much to bear.

Warning: Contains an ex-con with disaster written all over him, a boy toy who’s trouble with a capital T, a damp old British house, compulsive meddling, and enough hot sex to cure the severe case of nervous babbling.  Read an excerpt here at Samhain.

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing           Amazon       Buy It Here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 282 pages
Published March 24th 2015 by Samhain Publishing
original titleFalling,ASINB00Q33IKYG
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.barbaraelsborg.com/book/falling/
seriesFall or Break #1

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

About Barbara Elsborg:

Barbara Elsborg lives in West Yorkshire in the north of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.

After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.

Her books feature quirky heroines and bad boys, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as they are to write.

Contact/follow Barbara at her blog/website:  http://www.barbaraelsborg.com/

A Mika Review: The Harvest: Taken (The Harvest #1) by M.A. Church

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The Harvest Taken coverWe are not alone. In the year 2050 mankind’s never-ending quest for proof life exists in the universe is answered—in the form of massive space ships that appear without warning above the capitals of all major nations. The name of their planet is Tah’Nar—and is dying. The United States sets up a lottery system, and each young man between the ages of twenty-three and twenty-eight is assigned a number. Once a year, for the next five years, numbers will be drawn and a new set of one thousand males will be collected. The media coined the expression ‘The Harvest’ for when the Tah’Narian’s collect these young men.

 Captain Keyno Landium Shou is a Tah’Narian starship captain who has been granted the right to take a mate, any mate, he wants during the last harvest on Earth. Dale was seventeen when the aliens first appeared. His parents assumed he’d be safe since the final collection would be done before he turned twenty-three. He didn’t fall within the guidelines established, so they took for granted he had nothing to fear.
 They were wrong.

This book had ridiculousness all over it, and I loved every second of it. C’mon,  it had me at mpreg.  Something I’ve been enjoying more and more. M.A. Church is a new author to me, and while I constantly rolled my eyes at the silly notions to things that happened in the book I really enjoyed it. Honestly, I felt like this was a mf book the entire time. It was silly, but I liked it for a first time mpreg story. Dale wasn’t supposed to be in the lottery for Humans take for The Harvest. He basically was kidnapped illegally. He went from being pissed off to protective in 96 hours to Keyno the alien that had him Taken.

It was a big production between these two, but again I love it. I loved it for it’s sugary sweetness that was in the book. Dale didn’t have to wait long for some since of familiarity, on the ship was his best friend Chad that got Harvested the previous year, you would think Dale would have been happy but of course he thought Chad was crazy for thinking Space was his home. Well after their “talk” about what was expected Dale had a change of heart. From here on out it was sugary sweetness. Keyno was a sweetheart who has wanted Dale since meeting Chad last year. I actually liked the aliens here.

Of course Dale wouldn’t be Dale without the problems he presented in the beginning, because of his health he had to be Double Dosed so his body could adhere to the changes of the pregnancy. I found myself laughing and smiling throughout the book. I definitely read it because of the smut, and sugary sweetness involved in the story. Also the King’s Husband pulled at my heart strings. What do you know Dale made quite the impression on these aliens. I would recommend to lovers of fantasy, mpreg, sugary sweet smut readers.

Cover Artist Lou Harper had a perfect picture of Dale after his slight alteration. I liked it, he even got use to it. It was fitting for the story.

 

Sales Links:  All Romance (ARe)             Amazon             buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 2nd Edition, Smashwords, 195 pages
Published October 1st 2014 by M.A. Church (first published October 30th 2013)
ISBN139781626330252
edition languageEnglish
url
seriesThe Harvest #1

Special Book Treat! Bailey Bradford Interviews Miller and Gideon from Off Course (Coyote’s Call #1) (book tour only)

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Today at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words, we have a special treat for our readers.  Bailey Bradford is here with a interview between her bear shifter Gideon and her coyote shifter, Miller.  Their story, Off Course is the first in Bradord’s new series, Coyote’s Call.

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Hi there, I’m Bailey Bradford and I’ve got a new series starting up. It’s titled Coyote’s Call and the first book is Off Course. To introduce y’all to it, I thought I’d do something I haven’t before, and interview the main characters, Miller Hudson and Gideon Wells. Then a better idea occurred to me—Miller and Gideon should interview each other! So today’s post is Miller interviewing Gideon. When Gid interviewed Miller, they ended up running off to have fun. *shakes head* New love—it’s so sweet to see.

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Miller Hudson: Okay, I’m Miller, and I’ll be interviewing Gideon Wells. Gideon is my partner, my lover, pretty much the center of my world.

Gideon Wells: Talking like that’s going to result in this interview being over so I can kiss you, and kissing leads to naked, and naked is good.

Miller: Ah, yeah, it’s really, really good, but we have to do this first. Now tell everyone about yourself.

Gideon: I’m just a guy. Well okay, I’m a bear shifter. I can shift, and I point that out because Miller and his people are coyote shifters that have lost the ability to shift. Which maybe you’d think would make them just people, but it doesn’t.

Miller: Right, because we all feel that pull of the moon, and the need to shift and run, and we can’t do it. It’s a kind of hell I don’t think I can adequately explain, and besides that, this is about you, Gid. How’d you end up in Texas?

Gideon: Ugh, right for the bad memories, huh? It’s okay. Doesn’t hurt anymore. I got banned from the bear clan I was a part of because while I could shift, my senses weren’t anywhere near as sharp as they should have been. For example, I didn’t have the hearing a bear does, and let me tell you, not being able to smell like a bear can? Means not tracking food so well, and when you’re a big, lumbering predator, that’s a real impediment. There were other things, too, but let’s not go there. So I got banned, and given a car and my bag of belongings. I just drove. My mind was kind of in a bad place. Then there was a fire, and scorpions, and yeah, next question.

Miller: Do you ever feel out of place as a bear shifter surrounded by coyote shifters? Even when they can’t shift?

Gideon: Nah, and that’s odd because I always felt out of place everywhere. It seemed like I just never fitted in with my clan, and living on my own as a bear was dangerous, given my screwed up senses. It was weird. I got here, and after a few days, it just felt like I’d finally found my home. That was scary and amazing at the same time.

Miller: That deserves a special treat—after the interview. One more question. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Gideon: Oh, that’s easy. Under you, or on you, or bent over—

Miller: Gid…

Gideon: Well, you asked. But if you mean in a non-sexual way—and ow, that hurts to even say!—then I see me with you of course, and maybe a cub or pup or two.

Miller: You know we can’t have kids.

Gideon: Duh, but we could adopt, or maybe ask someone to be a surrogate. Don’t you want to have little Miller juniors and Miller-ettes running around? And maybe some little bear cubs, too? Hey, I didn’t know you could go that shade of pale.

Miller: We, uh…that’s all for today, folks. Thanks for stopping in. Gid and I have to go now. It seems there’s future plans to discuss.

Title:  Off Course by Bailey Bradfordoffcourse_800
Pulisher: Totally Bound Books
Cover Artist:
Sales Links:  Totally Bound Books

 

Blurb for Off Course:

This is book one in the Coyote’s Call series, see the full series listing here

Gideon’s worst night ever starts out with a bang that will change his whole life.

Gideon Wells has been cast out of his bear shifter clan for being a curse, and he’s inclined to believe they’re right. After all, everything from fertility rates to shifting abilities has gone down the tube since he was born. Then when his car catches fire and mutant scorpions—he thinks they’re mutants, anyway—almost get him, he’s more certain than ever that he’s bad news.
Not that he’s just going to roll over and die.

Ignoring a prophecy might not be wise, but coyote shifter Miller Hudson has seen and heard too many false prophecies to put any faith in the one proclaiming him to be the alpha and—along with a mystery bear mate—the saviour of the now defunct coyote den he grew up in. Besides, there’s no need for the den to be brought back together. None of them can shift, so what’s the point?

The buzzards circling overhead on the far edge of his property lead him to the very last thing he ever expected to find.

Reader Advisory: This book contains references to and threats of assault and rape, scenes of fisting and mild BDSM.

Like the sound of Off Course? Buy it here!

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About Bailey Bradford:

A native Texan, Bailey spends her days spinning stories around in her head, which has contributed to more than one incident of tripping over her own feet. Evenings are reserved for pounding away at the keyboard, as are early morning hours. Sleep? Doesn’t happen much. Writing is too much fun, and there are too many characters bouncing about, tapping on Bailey’s brain demanding to be let out.

Caffeine and chocolate are permanent fixtures in Bailey’s office and are never far from hand at any given time. Removing either of those necessities from Bailey’s presence can result in what is known as A Very, Very Scary Bailey and is not advised under any circumstances.

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A MelanieM Review: Lukos Heat (Heart of Fire #1) by Megan Derr

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Lukos Heat coverDragon Najlah is on the hunt with his fellow shifters in the Royal Shifter Corp.  His quarry? The court assassin who just tried to kill the King and his brother in the process. So far the mage has eluded them, but now Najlah and his battle brothers have chased the betrayer to the snowy Shide Mountains where few would dare venture, including themselves.  The cold is beyond frigid and the peaks fearsome in their height and ruggedness.  The Shide territory controlled by the Lukos,  the wild wolf shifters.  And it is the Lukos who meet them as they enter the range on their hunt.  The feral wolves hate interlopers but agree to help in the search for the mage, if for no other reason than to get the hunters out of their territory.

Barkus, the head of the Lukos pack that intercepts the King’s Shifters is amazed to see a dragon among them.  Dragons are so rare in the Shide that they are assumed to be folklore, beings used to scare small kits.  But there roaring and unhappy in the cold, appears Najlah and Barkus is intrigued.  Najlah returns his interest but first the race is on to find the mage and navigate the treacherous conditions they find themselves in.   When a fight turns deadly, Najlah and Barkus must use every advantage they have to survive, including one that just might bind them together forever.

Lukos Heat is another intriguing start to a new series by Megan Derr.  Heart of Fire’s first story, Lukos Heat introduces us to the Kingdom of Restuel, its Rulers, and the non humans among them.  At the top of the group are the Dragons, not dragon shifters but dragons who can assume a somewhat human form but remain always dragons in mindset and action.  Derr starts laying out her universe and beings almost immediately.

There are 3 types of dragons.  Najlah is a hornless black scale, the most fearsome warriors.  His brother Fayth?  Huge, horned and a protector who just happened to have married a human who is royalty.  And then there are the Bitches, the awe-inspiring female dragons who live in the caves, have the young and are basically the rulers in dragon society. Najlah’s home is inside a volcano where the fires sooth and refresh him.  I expect more dragon natural history to appear along with more stories.  What Derr gives us is fascinating while provoking more questions.

By royal marriage and agreements set between their rulers, dragons have come to live in Restuel, along with bird and cat shifters.  The wolves?  They are a feral group that lives apart in the Shide territories, content to remain aloof and isolated by choice and geographical and meteorological  conditions.  But a war is brewing and the attempt on the King’s life is just the start of the attacks.  Who is behind it and how will they stop it?  More questions pop up then are answered here.

This short story is all about the hunt for the poisoner and the meeting between wolf and dragon.  Each is a fierce warrior, courageous, loyal, and impulsive in their actions.  Both Najlah and Barkus recognize like souls immediately and how they pull together is the charm of this story.  I love the descriptions that let us know that Najlah retains his poisonous claws, scales and even fangs in his human like form, fangs so long that he is unable to talk but communicates through growls and hisses.   Barkus is as entertaining as he is savage and able.  The two make an aggressively attractive pair. I can’t wait to see where Derr takes them and this series.

I recommend this story and will be waiting along with the rest of you to see what happens next to our dangerous duo and the Kingdom of Restuel.  I can imagine the battles and snark now, and that’s just the courtship between wolf and dragon!  Whatever it turns out to be, I am sure it will be entertaining,  inventive and a must  story for all lovers of dragons and fantasy!

Cover art by Julie Wright.  Love that cover, works perfectly for Najlah.

Sales Links:   Less Than Three Press (preorder)

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: October 22nd 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
(first published May 17th 2013)
original title”Lukos Heat” published in Dracones
ISBN139781620044438
edition languageEnglish
series:  Heart of Fire

Review: Noble Metals by L.A. Witt

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

NobleMetals_500x750When  Robert Belton and his brothers left home  to make their fortune in the Klondike gold fields, they never imagined where their gold fever and poor judgement would take them.  Amid betrayals and gambling debts, only Robert is left to survive in Seattle and he does so by becoming a prostitute.  Robert hopes to save enough money to make it over the Chilkoot Trail into the Yukon and join the hunt for gold.

Dr. John Fauth is on sabbatical from his teaching post at the university in Chicago.  Dr. Fauth carries a precious machine with him to Seattle, one he developed and built himself.  With it, John hopes to find the platinum deposits he needs to further his experiments.  But first he needs to hire someone to help him make the journey into the Yukon, for where there is gold, there is also platinum.

When the only room available in Seattle happens to come with an attractive young man attached to it, John hires Robert for the evening and finds more than he expected.  In the morning, he offers Robert a job.  One man cannot haul the equipment needed for mining by himself, so when John offers Robert a job to join him on the trail going north, Robert eagerly accepts.

Even in ordinary conditions, the gold trail into the Yukon and Canada is fraught with dangers.  But John’s machine and the purpose for which it was built is drawing predators of its own.   The long nights, tough journey, and common enemies bring John and Robert together in passion and friendship.  As the danger mounts, both must decide what is more important to them…noble metals or love.

L.A. Witt takes a gripping period in history and gives it a steampunk twist in Noble Metals.  Just the mention of gold rush brings all manner of images and references to mind.  A huge human migration built on greed, adventure, and the hope of a quick fortune to be made saw towns and small cities spring up around the locations near to the mines or close to the heads of the trails into the gold fields.  Those towns quickly filled with  the unfortunate, the desperate, the opportunists, dreamers, the predators that fed on them, and everything in between.  L.A. Witt brings that Seattle to life here in Noble Metals.

Seattle is the center of the mining explosion.  A port bringing in supplies, hardened men and the unwary, people are arriving by boat, horse and carriage and airship if you have the money to afford it.  Yes, airship as in blimp.  For in this universe, its the blimp or zeppelin or airship that is the highest mode of transportation.  Electricity is still largely undiscovered with Edison, Tesla, and Fruth in the race to develop semi conductor technology.  Until that happens, everything mechanical runs on steam.

I love the ingenious twists and inventions that L.A. Witt brought into her Steampunk Gold Rush.  The Golden Staircase, the fifteen hundred steps carved into the ice from Chilkoot’s base to its peak, a treacherous ice stairway that all and their provisions had to climb if they wanted to reach Dawson City and the Yukon.  Vivid descriptions of the biting cold, sliding mechs, and a slow climb upwards in pain, fortitude, and numbness makes this trail feel like the hell it would have been to all those that attempted it.  Right down to the cannibalized structures of abandoned, broken down machinery that littered the landscape around the Golden Staircase, Witt’s scenes immediately bring to mind the litter and dead bodies left on Mt. Everest, making the connection to each climb clear.

Ah, the mechs.  Steam powered, eight legged, mechanical beasts of burden.  What a great contraption for L.A. Witt to invent for her story!  A new fangled piece of equipment used to convey supplies needed by the miners to dig for gold, they are a quixotic wonder.  Here is L.A. Witt’s description of the beasts:

“…mech, a spidery brass machine that would carry the ton or more of gear over the rugged terrain…I watched an empty mech limp past us. The valves on the front-mounted engine coughed little puffs of steam out the top, and the whole thing rattled as one leg landed badly with every step. I couldn’t tell if the leg was bent or if one of its joints was damaged, but something was definitely wrong.”

Amazingly, lives depended on such a strange walking machine.  And the fight to get it to function and walk properly is as nearly entertaining and fraught with peril as is the rest of Robert and John’s journey.  I really loved those mechs and could picture them quite clearly in my mind as I read.

Then there is the romance between Robert and John.  It found them endearing and their relationship moving.  While unequal in social status, John recognizes a kindred mind in Robert’s.  John values Robert’s intelligence and honesty as much as Robert’s good looks.  They bond over books, and the cold solitude of their tent along the trail on the slow journey to Dawson City.  Nary a case of instant love in sight, I loved how slowly their feelings for each other grew. Not only do they question their feelings for each other but what future, if any, was possible for them.  Great job by the author on making this element feel as real as the situation they find themselves in.

The story is told from Robert’s point of view but John’s side of the story is inserted here as well via journal entries in the diary John is keeping.  I loved seeing Robert and the trail from John’s perspective.  It also widened our view of the universe the author created by getting glimpses of John’s life in Chicago and the world in general.

My only wish was that the journey had gone further and the story continued on longer.  I’ll say no more.  But the world that L.A. Witt build with its tent city at the border, filled with miners, mechs and run efficiently by the North West Mounties (instead of the Royal Canadian Mounties today), along with the rough and tough city of Seattle made me want more of the stories of the people passing through and what if any fortunes they found along the way.

I love Nobel Metals and highly recommend it to all lovers of steampunk, m/m romance and adventure.

Cover art by April Lee.  Love this cover, perfection in every way and one of the best of the year.

Buy Links for Noble Metals:               Riptide Publishing                     ARe (All Romance)                Amazon      Noble Metals

 

Bool Details:

ebook, 1st Edtion
Published January 2nd 2012 by Carnal Passions
ISBN139781926996752
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.loriawitt.com/Books_by_L.html#nobleanchor

Publisher’s Note: This book was previously published by a different press; it has since been edited extensively and expanded by over 10,000 words.)

Get Your Wild On with BA Tortuga’s “Wolf Run” Blog Tour (contest incl.)

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ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is focused in on BA Tortuga’s latest release, Wolf Run, an m/m/m romance by one of my favorite authors.  BA Tortuga has, without doubt, one of the finest ears for regional dialects and a western settings as demonstrated by her many novels, cowboys and bullriders.  She also loves her shifters and has combined the two here in her latest story. Don’t miss out on the excerpt below.

Contest:  To celebrate, visit here – a Rafflecopter link, to be entered to win an ebook Copy of Wolf Run by BA Tortuga.  Must be 18 years of age or older and follow the rules and regulations as stated.

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Book Name: Wolf Run
Author Name: BA Tortuga

Author Bio: 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 porn sites in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her partner, 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 is feeling the Colorado mountains calling. 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.
Author Links:

Website: http://www.batortuga.com
Twitter: @batortuga

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Wolf Run coverBook Details:

ebook, 106 pages
Published June 4th 2014 by Resplendence Publishing
ISBN139781607357803
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8/669-978-1-60735-780-3–wolf-run-by-ba-tortuga.html
Cover Artist: Kris Norris

Buy Links:  Respendence      Amazon   ARe

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Blurb(s): Mick is a lone wolf in all ways. He’s left his pack, he’s left his homelands and he’s on the road, footloose and fancy free. Well, at least until he wanders up to a fence and finds a little wolf running his ass off behind it. Mick stops to let the pup out and is stunned to hear the young wolf, Scotty, tell him “no”. Scotty’s mate and best friend, Danny, asked Scotty to stay behind the fence, so he will be safe while Danny fights to support them both. All this leaves Mick’s fur standing on end. Maybe, Mick doesn’t need one mate to bring him home. Maybe, he needs two.

 

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Excerpt:

He dropped his wolf form as soon as he was out of sight, his body lengthening into a biped. “Dude, why are you in a cage?”

The pup yelped and scrambled back, leaping onto the porch.

“Hey, I’m not here to hurt you. I can open the gate.”

The pup looked at him then boom, a lovely lean man stood there, shaggy blond hair curling around his face. “H-hey.”

“Hi. Would you like to run? I can get you out.”

God, the kid was adorable and plenty old enough to play.

“Oh. Oh, no. Daniel would be so mad at me for getting out again.” Eyes the color of brandy caught the sun. “Daniel says I’ll get hurt, lost.”

“Does Daniel mistreat you?” Because Mick could beat someone down just for fun.

“Daniel? My Daniel?” The pup’s laugh was happy, joyous, the look on his face fond and warm. “Oh, no. Daniel loves me. He works for both of us. He brings me half his food every day. He’s a good mate. We… The Alpha said ‘too many males’, and we… Daniel pays for this home, he brushes me, he works all day every day.”

“Do you work?” Mick tilted his head, waiting, nodding in sympathy. Damn, it was hard for bachelor males to manage when thrust out on their own, especially ones who needed an alpha as much as this one did. It seemed like the kid barely held it together, at least on two legs. Sweet baby.

“I paint. I paint pictures, and I wash Daniel’s uniforms. I… I get… He follows rules better than me, and he can stop a shift, if he needs to. He can even work during the moon.”

Mick smiled, liking this kid a lot. “What’s your name, honey?”

“Scott. Scott Miller. What’s yours?”

Scott. It worked.

“I’m Mick Eagleheart. I like your belly. I kinda want to lick it.”

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Review: Vampire Prince by S.J. Frost

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Vampire Prince cover

For three years Sebastian Beaumont has fought against his imprisonment as a sex/blood slave in a vampire brothel but now he feels like dying.  Abducted after he was thrown up by his parents for being gay, Sebastian longs for freedom, his music, and to see the sun again but has seen his hopes fade over time and the years of abuse.  When a new vampire buys his services, Sebastian has no idea that his future is about to change.

Prince Valentin Wyndham has just arrived in Savannah, Georgia, from his home in Europe. A quick need for blood sends him to a nearby blood house and a timely replenishment. But the blood slave Valentin chooses offers so much more than Valentin expected.

A prince by age, Valentin’s far different from any vampire Sebastian has served.  Their one night is full of surprising passion and something more, a deep connection that forms between them that neither expected.  Valentin has been burned before by a human but Sebastian is different and he wants Sebastian for himself, no matter the cost.

Giving a blood slave his freedom is dangerous, as Valentin knows.  But he wants Sebastian by his side and will do whatever it takes to make that possible.

Vampire Prince is the beginning of a new vampire series by S.J. Frost and it looks to be a marvelous one.  Frost lays out her universe almost immediately with the vampire hierarchy and the hidden blood houses that service vampires. We see it all from the “legal, well-maintained houses” whose humans are contracted and well taken care of to the disreputable establishments,like the one that owns Sebastian. These are dark, barred prisons,seedy, run down and smelling of death and despair. They disregard all legalities, vampire and human, to obtain their slaves.  The hopelessness and abuse of the blood slaves like Sebastian translate beautifully in the descriptions and dialog between Sebastian and House Master Wesley in the beginning chapters.  The stage is set for the arrival of Prince Valentin and we are not disappointed.

S.J. Frost lays out her cast for much of the series here.  We get Valentin, and Sebastian, true.  But also Basil, Valentin’s best friend and cousin who happens to be a fellow vampire. Basil is a great character that’s so much fun no matter what scene he’s in.  Basil is the voice of reason and a great deal of snark! A demon named Sal and his pet Beezle, both of whom are quite adorable and charming as well, close out the main group or family here.  They manage to steal away every scene they’re in. There is even an old boyfriend of sorts, Malcolm, who I am sure we will see more of in the future stories.  That is a lot of characters to juggle in one story, but S.J. Frost handles the job well.  These are not brief character introductions but beings that are important not only to the plot but to the household the author is establishing as the base of operations for her series.

I have to admit demon Sal and Beezle became early favorites.  Between the red hair and blue eyes of the form Sal prefers and Beezle who likes to be carried like a shih tzu  but can become the size of a dinosaur, their charming company is one the reader looks forward to whenever they pop up in the plot, whether its to quip about relationships or dive into action.  I really couldn’t get enough of them.  Or Basil as well.

But the heart of this story is Valentin and Sebastian. I love Sebastian.  He is strong and vulnerable, loyal and intelligent and of course, so very beautiful.  And while we have seen this persona before, in Frost’s Sebastian this type of character comes to life as someone we want to see succeed and find love.  Sebastian asks us to invest our emotions in him and we do.  And as Sebastian is in dire need of a knight in shining armor, Frost gives him one in Valentin, a valiant protector who arrives in a Jaguar instead of a horse.

Valentin is a prince no less, an odd mixture of old world sensibilities and New World beliefs. Valentin finds the idea of wearing blue jeans abhorent but sees humans not just as food but as people worthy of so much more, including his respect.  He is the hero that Sebastian needs desperately and the scenes that will give readers the most satisfaction is where he comes to the rescue time and again.  True Valentin seems more Prince Charming to me than age old vampire.  But the dark grittiness of other vampire heroes really has no place here.  Valentin is a vampire looking for love and a final companion. And now he has one in Sebastian.  And their chemistry together is red hot, and oh, so sexy!

But not all the villains are slain and not all the story threads tied up.  Valentin and Sebastian are just starting out on their relationship and Sebastian is adjusting to freedom and his new life.  Basil, and Sal are in need of romance. What on earth does Frost have in store for these scene stealers?  I can’t wait to find out. And then there is a character who redeemed himself, ok just a little, and I expect to see him again as well.  And Beezle?  Is there a mate out there for Beezle too?  It’s with gleeful joy that I anticipate the answers that Frost will deliver in the coming stories.

I really enjoyed this story. Equal parts romp, romance and drama, Vampire Prince, is a wonderful start to a new series.  I giggled, sighed and even sniffed a time or two.  And now I can’t wait for more.  Vampire Prince is a must read for all lovers of romance, vampires and especially vampire romance.

Cover design by Fiona Jayde.  Sexy cover, just perfect for the story.

 

Book Details:

ebook, 218 pages
Published March 7th 2014 by Ellora’s Cave
original titleVampire Prince
ISBN 1419948601 (ISBN13: 9781419948602)
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.ellorascave.com/vampire-prince.html
charactersSebastian Beaumont, Valentin Wyndham
settingSavannah, Georgia (United States)

Review: The Oracle’s Flame (The Oracle #1) by Mell Eight

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5 (rounded up to 4):

The Oracle's FlameThe Oracle has looked into the future and sees nothing but devastation and ruin after the King of Altnoia, along with his Queen and  Heir are killed, assassinated by his cousin who then assumes the throne.  Missing from the carnage is the rightful’s King’s young son, Prince Edan.  Missing or dead?  Only the Oracle knows the truth.  If the Kingdom and all who live there are to survive and thrive, then Prince Edan must be found and restored to the throne.

Dragon, the newly minted Dragon of Fire, has been chosen for the job.  He must find Prince Edan and then keep him alive, a desperate mission when the forces of the Usurper are scouring the Kingdom looking for the Prince as well.  But it’s Prince Edan’s secret location that upsets Dragon most of all.  Edan is hiding out on a pirate’s ship and the last place a fire loving dragon wants to be is on the high seas and seasick.

Not only seasick and sick of the water, no one will tell Dragon which pirate is the prince.  And not even the Oracle could have prepared Dragon for a pair of sexy twin pirates and the feelings they engender inside a lonely dragon.

New author, new series.  Both things make this reviewer extremely happy.  Add a dragon or two and things get just that much better.  The Oracle’s Flame, the first in The Oracle series, sets the foundation for this universe and the stories to come.  The story begins in the Monastery, built into and under the Sacred Mountain.  In this ancient building, more city than single structure, the Oracle and the Four Castes live and carry out the Oracle’s plans.

Mell Eight has created a wonderful, fascinating universe for this series.  The Oracle herself is thousands of years old, exchanging human bodies as is necessary but retaining the knowledge and feelings of all the Oracles inside.  At the moment, the Oracle is a young girl, the previous body/person having recently perished.  Into her personal chambers she calls for her new Dragon of Fire.  As Dragon proceeds down the hallways of the Monastery, he recalls the chain of events that made him the Dragon of Fire only three days prior.  Inside the Oracle’s chambers lie the testing room into which all the young are called to be tested.   When they leave it will be as a member of one of the Four Castes, Air, Water, Earth, and of course, Fire.  Each young person leaves changed in appearance and with a tattoo marking their new position and Caste on their backs.

For Dragon, his hair has turned cherry red, the color of flames.  And his eyes are the bluest of blues that you find in the hottest center of a candle’s fire.  All members of the Fire caste have red hair and blue eyes after testing.  But only one has the red dragon tattoo on his back, signaling his high position.  And only the Elder Flame is higher in the cast then the Dragon of Fire.  So many rich details….and the author continues to add continuously to the atmosphere and minutiae of the Monastery and the world created within to the reader’s delight.

But  Mell Eight has the dragon leaving this mesmerizing location for a mission he must succeed at otherwise the Kingdom of Altnoia will be lost. From deeply serious to highly humorous and back again, the narrative swings merrily as Dragon boards the pirate vessel in a most unusual manner, assuming a lower caste position to hide his true nature and lowly name to go along with it.  Quite naturally, a fire dragon will not be pleased to be surrounded by water, rained upon and or tossed about by waves.  And at all times, it is easy to remember that Dragon is also quite new as a Dragon of Fire and out on his own for the first time in his life.  It’s an all around precarious position for Dragon and the author makes the most of it here to our delight and sometimes consternation.

There are many other characters involved in this story, including a pair of brother pirates, twins Shev and Shov. Physically identical, they couldn’t be less alike in personality.  But both brothers are attracted to Dragon who is confused by his attraction to them both and unsure of what it all means.  There is a charming naivete and innocence to Dragon, one recognized by the brothers and other pirates aboard.  I enjoyed the fact that aspect of Dragon’s character was valued rather than exploited by those around him.  And that aura of innocence that surrounds Dragon makes the relationship that finally evolves between the three of them not only something the reader will be able to relate to but all aspects of their unusual relationship as well. That The Oracle’s Flame involves a m/m/m relationship as well as one that includes twincest feels as though it was meant to be instead of something kinky or misplaced.  It does occur towards the end of the story for those readers who find these elements not ones they normally read but the events that lead up to it feels natural and not strained by circumstances.

What will everyone find marvelous?  Oh, the wonder when an angry dragon takes flight!  Mell Eight makes us feel the fury and the beating wings, the fire as it explodes upon contact and the happiness of a dragon when a tiny flames dance in his hands.  During those moments, Dragon is so alive, so unbelievably real and magnificent that you wish dragons were as real as Dragon feels on the pages before you.  Of course, he felt that way too as he moaned with seasickness and shivered under the onslaught of a torrential rain, pitiful and endearing always.

Ultimately, it’s the characters that make a story or series.  In The Oracle’s Flame Mell Eight has provided us with many to love and wonder about.  I only wish that I had seen more of the fight to win the throne.  How satisfying that would have been.  But I was happy with this tale of love and adventure and thrilled with Dragon and his twins.  I think you will be too.

Cover art by London Burdon.  Minimal but it works for the story and as series branding.

The Oracle series includes:

The Oracle’s Flame, #1
The Oracle’s Hatchling, #2

Book Details:
Publisher’s Warning: Contains twincest and a threesome relationship
ebook, 18,700 words
The Oracle’s Flame at LT3 Press

Published November 20th 2013 by Less Than Three Press LLC (first published November 19th 2013)
original title The Oracle’s Flame
ISBN13 9781620042823
edition language English

Author Guest E.E. Ottoman on Song of Spring Moon Waning, Story Inspiration and Book Contest

ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to have author E.E. Ottoman here today.  Ottoman’s recent release Song of the Spring Moon Waning was recently reviewed and is one of my highly recommended stories.Song of the Spring Moon Waning cover

Book Giveaway: To go along with  E.E. Ottoman’s guest blog, we are giving away one copy of Song of Spring Moon Waning.  To enter, just leave a comment, as well as your email address or method of contacting you in the body of the email.  By leaving a comment and entering, you are agreeing that you are over 18 years of age. Contest ends 3/15.

I asked E.E. Ottoman to talk a little bit about the inspiration for this  magical story, and the ancient Chinese setting because I felt that it came across not only as authentic but artistic as well.

E.E. Ottoman:

I wrote Song of the Spring Moon Waning in the winter of 2012-2013. When I started I had it in my head that I was going to write a fairy tale. Not a retelling of a fairy tale, although I love those, but a story in the style of a fairy tale with all the imagery, and motifs of a fairy tale where the protagonist learned something about his or herself by the end. I debated where and when to set it but the only thing that felt right was Medieval China.

Now for full discloser, I study history. When I was writing this I was in graduate school for history. I don’t though study Chinese history. I study Asian American history, and although I focus on the Chinese immigrant community I only look at that community in the United States and then in the late 19th century or early 20th.

Song Dynasty China, which is what Song of the Spring Moon Waning is based on, is not only a totally different country from the one I study, but also many hundreds of years too early. I had taken some classes on Chinese history though and for one of them written a research paper on same-sex relationships in Chinese history. I had also done significant research into the lives and roles of palace eunuchs for another project before I started working on Song of the Spring Moon Waning. So the ground work for that was already laid out.

Still having done one or two research projects in no way made me qualified or ready to portray an entire society and time period.Which meant that in order to write Song of the Spring Moon Waning I had to do a lot of additional research.

Lucky for me studying history at a major university did give me the upper hand in doing historical research. I had access to academic databases, I could and did check lots of books out of the university library. Plus my advisor at the time WAS a historian of China and even more lucky for me focused on the Imperial examination system.

A lot of the research I did was pure factual: how did the examination system work in the Song era, what did people wear, what did houses look like, how where dreams thought of and interpreted, was there a Song Dynasty equivalent of fast food?
I did my best to find the answers to all these questions and any other details that came up while I was writing. I tried to do as much fact checking as I could using the resources I had.

That meant I did a lot of research up front, but also as I wrote I was constantly stopping to check details. A large part of my editing was also fact checking, although I’m sure from a straight up history perspective the story is a long way from being error-free.

Song of the Spring Moon Waning isn’t just a historical though it’s also a fantasy story. So in order to better understand how fantasy elements could be combined with a historical Chinese setting I started watching loads of wuxia tv shows and movies.

For those of you who don’t know wuxia is a genre of art and fiction that revolved around a chivalrous martial artist figure. According to Wikipedia:

“Modern wuxia stories are largely set in ancient or premodern China. The historical setting can range from being quite specific and important to the story, to being vaguely-defined, anachronistic, or is only used as a backdrop for the action. Fantasy elements, ranging from fantastic martial arts to ghosts and monsters, are common elements of a wuxia story but not a prerequisite. However, the martial arts element is a definite part of a wuxia tale, as its characters must know some form of martial arts. Themes of romance are also strongly featured in some wuxia tales.”

Song of the Spring Moon Waning is not a wuxia story since neither of the main characters are martial artists. It does combined a premodern Chinese setting, fantasy elements and a strong romance. Also learning about modern wuxia stories allowed me to better understand the way Chinese history and fantasy are combined in Chinese media itself.

China — especially premodern China — can often be portrayed in US media as a mystical or magical place but it is almost always in a distinctly Orientalist and therefore racist way. Because of this, I very much did not want to base my own story only on Western representations of Medieval China or Chinese fantasy.

Actually I’d say Hollywood is a really bad place to start for anyone who wants to write any sort of story based on any Asian culture. The faster you can forget any movie made or popularized in the US the better off you are. Luckily we lived in the computer age and it is easy to find good movies and shows made in China for a Chinese audience, even with English subtitles. That being said :: puts my historian hat on:: movies and tv is never a substitute for actual historical research ::takes my historian hat off::

I also read a lot of Chinese folk tales and tried to soak up the way that Chinese fairy tales are constructed and the kind of imagery that is used in them. I also can’t emphasize how amazing my friend Ginger was. Having grown up in China, she knew all different versions of various folk tales and kindly told me every single one in detail and let me ask questions about them. At the end of the day I took all this and combined it into a story that also had my own unique style and voice.

Song of the Spring Moon Waning, for all the fantasy elements, is very much a story about Wen Yu, about his struggles and insecurities and about his relationships with Liu Yi, how that relationships changes him and makes him look at the world in different ways.

I hate stories that tie everything up in the end and much prefer my fantasy and fairy tales to have the heroes going off to take part in more adventures. So that was exactly how I ended Song of the Spring Moon Waning. Wen Yu has learned to make his own decisions and live with the consequences of those decisions. Now he and Liu Yi are ready to face more adventures together.
Song of the Spring Moon Waning is part of the Jade Mountain series which also include Zi Yong and the Collector of Secrets, also published by Less Than Three Press. You can see more about it here. The third book in the series will pick up where Song of the Spring Moon Waning leaves off.

I am excited about it and I hope you all are too.

Thank you so much to Melanie for having me on her blog.

STRW:  And my thanks to E.E. Ottoman for a fascinating look at the inspiration behind this remarkable book.  I can’t wait for the next story to arrive.  Remember, to enter the contest to win a eBook copy of  Song of Spring Moon Waning, leave a comment below and an email address to I can contact you.  The contest ends March 15th.  Good luck everyone!

I leave you with a picture of the Snow Dragon Jade Mountain in China.JadeDragonMountain12

Song of the Spring Moon Waning coverBook Details:

ebook, 32,000 words
Published January 15th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
ISBN13 9781620043004
edition language English
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