Tag: gay paranormal romance

A MelanieM Audio Review: Burn (Witchbane #1.5) by Morgan Brice and Kale Williams (narrator)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

One hundred years ago, a sheriff’s posse killed dark warlock Rhyfel Gremory, but his witch-disciples escaped, and their magic made them nearly immortal. To keep their power, each year one of the witch-disciples kills a descendant of one of the men in the posse, a twelve-year cycle that has cost dozens of lives, including that of Seth Tanner’s brother, Jesse.

Seth uncovers a cycle of ritual murders that feed the witch-disciples’ power, and he saves Evan Malone, one of the warlock’s potential victims. Neither Seth nor Evan expected to fall in love, but when the dust settles, they find themselves on the run and on the road together, heading toward Pittsburgh, on the trail of the next killer.

Seth wonders whether Evan will come to regret his choice to stay together, now that he’s living the reality of Seth’s nomadic life and the risks that come with it. He wants Evan to stay, but he’s afraid that Evan would be better off without him, living a normal life. Evan’s whole world has been upended, but there’s one thing he’s sure of, his love for Seth. Evan worries that he’s a liability, not yet able to hold his own in Seth’s rough-and-tumble world, but determined to do whatever necessary to have Seth’s back. On the way to face the next warlock, supernatural threats abound, forcing them to learn to fight as a team.

Fate and danger threw them together. But once the adrenaline fades, will love last?

Burn is a short follow-up story in the Witchbane series where Seth Tanner and Evan Malone are still adjusting not only to each other but recovering from the recents events from book one, Witchbane and before book two, Dark Rivers.  Their “partnership” is new, from the tentatively forming romance to the decision to carry on and find the rest of the  warlock’s witch disciples. And dispose of them.  So Burn is a story of uncertainty, adjustment, learning, and communication.  All while killing nasty supernatural and paranormal beasties.

It is most definitely NOT a standalone in any way shape or form.  Really wish they would stop doing that in blurbs and descriptions.  It’s a series, people, with world building and this is only an interim story. It most certainly rests on the shoulders of the rest one as any solid building block does.

So, if you’ve read Witchbane, this is a wonderful sequel and mirror into where the characters stood immediately after the events of that novel.  Not shockingly, they are having issues.  Not talking and it’s ready to combust.  As written by Morgan Brice and narrated by the most wonderful Kale Williams, this story flies by.  It’s action packed, the characters alive and full of torn emotions.  As they should be.  I was so caught up in the story that it was over before I knew it.  As I said it’s a short story and the audio reflects that.

Witchbane is just one of the many interconnected series that Brice has right now.  There’s Witchbane, Badlands, t and the the new one , Treasure Trail.  All with interconnected characters that appear in each others stories and series. If you read one or listen to one, you find yourself getting sucked, quite willingly, into the overall universe Brice is building.  Read one?  Nope, have to read them all.  Or listen to them.  Which I am finding equally addicting under the spell of Kale Williams.

Which means I am recommending Burn the audio to you all, after you listen to Witchbane of course.  That was a terrific audio too.  Now to wait for Dark Rivers to arrive in audio.  Be still my heart!

Cover art works for the characters and tone of the story.  Love it.

Buy Links

Audible US  |   Audible UK 

Amazon US  |   Amazon U

Audio Details:

Listening Length: 3 hours and 2 minutes

Audiobook
Published April 16th 2019 by Tantor Audio (first published September 26th 2018)
ASINB07Q4R76RK
Edition Language English
Series Witchbane #1.5

Witchbane Series

Witchbane

Burn 1.5

Dark Rivers 2

J.T. Hall on the Yokai, Asian Mythology, and her release ‘Fraud Twice Felt (The Oddities #2)’ (guest blog and giveaway)

Fraud Twice Felt (The Oddities #2) by J.T. Hall
Riptide Publishing
Cover by: L.C. Chase

Available for Purchase from Riptide Publishing

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have J.T. Hall here today talking about the influences in her latest story in her Oddities series, Fraud Twice Felt.  Welcome, J.T.

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Yokai in the Oddities Series by J.T. Hall

No, I’m not talking about the popular anime series, but the “real” yokai, or Japanese legends of spirits which often take on monstrous forms and torment mankind.

I’ve always had a fascination with Japan and Japanese culture. I don’t know why, but I find their culture intriguing, from the grace and beauty of geisha, origami and bonsai trees to the crazy and often funny television shows and manga. My partner is Japanese-American, and we were fortunate enough to be able to visit Japan several years ago. I’ve been wanting to include more of this cultural influence into my writing ever since.

When I started designing a gay paranormal romance series, I didn’t want the typical vampires and werewolves and other European monsters. I’d read up a lot about Shintoism and the concept in Japan that everything has a spirit. So I decided in my “demon-infested” world that the so-called demons would come from Asian mythology rather than European. And since this is set in the Pacific Northwest where there’s a large Japanese community, having yokai seemed appropriate.

The term “yokai” is made up of kanji for “bewitching” and “apparition,” “spectre,” or” mystery,” so basically it means a bewitching ghost. The term was used during the Meiji period (1868-1912); previously the same types of creatures had a different name that relates more to the spirits within things.

The whole concept behind the yokai is that they are the life energy that dwells within all things, and they take various forms, often to the detriment of humans. In the lore, various forms came from the stories of different religions including Shintoism, Taoism, and Buddhism. In fact, yokai don’t have to be of Japanese origin at all—any strange, supernatural entity (like Bigfoot, a will-o-the-wisp, etc.) is described in Japan as a yokai. The term includes any mysterious being.

Because of all these different meanings and origins, and because there are really no rules about dealing with yokai, I felt they were perfect for the series. The yokai in the Oddities series are interchangeably referred to as either yokai or demons—the latter is more used by those of European descent or Judeo-Christian faiths. After all, there is no Hell in Japanese lore but outsiders might not know that. In the background of the world, German scientists opened up a portal between the natural world and the supernatural in their quest for the atomic bomb, and this allowed the yokai to begin manifesting on Earth wherever there is nature. (This ties in nicely with the Shinto beliefs that everything has a spirit). While there are religious figures shouting that this is the Apocalypse and that these are demons out of Hell, in this world the Japanese lore is actually the reality, so those views are misguided.

I hope readers enjoy these spirits and monsters out of Japanese lore as they read Book 2 of the Oddities series, Fraud Twice Felt.

About Fraud Twice Felt

Three weeks after solving his old boyfriend’s murder, bounty hunter Derwin Bryant is trying to let go of the past and embrace his new life with Elliot Leed, a former rentboy and fellow Oddity. Elliot, meanwhile, is trying to adjust to working at Bob’s Bail Bonds and having a real relationship despite his strange power of Object Reading. Hanging over the couple is the fear that Roy Yoshiro, notorious gang lord, will make good on his threats to claim Elliot. If that happens, not even Derwin’s superhuman strength will be enough to protect the man he loves.

Their concerns are overshadowed when Derwin’s friend asks for help finding her missing son. It’s not long before the case takes Derwin and Elliot back to the crime-ridden underbelly of the city and straight into Yoshiro’s clutches. Two gangs are vying for power, and Derwin and Elliot get caught in the middle of their very public fight.

Derwin and Elliot must find a way to thwart both gangs’ plans and escape alive. This time, one misstep could spell disaster for all the inhabitants of Nis.

Available now from Riptide Publishing. 

About The Oddities Series

The government wants to control Oddities. Regular people condemn them. And the corporations want to study their DNA . . .

Derwin Bryant is a bounty hunter, a demon hunter, and has an Oddity that allows him to feed on pain to increase his strength and speed. Elliot Leed is a rent boy turned private investigator with a rare Oddity of his own—the ability to read objects with strong emotional imprints. Together they take on cases that no one else can, in a city full of corruption, crime, and the forgotten poor.

It’s a tough place for two men in love to make a difference.

Check out The Oddities! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/series/oddities

About J.T. Hall

J.T. Hall has been writing for many years under this name and others, and has appeared in magazines, anthologies, and online books. She earned her BA in creative writing from the University of Arizona, her Master’s in education from Argosy University, and works as an independent technical writer for state and federal programs. In her free time, she volunteers for the LGBT community and is active in the leather scene. She has a teenage daughter and a partner of over ten years. They live in sunny Arizona with three adorably cute dogs, three black cats, and a hamster who loves peanuts.

Connect with J.T.:

● Blog: jthallwriting.wordpress.com

● Twitter: @JTHall7

● Tumblr: www.tumblr.com/blog/jthallwriting

● GoodReads

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Fraud Twice Felt, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Riptide credit and an ebook from J.T.’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on June 3, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A BJ Review: Mocker of Ravens (SPECTR 2, #1) by Jordan L. Hawk

Rating:  4.25 stars out of 5

Moker of RavensCaleb has spent the last six months adjusting to life possessed by the vampire spirit Gray. Unfortunately, after the events of Fort Sumter, the other agents of SPECTR view him more as a ticking time bomb than a co-worker.

The one bright spot is Caleb and Gray’s boyfriend, federal exorcist John Starkweather. But John has problems of his own. A supernatural killer is on the loose in Charleston, stealing the hearts of its victims to extend its own unnatural life.

With the help of a rookie agent, John, Caleb, and Gray must find the killer before it strikes again…or before they become the demon’s next victims.

Sometimes saving the world just isn’t enough… shakes head. After the events of the finale in series two, you’d think they guys would have found the respect of SPECTR. But no, it’s more like a tentative, tenacious acceptance, if even that. A new dickhead boss and more things for the boy to work though even as they are given a case up against a NHE with a seriously freaky power.

As I’ve come to do in the past books, its Gray the drakul who fascinates me the most. But the chemistry between all three partners in this unusual triad is palpable, vividly drawn, and sexy hot. They still have many things to work through, and we see some of them coming out nicely in this book. I never had noticed in the prior books that Gray’s parts are written in present tense and the rest of the POVs are in past tense. I believe I hadn’t noticed before because I read Hunter of Demons as a freebie, and there was not a great deal from Gray’s perspective in that one. The rest of the first ones were on audio. So noticing this point of view tense shift threw threw me a bit, but at the same time I do understand why its used. Gray is a creature that lives in the present rather than dwelling in the past or living in the future as humans do. Really rather cool when considered in that way.

Nicely paced with just the right amount of sexy times, action, and angst. The guys get a new partner, Zahira, and I absolutely adored her. Hope we will get to know more about her.

Beautiful cover featuring John that is different enough from SPECTR #1 to set it apart and yet similar enough to tie it in. Well done with that.

Sales Link:  Amazon   Buy it Here


Book Details:  

ebook, 95 pages
Published June 16th 2015 (first published June 10th 2015)
ISBN139781941230121
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesSPECTR 2 #1