gay fiction

New Release Tour for Risking It All (A Begin Again Novel) by Morningstar Ashley (excerpt)

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RISKING IT ALL

MORNINGSTAR ASHLEY

M/M ROMANCE

RELEASE DATE: 09.07.18

Risking It Cover 

 

Cover Artist: Designs by Morningstar

Cover Photo: David Velez Fotografia

Blurb

Jaden King was raised in Boston to a wealthy family that taught him what love and hard work is. He has a challenging and rewarding career until everything was turned upside down. What was once a promising future has quickly become a frightening and unknown reality. After months of dealing with the fall out on his own, he decided getting away–or more realistically, running away–to White Acre and his best friend sounded like the perfect plan.

Danny Keegan is a laid-back man with simple tastes and an even simpler life. He adores the little town of White Acre where he grew up, he loves his parents, and he enjoys his uncomplicated life.  He’s always told himself the fact that he’s a closeted gay man in a conservative, parochial town wasn’t an issue and coming out of the closet wasn’t necessary. But with the addition of Jaden in his life he realizes as happy as he is, he could be happier and the future of a love of his own doesn’t seem so out of grasp as it always had.

When Jaden and Danny meet, their chemistry is undeniable but playful flirting doesn’t mean anything. They start spending all their free time together, and what started as a simple friendship quickly turns into something much more than either saw coming. But, Jaden carries a secret that could end it all before it even begins. And though Jaden is scared to tell the truth and risk everything that has come to mean so much to him, he knows that he can’t go on without laying himself bare, leaving Danny with an important, life changing choice to make. His content little life or what could be the love of his life.

Will Jaden’s truth be too much for Danny, or will Danny decide a life out in the open, full of love, laughter, and passion is worth risking it all?

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H57WCJR

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07H57WCJR

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07H57WCJR

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Excerpt

The doorbell chiming through the house interrupted his thoughts. Good, he was tired of thinking about it. Hence why he hated lying around doing nothing. Too much thinking happened. Sigh. Maybe he should just go back to Boston.

The chill that ran down his spine halted all thoughts of that. Not yet. He wasn’t ready.

He got up off the lounge. His body immediately protested the move, wanting nothing more than to crawl back onto it, but finding out who arrived at Mac’s humble abode was too intriguing to pass up. Plus, he was bored and nosy.

“Jaden!” Mac’s voice yelled out deep and loud as he stepped into the foyer behind Mac. Jaden swore the man had no manners.

“Mac, you do not need to bellow. Didn’t your parents teach you how to use your indoor voice?” Jaden asked as haughty as he could.

Mac startled, probably not expecting him to be so close, then his near-constant smirk appeared as he replied, “Forgive my rudeness, my King.” Then the man bowed. Snarky bastard was making fun of his last name.

Jaden was really enjoying getting to know Mac. “Clearly, the art of sarcasm runs strong in you. But I love the title. Do continue to use it,” Jaden replied with a wave and a wink. It was then he turned his focus on Danny—yummy, bearded, gorgeous Danny—standing at the front door. Danny was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome but with a boyish next-door charm. Dark brown hair, tanned skin from his work outside, and hazel eyes—more gold than brown with little flecks of green around the iris—made Danny one yum yummy package Jaden wouldn’t mind unwrapping.

“Oh, wishes do come true. It looks like my handsome knight in shining armor has shown up to rescue me,” Jaden purred.

“I don’t know about the knight in shining armor bit, but I’m here to take you to Allie. She said you have plans to hang out tonight.” Danny’s voice was deep and smooth, sounding like silk would feel as it slid over Jaden’s skin.

Jaden didn’t know what he was talking about because he was sure he had no such plans. Something in Danny’s eyes told him to just go along with it. Maybe this had to do with the broken voicemail Bennett left him earlier. It had been so bad, he had no way of understanding what was said.

“Oh yes, my knight, how could I forget plans with my dear Allie? Let me just grab my things from my room then we can go.” Jaden walked upstairs to his room, torn between wanting to hang out with Allie and wanting to spend time with Danny flirting.

Five minutes later, Jaden was climbing into Danny’s truck—climbing being the keyword since the truck was so tall he felt like a child, small and clumsy, trying to get into it. It was the least graceful he’d ever been in his life.

The beast of a machine was over six feet tall and dark blue with silver running boards which did nothing to help him get into the vehicle without using all his muscle. His muscles weren’t much since he hated working out and figured all his walking in the city was the equivalent to going to the gym.

As soon as he settled into his seat—buckling up, of course—Jaden turned to face Danny. “Where is it we’re going exactly? Because I don’t remember making plans with Allie. Or are you kidnapping me? I could absolutely get on board with that,” Jaden said playfully. “I bet you’re the type with a secret sex dungeon in your basement where you torture poor innocent boys like me.” Jaden fluttered his eye lashes, holding his hands to his chest in mock innocence. “Not that I’m opposed to a little torture of the sexual kind.”

“You’re trouble, aren’t you, Jaden?” Danny glanced over at him, smirking before looking back at the road.

“With a capital T,” Jaden replied, biting his lip. “

All I know is Bennett needed you out of the house for something to do with Mac, and I owed Allie a favor, so I came to get you to take you to her.”

 

 MORNINGSTAR ASHLEY LOGO - Long

Morningstar Ashley is a transplant from the Yankee-controlled territory of New York, and now finds herself in the heartland of cowboys and longhorns—Texas. Armed with her imagination, wit, and trusty sidekicks in the form of her two crazy kids, devoted dorky husband, big lap dog, and rambunctious cats, Morningstar spends her time reading the books she loves, crafting her own characters, and arguing the merits of hot chocolate over the bitter brew known as coffee. (Hot chocolate wins, FYI.)

After a lifetime of trying to get people to realize her first name wasn’t Ashley, Morningstar decided the best way to settle the debate was to put her name on a book cover. Now she find the accomplishment of publishing so satisfying her mind won’t stop creating stories of love across the spectrum of LGBTQA+.

 

Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morningstar.ashley

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1625170807545688/

Instagram: morningstarashleywrites

Twitter: @StarZehAshley

Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/edc0fffdbb60/newsletter-sign-up

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Review Tour and Giveaway for Lucky by Garrett Leigh

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Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Length: 70,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design
 
Blurb
 

Dominic Ramos is a Premiership football player with a secret. There are no trophies for being gay in his game. Locked into his rep as the meanest defender on the pitch, keeping his secret is soul-crushing, but love has no place in his sport, even if his soft heart craves it.


Lucky Coleman is on his knees when he meets a man with more money than sense. It’s a Grindr hook-up for cash, not a love match, but dreaming of his desperate, kind eyes earns a place amongst his numerous bad habits.


Meeting once was risky, twice pushes Dom’s courage to the limit. Losing Lucky seems inevitable, but his tight grip on his image counts for nothing when Lucky starts to fall.


Catching him could cost Dom everything, but if he can set his heart free, getting Lucky long term might be a risk worth taking.

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.


Garrett’s debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.


When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.


Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.


Website: http://www.garrettleigh.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh

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Release Blitz – – Starting Over (The Knights Club #1) by C.S. Baty (guest post and giveaway)

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Buy Links:  Amazon US | Amazon UK 
 
Cover Design: Kelly Abell @ Select-O-Grafix
 
Length: 25,000 words approx.
 
Blurb
 

Xavier Knight was starting his life over. A new city. A new club. The past was gone, and he had everything to look forward to… except… love. That ship had sailed, never to return. He was too old to play the games or stack up the one night stands. Until, an old enemy’s son walked into his club and his heart.


Sebastian Brady was through. Through with hiding who he was. Through letting his brother officers dictate his life. And completely through, with his family telling him who he was. He turned his back on his badge and his family’s heritage in the Atlanta police force. But, he never imagined that he’d be serving drinks in a gay bar and working for the hottest silver fox he had ever seen in his life.


Xavier and Seb have a lot to learn from each other. Hopefully, their growing love will survive Xavier’s past, Seb’s family, and a host of characters with secrets of their own, who all work at the Knights Club.

The Knights Club Series

Bk. 1 Starting Over September 18, 2018

Bk. 2 Letting Go October 2018

Bk. 3 Coming Out November 2018

Bk. 4 Learning Trust December 2018

Bk. 5 Deserving Forgiveness January 2019

Story Background

The Knights Club (formerly the Gentleman’s Club) first appeared in the Warfield Hotel Mysteries Series. It was owned by Stony Whitecastle and is located in Atlanta, GA. At the beginning of the Knights Club/Starting Over, Stony is selling the club to Xavier Knight. He renames the club the Knights Club and instead of a private club opens it the public. Some patrons still hold membership though.

This series involves Xavier and his crew of employees and their involvement with a local police family. We meet Sebastian Brady in Starting Over along with his dysfunctional family. Seb’s struggle with his homophobic oldest brother and the shadow of his dead father, Detective Delmonico Brady, haunts Seb as he tries to make a new life for himself.

Occasionally, a character from the Warfield Hotel series will pop up but they are not central to the story line. Everyone who works at the Knights Club has a past and secret they are running from. They are mixed bag of people who have been suffered many things. The Knights Club is their home and the people who work there are their families. But, even families don’t like each other all the time…


 

C. J. Baty lives in southwest Ohio. Her heart, however, lives in the mountains of Tennessee where she hopes to retire some day. The mountains have always provided her with inspiration and a soothing balm to the stresses of everyday life.



The dream of writing her own stories started in high school but was left on the back burner of life until her son introduced her to fan fiction and encouraged her to give it a try. She found that her passion for telling a story was still there and writing them down to share with others was much more thrilling than she had ever expected.


She has a loving and supportive family who don’t mind fixing their own meals when she is in the middle of a story, and a network of friends who have encouraged and cheered her on in her quest of being an author.


One thing she has learned from life and she is often heard to say is: “You are never too old to follow your dream!”


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Release Blitz for The Hunt by J.M. Dabney & Davidson King (excerpt and giveaway)

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The Hunt

J.M. Dabney & Davidson King

Gay Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Romance

Release Date: 09.15.18

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Cover Design: Morningstar Ashley @ Designs by Morningstar

BLURB

Disgraced detective turned private investigator, Ray Clancy, left the force with a case unsolved. Finding the killer was no longer his problem, but it still haunted him. How long would he survive the frustration of not knowing before he gave into the compulsion of his nature to solve the crime?

Server, Andrew Shay, existed where he didn’t feel he belonged, living behind the guise of a costume. Yet it paid the bills, and he refused to complain about the little things in life. One night he returned home from work to find his roommate dead and the killer still there. Afraid and alone, his life spiraled and he didn’t know what to do. Could a detective at his core and a scared young man join forces to bring down the killer in their midst?

Goodreads:  https://bit.ly/2p7qwug

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EXCERPT

“What do you look like?” Ray asked, and it was the type of question I hated. How does someone describe themselves?

“Uhh, tall I guess, lanky, dark hair… nothing special. Just look for the guy pissing himself, that’ll be me.”

His chuckle eased the tight coil in the pit of my stomach. “Will do.”

He hung up without a good bye, and I hurried to the bathroom for a shower. Like every shower in existence, I crouched under the spray to wash off. A half-hour later, cleaned, brushed, and dressed, I hopped on the bus toward Rudy’s.

Where I would normally pop ear buds in and stare out the window, I found myself too paranoid to daydream. It felt like everyone was looking at me. Was the killer on this bus? Are we passing them on the street? Can he see me through the glass?

I saw Ray had texted me his cell number, and I hoped I wouldn’t need it because I was drowning in a pool of my own blood. God, I was dramatic.

I took a second to drop a message with Elise that I was meeting someone who may be able to help and that I’d message her when I was on my way back. She asked if I’d grabbed the spare key, and I was glad I had, because she said she was closing at the restaurant.

The bus stopped and I waited until I was the last person to exit. There was something about not wanting to be stabbed in the back.

Rudy’s was directly across from the bus stop. I took a deep breath and raced across the street. Opening the door, I searched out the place. It took me a second to figure out who Raymond Clancy was.

His eyes were staring into a coffee mug, and while I couldn’t see the color, I just knew they were dark. His hair was mostly gray, but under the fluorescent lights golden strands peeked through. He was a worn-out man, but there was no way I wouldn’t jump him if he offered.

When he looked up, those brown pools held a lot of emotion. He knew I was who he was waiting for, and I knew he was a man who had seen more shit than what I was running from.

JM Dabney Logo

J.M. Dabney is a multi-genre author who writes mainly LGBT romance and fiction. She lives with a constant diverse cast of characters in her head. No matter their size, shape, race, etc. she lives for one purpose alone, and that’s to make sure she does them justice and give them the happily ever after they deserve. J.M. is dysfunction at its finest and she makes sure her characters are a beautiful kaleidoscope of crazy. There is nothing more she wants from telling her stories than to show that no matter the package the characters come in or the damage their pasts have done, that love is love. That normal is never normal and sometimes the so-called broken can still be amazing.

Amazon Author Page

Facebook Author Page

Twitter

Author Website

Publisher Website

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Facebook Reader Group

Goodreads Author Page

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Davidson King, always had a hope that someday her daydreams would become real-life stories. As a child, you would often find her in her own world, thinking up the most insane situations. It may have taken her awhile, but she made her dream come true with her first published work, Snow Falling.

When she’s not writing you can find her blogging away on Diverse Reader, her review and promotional site. She managed to wrangle herself a husband who matched her crazy and they hatched three wonderful children.

If you were to ask her what gave her the courage to finally publish, she’d tell you it was her amazing family and friends. Support is vital in all things and when you’re afraid of your dreams, it will be your cheering section that will lift you up.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17286464.Davidson_King

Twitter: @DavidsonKing11 https://twitter.com/DavidsonKing11

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2MCMD5r

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidsonkingauthor/?hl=en

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/DavidsonKingAuthor/

Facebook Group: King’s Court: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DavidsonKingsCourt/

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A Chaos Moondrawn Review: Sentinel (Until You #2) by Karrie Roman

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Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

This is my first book by this author and book two in the series called Until You, but can be read as a standalone. However, I think reading the first book would be best for maximum enjoyment. At the beginning Lucas and Ryan, who are famous from being on a TV show, are giving a press conference to ask for privacy as they take a break from whatever traumatic thing happen to them in the first book. Ethan, their personal bodyguard, is the focus of this book.

Ethan had been living under the radar, but was brought back into the spotlight due to guarding the two stars. There was something about losing his whole family eight years ago due to his brother. Slowly, we get a recap interspersed throughout the book about some sort of trial against his brother who was a serial killer of young girls. None of Ethan’s guilt made sense to me until chapter nine, when we find out Stewart was a cop also. I’m not sure if I would have known that if I read the first book or not. Anyway, the only reasons it matters is that the topic is part of a pivotal scene where Ethan opens up to Ben, and his reluctance to go to the police is more believable. Ben is our other main character. He has been Ethan’s colleague and friend for the last two years, and we know Ben is in love with him. Ben is also friends with Ryan. Lucas and Ryan obviously consider Ethan family.

Ethan has feelings for Ben, who somehow got shot and has been in the hospital. Because he is afraid Ben will be mad that he never trusted him with the truth about his past, Ethan basically quits his job with the agency they work for, takes a new private job as a personal bodyguard to Ryan and Lucas, and disappeared, refusing to visit Ben in the hospital. Ethan knows there is something there between them, but the horrible rejection he faced from family, friends, and colleagues in the past makes him wary of being vulnerable.

Cameron is Ben’s brother, a rescue pilot for the sheriff’s department in the town called Cody, where Ethan’s sister Maggie lives. She finally finds and calls him after eight years because she has cancer and her ex, Peter, took their twin girls Maya and Riley away. She was afraid to go to the police since Peter was raised in a religious cult run by Arnold Piper, who has enough control over the group that a Jonestown scenario is likely. Once the set-up is done, this book is an action adventure with a rescue mission. Things never have a chance to get dull–there is always something happening. While Ethan’s background is in law enforcement, Ben was an army sniper and they lean heavily on his experience to plan the rescue. This gives Ben his chance to show Ethan how good they can be together and Ethan his chance to have the real intimacy he has been craving. The men work out their relationship throughout the mission.

I love that Ben and Ethan do those cute, stupid things that couples do and talk about the stupid things couple talk about. Once Ethan knows Ben loves him, knows Ben won’t leave him, he falls into this relationship. The mission makes Ben have to open up to Ethan about his past in the military and with the government. The ethics here are murky, so if you like your white hats super shiny, this may not be the book for you.

We get a lot of information about the cult and I found one of the lines very apropos of our current political climate: “it was hard to convince people they were living in a shared delusion when they were still essentially living in it.”

A major player is Alec Banner, an FBI agent that served with Ben in the military. No one wants a Waco either, so the author was good at building the tension with the cult, but it was a bit of a letdown that all the actual action here with the compound happens off page. This makes sense though because we stay with Ben and Ethan’s perspective during the faceoff with authorities. Another major player is the cult leader’s son, Zach who helps them to save the children. I would expect a future book with both of these characters. Zach has been raised without any idea about different types of sexuality and seeing Ben and Ethan together is eye opening. I will say the author made me care about the victims of the cult and then we have no idea what happens to them; being rescued and thrown into a world they know nothing about off page.

Yes, Maggie living in the same town as Ben’s brother is a huge coincidence. Yes, the plot is a little over the top. Yes, it was lucky that they had help from former cultists just when they needed it. Yes, they are making out in the woods in the middle of a mission. So what? This is entertaining, cute, hot, and romantic, rather than realistic. Since I didn’t read the first book, Ryan and Lucas are two dimensional to me right now and I don’t know anything about the Krispins (they own the company Ben and Ethan worked for as bodyguards), who it seems will still be involved as the series moves forward. I liked this book, so I will likely go back and read the first book before continuing on in this series.

The cover art is by Natasha Snow. I believe it shows Ben with the wilderness they had to hike through in the background. It seems a little placid for an action adventure.

Book Details:
ebook
Published September 10th 2018 by NineStar Press
ISBN139781949340693
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttps://ninestarpress.com/product/sentinel/
Series Until You :

A MelanieM Review: In Vino Veritas by Sydney Blackburn

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Rating: 4 stars out of 5

 

Anthony Beretta inherited the family winery at the tender age of twenty-four. It’s a struggle to keep it up, but he loves it and is determined to make it work even if it kills him. That is, if a motorcyclist doesn’t kill him first. He initially judges the man, attractive as he may be, on the basis of his appearance and apparently limited vocabulary. He soon discovers he’s wrong, but by then Oscar Kennett has already judged Anthony on his appearance.

Oscar thinks Tony Beretta is uptight and snobbish, and Tony’s speech for the charity they’re working on together reinforces that, even when he finds out Tony did it just to push his buttons. His adorable curls and sexy glasses might not be enough to change his mind, but maybe there’s more to Tony than meets the eye.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of love found among the wines and  vines.  It was not only a terrific contemporary romance but a great way to connect with an author I hadn’t read in a while, Sydney Blackburn.

Somehow, I manage to lose track of authors and I never figure out why.  Maybe its the flood of stories I get, the titles and series I keep up with. But for whatever reason, some I forget to check up on so I’m thrilled when I read books like In Vino Veritas by Sydney Blackburn and, after finishing the story) to go romping back to Sydney’s backlist to see what I have missed!

In Vino Veritas (In Wine Truth), two men collide literally and make instant snap judgements about each other based on their clothing of the moment and their conversation and language.  Initial impressions couldn’t be further from the truth but it takes wine, a winery, and a celebration to  bring the men together.

I loved both men, their personalities and the chemistry between them did it for me.  The backdrop and foundation of the witery is absolutely  perfect for a romance and the character of Tony Beretta (and his mother).  It’s necessary in order to get into his framework of overworked, obsessive, passionate man in love with his  vines, the art of wine making and the land.  We need to see Tony in his element and we do.  So eventually does Oscar.

I wish we could have had more of Oscar’s background and seen him settled at work but the focus here is Tony and his winery as well as their romance.

I loved so many elements here that I could see a sequel. I enjoyed this couple and the location that much.

If you love contemporary romance, don’t miss out on In Vino Veritas by Sydney Blackburn.  It’s one I definitely recommend!

Cover art:  Natasha Snow.  I love this cover.  Its perfection from the colors to the composition.  It caught my eye immediately.

Sales Links:  NineStar Press  |  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Published August 13th 2018 by NineStar Press
ISBN139781949340426
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Free Dreamer Review: Dawn (Expedition 63 #3) by T.A. Creech

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Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Sequel to Expedition 63 Book 2: Dark

Yakecen Sinohui can see the end in sight for the stranded crew of the Station. Each breath is a countdown until they’re able to return to Earth, until the poison clouds have cleared enough to leave. Though it’s a bad idea, Yakecen is drawn into the orbit of their resident biologist, Eli, someone who has kept Yakecen’s head in the game with his sunny presence.

The universe, however, has one last middle finger to give the weary crew.

Eli Palamo doesn’t object to Yakecen’s covert attention. He’s pined for his friend from the first moment they met, and isolation has strengthened their bond as the hardships forced them lean on each other completely. Yakecen is all he’s ever wanted. Nothing will be enough to tear them apart, if Eli has anything to say about it, not even Yakecen’s own demons. Definitely not the end of their disastrous mission and their fight for survival.

“Dawn” is the third and most probably final part of the “Expedition 63” series. While each book features a different couple, I don’t think it will work as a stand-alone.

Just like the two previous books, I found “Dawn” too short and shallow for my likes. The setting is fascinating and has great potential but the execution just kind of fell flat for me.

This time, Eli and Yakecen are paired off, the last two singles on the station. There are some hints that Yakecen has faced abuse in the past. He’s very particular about personal space, loud noises and intimacy. He also seems to have some physical scars. We never find out what kind of abuse he faced, though. Really, we learn next to nothing about either of our MCs, only small bits and pieces but not enough to make them feel like real people with actual depth.

The relationship felt very rushed. Which is odd, because they’ve known each other for years and were stuck on the small space station for three whole years. But the book is so short, and there was need for some actual plot in the second part, I guess there just wasn’t time for any kind of build-up. We don’t learn much about these two in the previous books, so that’s no help either.

The action in the second half was actually kind of exciting. Quite dramatic, certainly. Again, I wish it had gotten more depth, though. As such, it was all a mad rush with very few details.

I’m assuming this will be the final part of the series, since there’s nobody left to pair off. As such, I found the ending kind of dissatisfactory. There were just too many unanswered questions left. I’d love a fourth book for some kind of closure, but I don’t think there will be one.

Overall, the “Expedition 63” series was an okay read for me. Great potential, but lacking in the execution. It was all too short and shallow and “Dawn” was probably my least favourite of the three.

I’m still not a fan of the cover. Once again, the space station and the planet underneath are gorgeous, but the guy just looks like an alien. At least it fits with the rest of the series.

Sales Links:  JMS Books LLC  | Amazon

Book details:

Kindle Edition, 101 pages
Published July 28th 2018 by JMS Books LLC
ASINB07FSGDZJN
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesExpedition 63 #3

A MelanieM Review: Euphoria by Jayne Lockwood

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Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

 

It might take the arrival of an alien being to remind an isolated man what it means to be human.

With a stressful job, his boss breathing down his neck for profitable results, and an estranged wife and daughter, scientist Kurt Lomax doesn’t think life can get much harder. Until a nonbinary extraterrestrial with an otherworldly beauty, captivating elegance, and a wicked sense of humor inconveniently shows up at his apartment.

Vardam watched the destruction of their own world, and they don’t want to see the same thing happen on Earth. They are lonely, and feelings soon develop between them and the supposedly straight scientist—feelings Kurt reciprocates, much to his confusion.

The arrival of cheery interpreter Tom Soames—whose Goth appearance belies a gentle heart—is like a ray of sunshine in the somber lab. He acts as matchmaker for man and tentacled extraterrestrial, unwittingly instigating a national crisis when the news breaks out.

But will a misunderstanding ruin Kurt and Vardam’s chances for happiness together—along with the hope for peace between humanity and the Var?

Euphoria by Jayne Lockwood is the first story I’ve read by this author but it won’t be the last.  It’s exceedingly well written, filled with layered, well-rounded characters and a suspenseful plot. Yes, I enjoyed it immensely even when my hands were clutching the Kindle in high anxiety for the characters well being and my heart was racing over the fate for all involved, Earth included.

That makes a great story.  Which is what this is.

I alway have a sort of skittering in my stomach when it  comes to scientists and aliens.  You know, labs, aliens (nice ones) and corporations are never a good combination no matter the author or director.  So I was hesitate to dive in here.   But Lockwood’s world building, great pace of story telling, and relationship dynamics pulled me and and kept me connected.  Even when I didn’t  even like the main character to start off with.  That would be Kurt, cold, emotionally dwarfed and isolated Kurt.  Tormented by his childhood, ruled by it actually, he’s as unpleasant a man as you would want to meet.  And yes, he’s our hero, or one of them.  What a growth he undergoes and how you learn to love him. From someone almost coldly untouchable to achingly vulnerable and a world saver….that’s quite the leap for one man to make. Yet he does and we follow him all the way.

There’s so many  people here you will get attached to including Kurt’s daughter and wife, yes, that’s correct too Daughter and wife, that’s a huge part of this  story, along with such an impressive “interstellar traveler” as Vardam prefers to be called.

I did want more of Vardam’s people.  Everything that Lockwood constructed for them sounded imaginative and appealing.  And I wanted to know so much more.  This  book makes you want more stories, more about what  happens  next…to them all. Even though part of that question is happily answered in the end.  Such a lovely, ending.

What can I say?  I loved this book.  Its amazing.  Heart stopping, sweet, action packed, laugh inducing (bubble scene and full of love.  I absolutely recommend Euphoria by Jayne Lockwood to all lovers of science fiction and even to those who just love fiction at its best.  Now to see what else this author has written.

Cover Art is eye-catching and perfect for the character and cover.   Great job.

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Book Details:

ebook, 310 pages
Published August 14th 2018 by DSP Publications
Original Title Euphoria
ISBN13 9781640807761
Edition Language English