Tag: friends to lovers

Need A New Romance to Love? Check out Chase Potter’s The Music of the Spheres (guest post and giveaway)

Cover - The Music of the Spheres

The Music of the Spheres by Chase Potter
Publisher and Cover Artist: Chase Potter
Release Date January 21, 2016

Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is so happy to have Chase Potter here to day to talk about his latest novel, The Music of the Spheres.  Welcome, Chase, please tell us a little about the inspiration behind the story and that gorgeous cover.

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The Music of the Spheres by Chase Potter

Never before have I written a book quite like The Music of Spheres. Even the writing process itself was unique for me. At the beginning of November, I had just released my third book, and I wasn’t remotely interested in starting another project.

Then the inspiration came. A post about two guys graduating college who had shared a close friendship for years. A friendship defined by an innocent physical intimacy and a captivating sense of shared affection. A friendship that ran deep, touching each of their lives in a hundred different ways and eventually bringing the original poster to ask, “Are we… boyfriends?”

I was hooked. I built an outline over the next two days, and then I began to write. With my husband out of state, I had nothing but time. And just three weeks later, I was done. It took forty cups of coffee, five bubble baths, and a dozen beers spread across several tough scenes, but barely after I’d started, the manuscript was done and it felt like something amazing.

It’s no big secret that I like metaphors, and I put a lot in this story too. The title has its own special place in the book, and the covers features me and my husband as the silhouetted figures, courtesy of our engagement pictures (which incidentally were taken years ago by the young woman to whom the book is dedicated and who was the basis for one of the main characters.)

From the beginning, creating The Music of the Spheres was really a wonderful experience. The story had a certain symmetry and cohesion that not only made it painless to create but also let me fall in love with it. I laughed and I cried, and the emotions stuck with me longer after I’d finished writing. That’s the kind of story I love to write, and I’m excited to share it with readers.

About The Music of the Spheres

Cover - The Music of the SpheresAn athlete and introvert from a family touched by loss, Ryan Mattson splits his life between reading and spending time with his dad and precocious younger sister. With the wounds of Ryan’s past almost healed, high school is simple, and so is everything else.

But that changes when he’s paired with Adam for a class project. Adam, the guy with birthmarks like flecks of mud and compost-brown eyes that hide behind dorky glasses. Grudgingly, the two young men work together, and as they do, an unlikely friendship is formed.

With the passing college years, their bond deepens and grows. Even Ryan’s sister and dad take a liking to Adam, and the family – always missing a voice – seems to gain another. But just as Ryan is forced to confront what Adam really means to him, his family is dragged toward crisis. And beneath the silent snows and starlit sky of a Minnesota winter, their friendship will be tested more than ever before.

Contemporary, friends to lovers, gay fiction, romance, coming out.

Kindle Edition, paperback (coming Jan 25), 239 pages
Published January 21st 2016 by Chase Potter Books
 authorphoto Chase Potter

 About the Author

 Chase Potter lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his husband Mitchell and their dog Alex. The Music of the Spheres is his fourth novel. Raised in rural Minnesota, Chase has also lived in Germany and Austria. The experiences growing up in a small town and his struggles to adapt to foreign culture and language have served as inspiration in his writing.

Giveaway

For the Rafflecopter giveaway, five copies of The Music of the Spheres. Copies will be in the form of a gifted Amazon Kindle copy.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

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A Mika Review: Indigo Road by R.J. Jones

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Indigo RoadTwo best friends take a year off to find themselves… and end up finding each other.

Joshua Simpson has just finished four years at Purdue University, but that’s not why he’s buzzing with excitement. Once they’ve said goodbye to their families, Josh and his best friend Alex are taking off to discover America in an old but reliable VW van, planning on not seeing snow for an entire year.

Josh has always considered himself straight—except for that one time in college—so when he and Alex are living in such close proximity on the road, he’s unsure what these new feelings mean. Is it because they’re spending 24/7 together, or is it something deeper? And does it really matter since Josh has only ever seen Alex with women?

While in Oregon, Josh meets Johnno, a sexy but confusing Aussie surfer. While having an impromptu surfing lesson, Johnno helps Josh realize who he is and what he wants—but Alex’s reaction leaves Josh confused.

From a Montana ranch to the bright lights and dangerous streets of Los Angeles, to a dark and lonely deserted highway in Alabama, join Josh and Alex as they drive around the US, discovering not only who they are, but who they can be together.

Bored is not even the word to describe how I felt by this story. I didn’t connect one time to these characters. For me it was no highs or lows, just straight line from beginning to end. Neither character made an impact on me in the story. I just felt like a passenger on a road trip around the country with them. Actually these two felt like brothers to me. I didn’t get the friends to lover’s vibe at all. If anything; they’ve claimed to be friends as long as they have then this situation should have happened differently. It just seems like it just happened.

I didn’t buy Josh’s come to Jesus moment about his sexuality. Not if he claimed to be this “big man towards the ladies”. I’m not a gay man, so I’m unsure if it happens like this, but his coming to terms with his sexuality felt unbelievable. I would be okay if he never questioned it if we had some sort of past on his liking guys. It seemed sporadic at best. I don’t buy into Alex’s character as well. He had this hot/cold demeanor that had me questioning who was the true him. Other issues were their physical descriptions that seemed so similar as we can see from the cover. Besides the height issue, and the less blonde hair again I felt like I was reading about two brothers. It never gained momentum to me. I felt like the pacing was stagnant throughout the story. Some of the plot seemed random. A couple of the issues in the story I felt like it could have made some ground but it needed to be acted on.

All in all, this was a complete miss for me. I really do like the author’s previous work so I’d definitely read more from her, I just did not care for this one.

Cover Art by Meredith Russell. I’m not really enjoying the cover. For me their was no physical differences in the guys so it seems like to bros hanging out to me.

Sales Links:  All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 175 pages
Published December 4th 2015 by Vivid Blue Press
ASINB01867I9M4
Edition LanguageEnglish

A BJ Review: Y Negative by Kelly Haworth

Rating:  1.5 stars out of 5

Y Negative coverIn the last surviving cities of a ruined world, the concept of “woman” has been forgotten to history. Those unfortunate enough to lack a Y chromosome live as second-class citizens in a world dominated by mascs.

Ember is Y negative. He is scorned, bullied, abused by every masc he encounters, at work and at the gym. Not even his Y negative roommate cuts him any slack. He wants so desperately to be accepted as a masc that he’d rather buy black market testosterone than food. Something’s gotta give—he needs a change in his life, but has no idea how to find it.

Jess is a masc with a passion for studying the recovery of their devastated world. His boyfriend is pressuring him for more commitment, and his father expects him to take over the family business. He can’t wait to get away from civilization for his seasonal research out in the wild.

When Jess offers Ember a job, their lives collide in the isolated wasteland, and their initial attraction turns into a relationship that horrifies those around them. Soon their struggle to stay together and to be who they are turns into a fight for their lives.

This is going to be a hard review to write, but maybe that is fitting since the story itself was hard for me to read. It became clear as I got further into the book that this was not a story for me. For one thing, when I read a story, I need to feel a connection to at least one of the characters in order to fully engage with it. I didn’t feel that here. Didn’t feel any sort of chemistry between the characters.

The writing style didn’t work for me either, it actually seemed to distance me rather than draw me in. At various parts of the book, I despised pretty much every character, and that is saying something as I’m an easy-going sort of person.

At a few parts I just sat there staring at my kindle with my mouth open. Really. For example, a scene where Jess and Ember are first intimate, Jess’ appalling reaction at seeing him, his lack of caring even when he had to have known how he’d hurt Ember since he’d screamed out his pain and we know from a prior scene the walls are thin… then just telling him an hour later to get out there to work. OMG. No. Especially when Ember was right back to wanting him as if it didn’t happen a few pages later.

And try as I might, this story left me confused, frustrated, and alternately pissed off with various characters. Perhaps if there had been some sort of backstory in the book to explain why women were no longer thought of as women but as Y negatives and well, to explain so much more. Because I was confused.

After finishing the book, I read an article by the author that was published on this site a while back. Perhaps I should have read it before the book, it might have helped a little. But considering that math and science aren’t my thing, it still had my eyes crossing a bit. However, I recommend it prior to reading the story.

Overall, the premise is interesting, but the delivery of it didn’t work well for me personally.

The cover art by Jay Aheer made me look at this story, its dark and haunting and interesting.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here


Book Details:  

ebook, 317 pages
Published November 16th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626493332 (ISBN13: 9781626493339)
edition languageEnglish
url
other editions (2)
Y Negative
Y Negative

A Stella Review: THE WINTER SPIRIT by Indra Vaughn (a two review novel)

Rating 5 stars out of 5  ★★★★★

Nathaniel O’Donnelly likes his life quiet, his guests happy, and his ghosts well-behaved.

The Winter Spirit coverAlthough a boyfriend wouldn’t go amiss. Someone to share his beautiful B&B with, even if it is in the middle of nowhere and he’s long past the wrong side of thirty. Problem is, Nathaniel’s living with a ghost who thinks he’s cupid, and whose arrows fly a little too straight.

Gabriel Wickfield had the unfortunate luck of dying before his time, and now he’s stuck trying to make romance happen to earn his right to move along. Not that he’s bored in the meantime–Nathaniel is just too easy to tease. And also a little bit scrumptious…

With the curse reaching its expiration date, Gabriel needs to make this final match this Christmas. Without it, nothing but darkness awaits.


Love can conquer all, but can it beat death?

I already read some Christmas stories this year and so far The Winter Spirit is my favorite. It was unexpectedly beautiful and emotional. I simply loved it! It is the perfect Christmas novel for these cold days, light and cuddly.

Nathaniel owns a bed & breakfast left him by his uncle twelve years ago. He is living his quiet, happy and a bit lonely life in the middle of nowhere with a resident ghost called Gabe, dead one century ago, who appears in all the mirrors in his perfect three piece suit. A matchmaking ghost who likes to close Nathaniel and his friend/coworker Elise in the pantry and switch on “Love is in the Air” on the stereo. But it’s on time, he has hundred years to make someone, Nathaniel now, fall in love. And the curse is ending this Christmas. What if he falls in love with Nathaniel?

I don’t have words to say how much this book warmed my heart, it was magical and sweet. I loved the characters, each one except Owen, I laughed and I admit I cried a little at the ending part. The story went exactly where it was supposed to go, where I wanted it to go, it didn’t disappoint me a bit. It’s what I love to read, so perfect, well written and engaging I had to read it in a one standing because I couldn’t put it down. The novella’s idea was not just great, most of all was beautifully developed in a slow burn, friends to lovers story that left me satisfied through all of it.

This was my first book by Indra Vaughn and I need to check out her previous works soon. The Winter Spirit was a well done surprise! Highly recommended.

Cover art is as perfect as the story.

Sales Links: All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published November 16th 2015 by Indra Ink
Kindle Edition, 93 pages
ASIN B0184I7U2U
Edition Language English

A MelanieM Review: Roughstock: Blind Ride – Season One by B.A. Tortuga

Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5

Blind Ride cover 2Jason Scott is at the top of the field in his career, that of professional bull riding.  Jason, along with his traveling partner and best friend, Andy Baxter, are riding the circuit, both hoping to finish at the top of the boards and win enough money to see each of them set for life.  Jason and Bax have been dancing around the fact that they are crazy about each other.  Each is afraid of losing his best friend if they admit how much they actually love each other. It will take something huge to make a change in their relationship.

Being a professional bullrider is a dangerous game and in one horrible instant everything changes for both Jason and Bax.  When a ride on one of the top bulls goes wrong, an injury to Jason’s head causes him to go blind. Reeling, Jason and Bax retreat to Jason’s family ranch to recover and wonder what’s next for them both.  For Jason, it appears his life is over and he has nothing to live  for.  Bax is determined to prove him wrong, both personally and professionally.

Bax thinks Jason can ride the bulls even blind.  But it will take Bax, his love and their small circle of friends to prove to Jason that even blind bullriders have their life and love ahead of them.

I have a huge fondness for both the Roughstock series and its author, BA Tortuga.  So it pains me when I have to report that this story, while having so many of the great qualities I have come to expect from this series, is guaranteed to frustrate the reader to the point that it is hard to recommend it. First let’s look at the merits of this story.

The characters are wonderful.  Jason “Mini” Scott and Andy “Bax” Baxter are typical of the cowboys you will find in the stories of B.A. Tortuga.  Their personalities are so authentic to the bull riding circuit and the locale that I would also expect to run into them at any PBR event.  They become so real that they feel like a part of your family.  And it is this intimacy that connects the reader to them and their futures.  You feel the dust that coats them as they pick themselves up off the arena floor and the pain their profession inflicts upon their bodies.  They are just so realistic that you hurt for them.  And Tortuga is one of the best authors around when it comes to dialog.  The words that issue out of the mouths of her cowboys ring with authentic local flavor and colloquialisms.  And it does so without being hokey or off sounding.  Here they are heading down the road to get supper:

Bax threw his duffel back, too, sliding into the driver’s side. “So, where to? I figure that one little place where you circle your order will be closed.” “There’s that one place by the highway — about twenty minutes out. It’s nothing but old ranchers taking their women out. Nice T-bones.” And he always got tickled by those tables with the ads printed on them. Reminded him of going to auction with Pa-paw.

“That works.” The big dualie slid right into traffic like an elephant into a herd of zebras, Bax muscling them right in.

They scooted down 35, radio blaring. He found a pack of smokes in the console and lit one for Bax, then got himself one. Three days of rest, then Tulsa.

“You think we ought to try and hit home ‘fore Tulsa?” It was kinda eerie sometimes, the way Bax read his mind. Then again, they’d been on the road together for nigh on six years.

“We can. Momma’d like to see us. ‘Course, we could go on to the city. Goof off. Depends on how much you want Momma’s pineapple upside down cake.”

“Oh, I’d rather go see your momma.” That man did have a sweet tooth. Pineapple upside down was Bax’s very favorite.

“Cool. I’ll call her. Let her know we’ll be in.” He took a deep drag, grinned. Lord, lord. “I hope your knee’s up to riding fence.”

“Shit, you know it. Just don’t ask me to walk fence.” Wheeling around a little Honda, Bax started humming with George on the radio, off tune as anything. “Nah. You wouldn’t be worth shit in Tulsa, then.”

They both hooted, and Jason leaned back, easy in his bones. Man, event win number three. Check in his pocket. Him and Bax heading for steak.

Life, she was good.

Of course, we know it’s all going to change and soon.  But in that short exchange we see the ease and contentment of Jason and Bax’s relationship.  It sings of a friendship long established and perhaps much more.

And once they fess up and go for a full romantic relationship, it is still in keeping with their cowboy ways and personalities.  No flowers here.

 It was like a good ride, all motion and want and spinning. He tried to warn Bax, tried to let the man know he was gonna be way quick off the mark, but it wasn’t happening. And it didn’t seem to matter one bit. Bax was pushing him on, making these amazing noises, just as hot for him as the Fourth of July.

Their relationship is hot, sexy, and emotionally deep.  How we fall for them.

Pretty much everything works here for much of the story.  The narrative suffers a bit from almost too much sex.  We want more of Jason coming to grips with his blindness.  And we want to see exactly how Jason, with Bax and Coke’s help, will learn to ride again.  At one point, even Bax remarks that he and Jason have sex instead of talking.  OK, but as a reader, while I love the hot sex, I want more of the relationship that produces it.

After all I have been through with Jason and Bax, feeling side by side with them on their emotional rollercoaster, I want and deserve to have the emotional payoff I expect at the end of the story.  And that is exactly what’s missing.  No “aha” moment, no ending.  Nothing.  It just stops prior to Jason ever getting back up on a bull, even one on his friend’s ranch.  The emotional reward, the moment everything has been building up to never happens. Frustrating? You betcha.  And totally unexpected from this seasoned author.  And it is this aspect that dragged the rating down to a 3 star rating.

So who should read this book?  Well, hard core fans of B.A. Tortuga for one as well as fans of the Roughstock series.  Coke, AJ, Bax and Jason are the core characters of the Roughstock series so its good to have this part of the story.  But that lack of ending just makes me want to grab a beer and go watch some PBR instead of continuing to bemoan what could have been an outstanding book.

Cover art by Posh Gosh.  I like this cover, it feels more representative of the story and characters.  Terrific job.

Sales Links:  Pride Publications |  Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, Pride Publications (a LGBT imprint of Totally Bound, now Totally Entwined)
Published July 7th 2015 by Totally Bound Publishing (first published January 1st 2007)
original titleRoughstock: Blind Ride – Season One
ISBN139781784306397
edition languageEnglish
seriesRoughstock #1
charactersJason Scott, Andy Baxter settingUnited States

Books in the Roughstock series:

Roughstock: Blind Ride — Season One – Novel, m/m, core
Give it Time: the Seven of Wands – Novella, m/m
Roughstock: And a Smile — Season One – Novel, m/m, core
Doce — A Roughstock Story – Novella, m/m
Amorzinhos — A Roughstock Story – Novela, m/m, threesome
Roughstock: File Gumbo — Season One – Novel, m/m, core
Roughstock: And a Smile — Coke’s Clown – Novela, m/m,
Shutter Speed, A Roughstock Story: the Seven of Pentacles – Novella, m/m
Roughstock: City/Country – Novel, m/f
Roughstock: Picking Roses – Novel, m/f
Needing To: A Roughstock Story – Novella, m/m

Upcoming Roughstock Novels
Roughstock: What She Wants – Novel, m/m/f
Roughstock: Tag Team – Season Two – Novel, m/m
Roughstock: Terremoto – Season Two- Novel, m/m

Roughstock Shorts:
Cowboy Christmas (Coke and Dillon)
Barbed Wire and Bootheels (Sam and Beau)
Some Good Doctoring (CB and Jonesy) – Free Read

 

Review: Acting Out (Calm and Chaos #1) by Sharon Maria Bidwell

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Acting Out coverNicholas Sandford and Alexander Lasseter were friends for years before their mutual agent  partnered them in a film that would bring them success as actors and link them together in the public’s memory as the best of friends.  When renown director Robert King sends them a script that is almost guaranteed to give them the roles of their lives, only one of them is eager to accept.  The problem is that the script calls for Nick and Alex to  play friends who become lovers during the course of the film, including nudity and sex scenes.

Alex has always known that he was attracted to men but has kept that side of himself hidden from Nick.  Nick has always thought of himself as straight, although his dates with women are few and the number of relationships he has had is zero.  But to act in this film, Nick faces the condemnation of his family, his own fear of taking a role he wants dearly and the fact that if he turns down this role, Alex will go on to other films without him, leaving Nick and their friendship behind.

When Nick and Alex agree to act in the film, everything between them starts to change with just one kiss.  As fantasy turns into reality, Nick must face his own fears about his sexuality and come to an acceptance about himself as well as Alex in order for the men to move forward with their careers and romance.

Short review?  A stultifying well written story that follows two friends journey through endless self examination of their sexuality, their roles in their friendship to a final acceptance of their homosexualityp and love.  That’s the cliff notes review, the succinct version of what is to follow.  Oh that the author had done the same for her story.

Everything about this story should have made me feel so much stronger about the plot and characters than I actually do.  The plot is a terrific one…in theory.  It’s really one man’s introspective journey to self awareness and acceptance of his sexuality through the course of a film role and with help with his best friend/love interest.  It should be painful, dramatic, and finally fulfilling, yet this story is none of those things. Instead it feels drawn out, verbose, of only middling tension with characters that never rise to the reality and drama of the roles they are filming.

The first hint of issues with Acting Out arrives with Nick Standford,  The story starts out in Nick’s pov and immediately the reader is plunged into an almost endless stream of thoughts from Nick about his conflicting feelings about the role he is being asked to play, his friendship with Alex, thoughts about his family, Alex’s sister, the swan in the river….on and on it goes and we haven’t even reached page 4.  Just the appearance of Nick on a page means that a full blown dithering inner monologue is sure to follow.  How can a reader even begin to care about a character if even reading that character’s thoughts feels like a walk through a bog?  Here is Nick waiting for Alex to appear:

 The only good thing was their mutual agent, Alana Reynolds, wouldn’t be here. She of the overlong and straight blonde hair hanging like a curtain, swaying, seductive, invariably irritating Nick to hell. Whenever she looked at Alex, gone was the unsettling stare Nick paid her so well to use while representing him. Nick saw nothing hard, cold, or business-like when she skimmed that large frame. He’d never known Alana to gawk at anyone with a less than analytical eye, and the realisation that she did otherwise left him torn between gratitude not to be the object of her scrutiny and belligerence because she paid Alex such close attention. Around Alex, her expression came close to an open display of desire. For some reason, Nick didn’t like it.

He didn’t want to know whether Alex had seduced Alana, or she him. He was doubtful the two were having sex; still, he disliked the possibility. He could imagine those perfect bodies locking together too easily, but he tried not to. Imagining Alana naked was one thing, but considering what an attractive couple they made struck him as disturbing. Women could look at other women to say they were appealing, even beautiful. Men didn’t do that. They called each other “fit,” and it was too easy to gaze at Alex and see an extremely fit man, indeed. He didn’t feel comfortable admiring Alex; he never had, even though he had a case of justifiable envy. Those broad shoulders and muscular build, the square jaw and disarming grin… Nick swallowed, wanting an antacid. He touched his tie, fingered his lapel, and looked around, wondering if they’d have such a thing on the premises. Probably against Health and Safety. He should have been even more gracious to the serving girl, who would have no doubt given him anything he wanted.

That is one of Nick’s shorter moments, most of them are actually quite protracted in every way you can imagine. Alex Lassiter is a little better.  Alex is already comfortable with his sexuality although not out because of his profession.  He is one of those actors that get the action/suspense roles that command large sum salaries and huge box office returns unlike Nick who gets the lanky, brainy geeky roles.  The point of view switches back and forth between Alex and Nick, but honestly neither character comes across as realistic or particularly memorable. Nick constantly frets about his thoughts and emotions toward Alex and the film roles they are to play and the reader should be right there with him emotionally as he works through his inner conflicts.  Instead, the writing and descriptions, although well written and with a certain style, don’t even begin to bring an element of real passion and pain into the equation.  We just don’t get any real measure of  angst or mental anguish, just a mention of emotional discomfort and irritation.

One thing stood out for me in this very serious story and that is the lack of humor.  A touch of humor, self depreciating or otherwise can lift a scene up, enlivening it along with the characters.  And that element is missing along with any real drama or emotional highlights.   Or should I say emotional highlights that feel like emotional highlights.

From beginning to end neither the characters or the narrative serve to involve the reader emotionally in this story.  I can’t decide whether it is the constant musings on their sexuality and the possibilities of sexual attraction or the inner arguments as well as monologues that continue ad infinitum that serve to distance the reader from these characters.  But what ever the source, the reader will find themselves disconnected from this story and the men through the very same emotional channels which should be engaging their attention and that is such a shame as the story had real promise.  A promise it never delivered.

The Calm and Chaos part of the title is derived from two acting roles the men played in a film, their first together.  Colin Calm Cameron and Chandler Chaos Chance, two detectives, partners as well as friends.  That film and those roles sounded far more interesting than Acting Out, which is the first in a series.  For myself, I am leaving this series at the first book.  If you are a fan of this author, than you might consider reading this story, otherwise I would give it a pass.

Cover Design: Kelly Shorten is very nondescript, it could be for any story, not just this one.

Book Details:

ebook, 75,000 word count
Published June 8th 2012 by Musa Publishing

Review: Night Fall (Frostbite #2) by Jenna Byrnes

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5

Frostbite- Nightfall coverSouth Side Chicago Detective Cullen Ryder lives for his job after a drunk driver killed his lover, leaving Ryder alone and grieving.  In the past few weeks, the number of homicides has jumped dramatically.  Someone is killing the homeless and prostitutes, leaving them drained of blood in the streets and alleys where they were found.  The coroner laughingly suggests a vampire on the hunt but why are they drained of all their blood?

Vampire Ethan Harte has returned home to Chicago after the last city he visited got too hot to stay.  Even in winter the poor seedy side of Chicago is full of victims for a hunting vampire.  Than Ethan runs into his old high school friend, Cullen Ryder in a bar and things turn sexually and emotionally intense in just one night.

But Ryder is a Homicide Detective with 15 years of experience and he’s hunting a killer. A killer that just happens to be his old friend and newest love. Ethan knows it dangerous to stay in Chicago with Ryder on his trail but he wants just a little more time before he has  to leave.  If Ryder discovers who and what Ethan is, can their newfound love survive the discover and Ryder’s sense of duty?

I loved the premise of this story but found the author’s Night Fall lacking in quite a few ways.  Cullen Ryder is the better of the two characters.  He is a seasoned detective, still hurting over the death of his lover by a drunk driver.  Byrnes gives this character a back history that rounds out his persona while letting us into his every day life to see the respect he has garnered as a detective on the force.  Unfortunately as the story progresses the author seems to forget about the character she has created as Ryder changes and his character adjusts to accommodate her storyline.  Furthermore, her vampire, Ethan Harte enjoys being a predator while giving lip service (however, briefly) to the moment he was changed.  Statements from Ethan to Ryder like “This relationship is over when I say it is over”, and the unpleasant actions that follow serve to derail the story and any sort of romance the author had intended.

The ending was, in my opinion, so off putting that I have no intention of reading the followup story even though an excerpt is included at the end of Night Fall.  Unless you are a diehard fan of jenna Byrnes or must read every vampire story that comes along, I would give this a miss and head over to the other Frostbite tales instead.

Book Details:

ebook, 1st Edition, 52 pages
Published December 13th 2013 by Total-E-Bound Publishing (first published December 12th 2013)
ISBN 178184853X (ISBN13: 9781781848531)
edition language English
series Frostbite #2

The Frostbite Collection includes:

Gravedigger (Frostbite #1) by Aurelia T. Evans
Night Fall (Frostbite #2) by Jenna Byrnes
Succulent Dark (Frostbite #3) by D.J. Manly
The Study of Blood in Winter (Frostbite #4) by Catalina Dudka

Review: Tread Marks & Trademarks (Team Maker Jock #1) by S.A. McAuley

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Tread Marks and Trademarks coverAlex Maddox, mad tech genius, is about to hit some major milestones in his life.  He is almost at his 30th birthday and the robot, Yudo, that he has been working on since childhood, is almost finished and ready to be launched.  But how to go about it?  His twin brother Micah and his partner JT suggest that a friend of theirs is perfect for the job and set up an introduction.  When Alex meets the Norse god of advertising, Christian Lawson, Alex is immediately smitten.  But what would someone as gorgeous and together as Christian see in a geek like Alex?

Christian Lawson is an advertising genius.  And when Alex Maddox approach him for help with his robot, Christian immediately sees two things he wants.  Christian knows he is the man to promote Yudo and he also knows that the inventor is the man for him. Christian’s past includes a failed romance and a motorcycle accident that left him with a limp and scars that go past the physical.  He has never wanted to let anyone else close to him again…until Alex.

As Alex and Christian work together to launch Yudo into the tech world, their attraction turns into love.  But their own insecurities and elements from their past must be dealt with if their budding relationship is to deepen into the forever love each has always wanted.

Tread Marks & Trademarks was the first contemporary fiction story I have read by S.A. McAuley, an author known to me only by her superb science fiction novels One Breath One Bullet and Dominant Predator.  Those stories taught me to expect a tight narrative, told with intensity and suspense, focused on characters both sublime and innately dangerous.  Needless to say they did not prepare me for this absolutely enjoyable tale of geekiness, robots, and love amongst the techies and their lovers.

McAuley introduces us to the Maddox twins, Alex especially as he in caught up in finishing the project of a lifetime, his robot Yudo. Yudo represents astounding technological breakthroughs that, if it functions as Alex hopes, will make his reputation and his fortune.  I love that while Alex Maddox incorporates some of the mad scientist/geek characteristics one would expect, McAuley goes further with her character and gives Alex, not just genius but a wildly sexy component and a twin who is his complete mental and emotional opposite, Micah.  Alex is intensely focused on his work with Yudo, understandably so as this has been the center of his life since childhood.  While his brother dated and partied, Alex studied and worked on the technology needed to make Yudo function.  Micah is “the force of nature” brother, Alex is the quiet nerd who appears more confident than he actually is.

Both brothers are characters that any reader will love, two halves that make a whole and we are drawn to both of them.  Such a magnetic pair deserves lovers that balance such extremes out.  The author understands that balance is necessary not only in relationships but in the characters in a story.  Christian Lawson, the “Norse god” of advertising is made human by his frailties otherwise it might be hard for the reader to invest their emotions in a character so perfect as to be annoying.  However, again McAuley has made Christian accessible by putting a devastating motorcycle accident in his past that almost cost him his leg. The emotional and physical scars as well as limp gives Christian a more realistic presence in story and in Alex’s life.  JT, Micah’s lawyer boyfriend and their romance is already well established in this story.  But the glimpses we are given into their relationship and courtship are so intriguing that I can’t wait for McAuley to deliver their backstory to us in another novel as she has  promised.

McAuley has divided her narrative into two parts.  The first is told from Alex’s pov, and the second half of the story is from Christian’s.  It is an interesting format and the two points of view works to give the reader not only greater insight into the characters and their pasts but how each character views the other.  I still found the switchover a little jarring  and wish that the author had stuck to one point of view throughout her story.  There are no real extremes here, just the normal highs and lows that come with two men trying to establish both a working relationship as well as a romantic one,  That is given a very realistic treatment here and I appreciated that neither came without its obstacles and elements that stress both men out as their adjust to all the changes happening in their lives.

There are so many interesting elements to this story, including its location in Detroit, Michigan.  Either the author has done her homework extremely well or is very familiar with the city or both.  McAuley combines key city landmarks with Detroit based industries such as Pewabic Ceramics to give Tread Marks & Trademarks an authentic and appealing setting.  The Maker Movement figures largely in Alex’s makeup and the Maker Summit is the venue at which he introduces Yudo to the public and the companies attending.  I was unfamiliar with the Maker movement until this story which sent me on a google hunt for background information and philosophy.  I love it when an author does that and here McAuley did it twice.  Once with the Maker Movement and again with Pewabic tiles.  I am now a huge fan of both thanks to this story and its author.

Finally, Tread Marks and Trademarks is the first in the Team Maker Jock series.  Next up is Micah and JT’s  story.  I can’t wait.  If it is as good, as entertaining, as absorbing as this story, then count me first in line to grab it up.  In the meantime, start the series at the beginning, with Alex and Christian.  They are a wonderful couple and I loved watching them meet and their romance build.  You will too.  Consider this story highly recommended.

The Cover art is credited to Wilde City Press.  I loved it.  It is just perfect for this story in every way.  Kudos to the artist whoever they are.

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Published December 11th 2013 by Wilde City Press
ISBN13 9781925031690
edition language English
series Team Maker Jock