A BJ Review: Dark Space (Dark Space #1) by Lisa Henry

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

Brady Garrett needs to go home. He’s a conscripted recruit on Defender Three, one of a network of stations designed to protect the Earth from alien attack. He’s also angry, homesick, and afraid. If he doesn’t get home he’ll lose his family, but there’s no way back except in a body bag.

Cameron Rushton needs a heartbeat. Four years ago Cam was taken by the Faceless—the alien race that almost destroyed Earth. Now he’s back, and when the doctors make a mess of getting him out of stasis, Brady becomes his temporary human pacemaker. Except they’re sharing more than a heartbeat: they’re sharing thoughts, memories, and some very vivid dreams.

Not that Brady’s got time to worry about his growing attraction to another guy, especially the one guy in the universe who can read his mind. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just biochemistry and electrical impulses. It doesn’t change the truth: Brady’s alone in the universe.

Now the Faceless are coming and there’s nothing anyone can do. You can’t stop your nightmares. Cam says everyone will live, but Cam’s probably a traitor and a liar like the military thinks. But that’s okay. Guys like Brady don’t expect happy endings.

Lovely sci-fi story. Intriguing premise, wonderful writing that dragged me right into the action and didn’t let me go. Awesome world-building. But overall it was the characters that blew me away. Such nuance! The telepathy between the two main characters was handled beautifully. Cam’s face and reputation had drilled into Brady’s mind. But everyone had given him up for dead. Now he’s not only back among the living, but connected to Brady. In his head. Heart beats synced. But really… imagine having to share your head with a sexy, poster boy soldier emerging from a traumatic experience that you yourself could never have endured.

For me, this story showed so clearly how two people often react so completely differently to the same experience. How they handle it and deal with it in ways that the other may even find hard to understand. While one person may come through an event mostly unscathed and may even look back and see the positives that came from it, another may come away severely damaged. Cam came through the traumatic events with Kai-Ren and the faceless, but Brady clearly would not have been able to do the same.

Despite the dark elements of this story (prior non-con for both main characters, scary, no terrifying, aliens, and even the death of secondary character) and the dismal dystopian world in which it’s set, the relationship that develops between these two MCs is amazingly sweet and their sex nurturing as well as sizzling hot. The angst was handled perfectly.

For those who don’t believe in gay-for-you, give this one a try. It might change your mind. That element was excellently handled. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that Brady didn’t have any lengthy self-hating, but analyzed and accepted what he was feeling. Heck, every element was excellently handled. This was a stunning story—I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Well, yes, I could. I want more! And luckily, the author seems to have heard our cry as book two, Darker Space, is out now. Look for my review here soon.

The cover set’s the theme perfectly as m/m sci-fi… the darker, muted colors work perfect for the novel’s tone. The model is exactly how I had pictured the main character Brady.

Sales Links: Loose id LLC | ARe | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 216 pages
Published December 4th 2012 by Loose Id, LLC
original titleDark Space
ISBN139781623001124
seriesDark Space #1

Dark Space
Darker Space (Dark Space)

In our Science Fiction Corner: Author Interview with Chris T. Kat of Battle Stations (Alliances #2) (excerpt and giveaway)

Battle Stations (Alliances #2) by Chris T. Kat
Release Date: October 12, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anne Cain

Buy the book: Dreamspinner e-book & paperback |Amazon | All Romance Ebooks |

Google Play | Kobo

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Chris T. Kat author of Battle Stations (Alliances, Book 2). Hi Chris, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

• What is your least favorite part of the publishing/writing process?

A couple of years ago I’d have said it’s the editing process, but that has changed. I’ve got an awesome beta reader (Julie Lynn Hayes) and my senior editor, Erika Orrick, is awesome as well. My least favorite part is probably the promotion. I know it’s necessary, and I really don’t mind talking to readers, but I’m not keen on tooting my own horn and hoping someone will buy my books.
• As an author, is there one subject you would never write about? What would it be?

I’m fairly open and I wouldn’t say there’s one subject I’ll never write about. However I don’t think I’ll write a book that includes rape or child molestation. These things disturb me as a reader, and since I don’t like to read about it, why should I write about it?
• When did you first realize you wanted to write?

That was when I couldn’t find a certain type of story when I still read fan fiction. Since no one was going to write what I wanted to read, I decided to give writing my own story a try. I haven’t stopped since then.
• How long did it take to write your book?

I wrote Breeding Stations and Battle Stations back to back. Both books took about five months together. Usually it takes me three to four months to write one novel, but these two books flowed and made it very, very easy for me.
• For Fun: Where is one place you’d like to visit you haven’t been before?

I’d like to visit Italy, specifically Rome, one day. There’s so much history in that city, and I’d love to explore the old buildings and sink my teeth into the rich history.

Thanks, Chris. Now on to more about the second book in the Alliance series, Battle Stations.

Blurb

The fight to eradicate the Tash’Ba breeding stations continues, with spunky Commander Berit Turner and his Nadisc mate, Tom, in the thick of things. Sometimes it seems as though they’ll never locate and destroy them all. And there’s always the fear that the Tash’Ba have something else, something worse—if that’s even possible—lurking ahead.

As if things aren’t bad enough, Berit’s less than stellar past is threatening to bite him in the ass, and they’ve received alarming new information. The Tash’Ba Queen needs to use Earth as a place to hatch the egg of her successor. And if what she says is true, the new Queen will be even more voracious and cruel than her predecessor.

Berit, along with his team—Tom, Carson, Niyara, and Fleur—must do everything in their power to stop her. If they fail, Earth will be lost forever.

Pages or Words:
Categories: M/M Romance, Science Fiction

Excerpt

Veering to the left, I allowed myself a quick glance over my shoulder. Not that I saw any chance of the elgoth having lost interest in me, because those fucking beasts never lost interest once they’d set their sights on prey, but sometimes a new prey might attract them more, which I’d have welcomed right then.

My lungs burned and my leg muscles smarted like hell from running like a rabbit through thick brushes and overgrown ferns. I even zigzagged around. Too bad I couldn’t find a rabbit’s hole to hide in.

I had no idea where Tom, Carson, and the rest of the team were, either.

We’d been separated before—it happened when gigantic Tash’Ba war beasts decided we looked good enough to eat—but I’ve never liked it. No, scratch that. Every time it happened, it put the fear of God in me. A gust of warm breath, mingled with some spittle, sprayed my neck. I squeaked and swerved to the right, vaulting over a stunted tree trunk. Seconds later, wood splinters sped past my head, and I lost my footing on the vibrating ground.

I sprawled facedown in the mud, panic sending bolts of confusing messages through my body. Maybe… maybe if I kept completely still, the elgoth wouldn’t touch me? The first time I’d made the acquaintance of one of these towering forty-foot-tall creatures, Tom had instructed me not to move, because they wouldn’t be able to locate us.

It had worked on Ligador and a couple of other breeding stations, but last time a team member tried this approach, the elgoth had roared and ripped him apart. All Tash’Ba war beasts seemed to be altering their tactics, making them even more unpredictable than before.

The mud around me sloshed, almost causing me to inhale some of it. I suppressed the urge to cough and kept my mouth shut as tight as I’d ever done, even though a whimper threatened to spill over my lips any second.

Another gust of foul breath struck my neck. My hair stood on end, my muscles locked in some kind of rigid stupor. That was it. I’d end my life as a morsel for an elgoth.

A blast echoed from the south, and the beast’s breath vanished from my neck. Gunfire followed the blast, and voices filtered through my terrified haze. They’d run right into the elgoth if I didn’t warn them. But… if I moved, or raised my voice, the elgoth would bite my head off. Literally.

About The Author

Meet Chris T. Kat:

Chris T. Kat lives in the middle of Europe, where she shares a house with her husband of many years and their two children. She stumbled upon the M/M genre by luck and was swiftly drawn into it. She divides her time between work, her family—which includes chasing after escaping horses and lugging around huge instruments such as a harp—and writing. She enjoys a variety of genres, such as mystery/suspense, paranormal, and romance. If there’s any spare time, she happily reads for hours, listens to audiobooks or does cross stitch.

Where to find Chris T. Kat:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChrisTKat
Twitter: http://twitter.com/christi_kat
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/ChrisTKat
Blog: http://christikat.blogspot.com
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Chris-T.-Kat/e/B008FQQH2Q

Tour Dates & Stops:

13-Oct Bayou Book Junkie, Carly’s Book Reviews, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Joyfully Jay
14-Oct Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Jessie G. Books, Kimi-Chan
15-Oct BFD Book Blog, Love Bytes, Havan Fellows
16-Oct MM Good Book Reviews, Molly Lolly, Prism Book Alliance, Hearts on Fire
19-Oct Inked Rainbow Reads, Full Moon Dreaming, The Blogger Girls

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: Two print copies of ‘Breeding Stations’. Must be 18 years of age or older. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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Anna Butler is Here Talking SciFy, Aliens, Romance and Heart Scarab! (Author Interview, Excerpt and Contest)

Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2) by Anna Butler
Release Date: July 22, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas

Sales Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Kobo

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Anna Butler, author of Heart Scarab.
Hi Anna, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

First, thank you for hosting me today. I’m delighted to be here.

Heart Scarab is the second of the Taking Shield series, which charts the life and loves of Shield Captain Bennet. Taking Shield is both a sweeping sci-fi story (old school sci-fi with spaceships and lasers, aliens and handsome heroes) and an equally sweeping love story. I should warn you, though, that it isn’t a romance in the sense that it won’t be what most m/m romance readers would expect.

Thousands of years after an alternate-universe Earth went dark, the people of one of her colonies, Albion, are struggling in a war that’s probably unwinnable, against aliens called the Maess. Although humans have been fighting the aliens’ cyborg drones for over a century, they haven’t seen a real, organic Maess. Set against the war, is the love story between Bennet and Fleet Lieutenant Flynn. They meet in the first book, Gyrfalcon, but for various reasons theirs isn’t going to be an easy love. They meet and part several times before the end. In Heart Scarab, Bennet’s return after being declared missing in action, presumed dead, puts intolerable strain on his relationship with his long term partner, Joss, but paves the way for a reunion with Flynn.
As for me, I worked for the UK civil service for many years as a communications specialist, working on everything from marketing employment programmes to running an internal TV service. These days I’m concentrating on trying to make it as a writer, combining my love of old school science fiction and m/m themes. I live in London with my husband and our cockapoo, Molly. We’re currently house hunting, looking for a country retreat.
• Do you buy a book because of the cover, the blurb, or something else?

That depends. I won’t say that I buy books *because of* either of those things, but if I’m trawling Amazon or a bookshop they do influence which books I’ll look into and which I’ll then consider buying.

I’m a very visual person, so the cover will catch my eye first. Truly, all the advice you read about getting a good cover that tells the reader something about the story, really holds true. Terrible cover, and I probably won’t even get to the blurb to see if it’s worth pursuing.

If the book comes to me as a recommendation, I’ll usually not let the cover influence me too much (beyond a wince if it’s dire).

Best possible tool – the ‘look inside’ feature on Amazon, or the sample. That really gives you a feel for if you’re going to get on with this author and book.

• What does ‘romance’ mean to you?

‘Good storytelling’ and ‘strong characters’ and ‘lose yourself for an hour here’—heartfelt emotion and drama, eroticism, sex scenes in which the feelings and the relationship matter as much (more?) than the physical gymnastics, an ending that is happy/enriching/hopeful. Stories about love. Sometimes about loss. But ultimately uplifting stories that leave you feeling good.
• What are your current projects?

I’m currently working on the fourth Shield book, The Chains Of Their Sins. On the current timetable, it will be published around this time next year, so I have a little time to polish it up! In this book, Bennet and Flynn are thrown together again, but it isn’t all hearts and rainbows. In fact, it isn’t hearts and rainbows at all…

• What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

Not to edit as I go along. I have a terrible habit of tinkering with what I’ve written so far, trying to perfect it, rather than ploughing on to the end and then editing in its entirety. It is a bad habit, because I can spend hours dithering over word choices and syntax when I should be forging on with the plot. Scrivener helps because it’s a separate folder and document for each chapter, so going back to the beginning to read is several steps more complex than in a word processing programme like Word. Scrivener is breaking me of some bad habits!

• Tell us something about yourself that would surprise people.

I’ve ridden in the circus ring.

I was about five, and my parents took my sister (then about three) and I to a small circus visiting a nearby town. The clowns brought in a Shetland pony, trained to do tricks as part of their routine, and at the end the Ringmaster asked for a volunteer to ride it. I was down in the ring almost before the man finished speaking. I can just about remember noise and light and a lot of people’s faces as I rode three times around the ring, led by the chief clown. He had a red coat and blue trousers and that’s all I remember about him. The pony was called Pickles.

Thank you, Anna, that was wonderful!

Now more about Heart Scarab.

Blurb:

Telnos is an unpleasant little planet, inhabited by religious fanatics in the festering marshlands and unregistered miners running illegal solactinium mines up in the hills. But the Maess want Telnos, and Shield Captain Bennet’s job is to get out as many civilians as he can—a task that leaves him lying on Telnos while the last cutter of evacuees escapes in the teeth of the Maess invasion.

Bennet is listed missing in action, believed dead on a planet now overrun by Maess drones. His family is grieving. His long-term partner, Joss, is both mourning and guilt-ridden.

And Fleet Lieutenant Flynn? Flynn is desolate. Flynn is heart-broken… no. Flynn is just broken

Pages or Words: 97,900 words

Categories: Gay Fiction, Science Fiction

Excerpt:

Flynn liked kissing. In fact, Flynn considered himself something of an expert in the art. He’d tried it in all its forms, from the first tentative pressing together of juvenile lips that had you wondering what all the fuss was about, to the discovery that if you just opened your mouth and, you know, kind of moved everything, your tongue suddenly had a lot more positive uses than just allowing you to articulate clearly and swallow things without choking. Flynn got the hang of it, ran with it, and never looked back.

Soft kisses and hard kisses; kisses that were wet and slobbery with people who didn’t know exactly how to hold their lips to get the best and sexiest effect, and wet and sexy kisses with people who did. Kisses that turned the blood to molten lava and kisses that cooled you as you came down. Kisses that inflamed and kisses that soothed; feverish kisses and languid after-sex kisses. Kisses that meant only good fellowship and casual affection, and kisses that were desire incarnate.

Flynn had not only tried them all, he’d made them his own. He was considered by all the relevant authorities to be rather a specialist in the area.

Flynn really liked kissing. He had been gratified by the discovery that Bennet liked it too. Because now he could add slow kisses to the repertoire. Kisses so leisured and intense the world came to a stop while a hot tongue moved over his lips, explored each and every tooth down to the last molar, while teeth pulled at his bottom lip, biting it gently until it was swollen and hot and heavy, and he had to lick his lip to cool it and met Bennet’s tongue with his. Only then, would Bennet’s mouth close over his and start a real in-earnest kiss that lasted several more centuries. Those were kisses Bennet seemed to specialise in.

Flynn was always willing to take tips from another expert. A man should always try to extend his technique.

About the author:

Anna Butler was a communications specialist for many years, working in UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to running an internal TV service. She now spends her time indulging her love of old-school science fiction. She lives in the ethnic and cultural melting pot of East London with her husband and the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockapoo.

Where to find the author:

annabutlerfiction@gmail.com
Website and Blog
Facebook
The Butler’s Pantry (Facebook Group)
Pinterest
Twitter

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize:

– a copy of my novella, FlashWired (epub, mobi or pdf) on every stop to one random commentator

– Chance to enter a rafflecopter for

(i) top prize of an Amazon gift voucher (is $50 overdoing it? It makes for a decent prize!)

(ii) second prize, winner’s choice of a Heart Scarab ipad cover or kindle cover

(ii) third prize, a Gyrfalcon iPad cover

Must be 18 years of 18 or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

Rafflecopter Code:

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Tour Dates & Stops: Wednesdays July 22 – November 4, 2015

22-Jul

Prism Book Alliance

29-Jul

Just Love Romance

Bayou Book Junkie

5-Aug

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

12-Aug

19-Aug

26-Aug

2-Sep

9-Sep

Inked Rainbow Reads

16-Sep

Velvet Panic

Molly Lolly

23-Sep

Emotion in Motion

30-Sep

BFD Book Blog

Jessie G. Books

7-Oct

Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews

14-Oct

MM Good Book Reviews

21-Oct

The Novel Approach

28-Oct

Amanda C. Stone

4-Nov

Butterfly-O-Meter

Its Release Day for Chris T. Kat’s Breeding Stations (Alliances #1) (excerpt and contest)

Breeding Stations (Alliances #1) by Chris T. Kat
Release Date: July 27, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anne Cain

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press eBook | Dreamspinner Press paperback

Spunky commander Berit Turner is known for two things: his huge libido and his lack of a filter—he says what he thinks. Berit sets his mind on being part of the mission to Ligador, to make sure the planet is habitable for humans. He’s ecstatic when his team is assigned to the task force. A delegation of Nadisc, a humanoid alien race, accompanies them, and passion ignites between Berit and their commanding officer, Tom. But Berit is determined that Tom is just another notch on his bedpost, as he doesn’t do relationships.

The excursion to Ligador goes wrong from the beginning, when they discover Ligador has been established as a breeding station by their worst enemy: the Tash’Ba. Dinosaur-like creatures become the team’s worst nightmare, and staying alive is going to take everything they’ve got… and then some.

Pages or Words: 204 pages or about 65,000 words

Categories: M/M Romance, Science Fiction

Excerpt from Chapter One:

After a five-minute standoff with our Nadiscs, I rolled my eyes and squared off in front of them. “Look, I know you have a rule about not giving your name out to anyone, so why don’t we cut it short. You”—I pointed at the woman—”will be R1.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, which I ignored, even though my hands began to perspire. I pointed at the man standing on her left and said, “That’ll make you R2.” I leveled my finger at the remaining one and added, “So you’ll be R3. We should all be able to remember R1, and if we get it wrong when there’s an emergency, we’ll only have to shout for R2 and R3 together and one of you will help us out.”
R2’s eyebrows knitted together very closely, and in the background feet shuffled. Someone cleared his throat. R3 came forward, one step at a time. I could’ve sworn the floor vibrated with every move. All my instincts screamed at me to leg it, but if I’d learned one lesson well, it was not to show fear. Not too much, anyway.
R3’s arm shot out before I had a chance to see it coming. His large hand clasped around my neck and all my hairs stood on end. I kept completely still, waiting for the blow to come.
He gazed at me from dark brown eyes, then lifted his other hand. The atmosphere around us thickened, and my poor confused cock perked up with interest. The Nadisc laid a hand against my cheek, left it there for a while, before he eventually pulled it away.
He pointed at his comrades. “Niyara.”
The Nadisc woman inclined her head.
“This is Xevon. And to make it easier for you and your people, you may call me Tom.”
“Tom?” I blurted. “Don’t you have a fancy name like the others?” The grasp around my neck tightened, and I hastened to add. “Short is cool, though. Really cool.”
“Thought so.”
Tom released my neck, but didn’t step away. Slightly wary, I glanced up at him. He grinned at me, showing a full line of well-tended white humanoid teeth, then beckoned to Niyara and Xevon. They bridged the distances in two long strides and formed a circle around me.
“Um, guys, what’s going on?” I asked, mulling whether I could slip past them or not.
They intertwined their hands and closed the circle around me. Someone—I think it was Carson—muttered something fierce, and a moment later three large bodies crowded me. I opened my mouth to tell them off, or maybe to ask them very politely to back off a little—same difference, really—when an eerie shout resounded through the hangar.
My eyes had to be circular by the time they finished. You could’ve heard a pin drop, it was that silent around us.
Niyara, Xevon, and Tom took one step backward, and I breathed more freely. Niyara smashed her fist against her chest, declaring, “We accept you as our leader on this mission.”
I gaped at her. The Nadisc helped and supported humans, but accepting leadership from a human? They very rarely did. Niyara smiled at me, a genuine smile that showed a prettiness I hadn’t seen before, then she engulfed me in a rib-creaking embrace. I was stumbling to find my footing once she’d set me down when Xevon lifted me off my feet and hugged me too.
He and Niyara turned around and advanced on my crew members, eliciting a few terrified squeaks. I peered at Tom, who showed no inclination of moving.
“What? No hug from you?” I asked.
He held out his broad muscled arms for me, grinning. My mouth went dry and my damn cock pressed heavily against the fabric of my pants. It had to be visible to everyone. For the first time in many years, heat rose into my cheeks. Tom’s grin expanded before he laughed. I stepped into his arms, bracing myself for another painful embrace. Instead, I found myself leaning against a hard chest with equally hard arms around me, fencing me in but without hurting me.
I mumbled into his leather vest, “Do you by chance happen to like blond humans?”
“I do.”
I would’ve screamed hallelujah if Baker’s voice over the loudspeaker hadn’t demanded we get going.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChrisTKat
Twitter: http://twitter.com/christi_kat
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/ChrisTKat
Blog: http://christikat.blogspot.com
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Chris-T.-Kat/e/B008FQQH2Q

Tour Dates & Stops: July 27, 2015
Parker Williams, Cate Ashwood, Iyana Jenna, BFD Book Blog, Bike Book Reviews, Smoocher’s Voice, Bayou Book Junkie, Havan Fellows, Andrew Q. Gordon, MM Good Book Reviews, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Kimi-Chan, Full Moon Dreaming, Happily Ever Chapter, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Charley Descoteaux, The Hat Party

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copies of Seizing It and the sequel Too Good to be True? by Chris T. Kat. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and Prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.
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Author Spotlight: BJ on Author Jaye McKenna

Need a New Author? Check out our Reviewer

Author Recs!

A BJ Author Rec: Author Jaye McKenna

The first time I picked up a book by Jaye McKenna was during the 2014 Don’t Read in the Closet event put on by the Goodreads M/M Romance group. It was a free story, and it was awesome. Then I found out it was the second of a series, so I went back and read the first freebie book, Human Frailties from the previous year’s event. Then another freebie, Facing the Mirror. I enjoyed all three. I requested a review copy of her newest book, Burn the Sky, and promptly fell in love with the broken ice dragon, Ilya. But it was when I went back and read the expanded version of Human Frailties, Human Strengths that I completely fell in love, irrevocably and head over heels. Ashnavayarian has stolen my heart and its for so many reasons but really, really its just like that quote by Michel de Montaigne, “because he was he.” There is just something magical and unique about him—so strong, yet he has his vulnerable moments. He’s imperfect, starts out self-centered and snarky but he’s growing and changing. And its so fun to see.

This author pushes some of my buttons big time, because I love angst and broken boys. Especially ones with long hair (ok, it’s a fetish of mine!). This author’s boys never have an easy time of it, they go through the wringer a few times over for their HEA. I eat that right up. The heat and sexual tension buildup that I love is always there. There’s snarky characters and witty dialogue.

Then there is her world. Most of McKenna’s stories are set in the same well-developed and nuanced fantasy world. The fantasy stories are separated from the more sci-fi ones by thousands of years, but it all ties in and builds… it sucked me in.

Jaye McKenna serves up magic meets science. Its lovely, nuanced broken boys getting slowly put back together and finding love. With a hefty dose of hot and sexy on top.

~ BJ

About author Jaye McKenna –

Jaye McKenna was born a Brit and was dragged, kicking and screaming, across the Pond at an age when such vehement protest was doomed to be misinterpreted as a “paddy”. She grew up near a sumac forest in Minnesota and spent most of her teen years torturing her parents with her electric guitar and her dark poetry. She was punk before it was cool and a grown-up long before she was ready. Jaye writes fantasy and science fiction stories about hot guys who have the hots for each other. She enjoys making them work darn hard for their happy endings, which might explain why she never gets invited to their parties.

You can find Jaye McKenna at the following:

Website , Twitter, Goodreads Author Page

Books You May Have Missed from Jaye McKenna (with links to BJ’s Reviews):

Human Frailties at Goodreads
Human Choices
Human Frailties, Human Strengths (Guardians of the Leythe #1.0)
Burn the Sky

And look for the following books and their reviews from BJ in the upcoming weeks…

Psi Hunter (Guardians of the Pattern, #1)
Gremlin’s Last Run (Guardians of the Pattern, #2)
Ghost in the Mythe (Guardians of the Pattern, #3.0)

A Mika Review: Time Waits by C..B. Lewis

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Badly wounded and on the run from his WWII Hungarian brigade, Janos Nagy stumbles through a temporal gateway to the future. Suddenly stranded in Manchester, England, 2041, Janos wants answers about a crazy world he doesn’t recognize.

Dieter Schmidt, flamboyant historian/linguist for the Temporal Research Institution has those answers, but the TRI is a neutral entity, set up to verify historical events under a strict code of noninterference. That doesn’t stop Dieter from taking Janos under his protection. Trust doesn’t come easy to Janos, who came from a time when revealing his secrets could get him killed, but the two men slowly build a tentative friendship with a possibility for more. But Janos’s continued presence in the future and Dieter’s persistence raise questions about the limits of the noninterference policy.

Since the rules have been bent once, one agent sees no reason why he can’t push them further, and he travels back to 1914 to make a few changes of his own. Under Janos’s guidance, Dieter must leap back in time to stop the rogue agent from changing the past and risking everyone’s future—if he can survive history

I honestly don’t know what I was thinking when I got this book. I don’t read many sci-fi books, time travel is something I’ve never been interested in. However, I’m so happy I read this book. I liked it a lot. It was different from my comfort zone reads, this was also a new author to me as well. I think the author did a good job with the WWII facts pertaining the history part of the story. I thought the concept was really good, and executed well.

For a story that was based on the future I didn’t see as many futuristic elements in here as I had hoped for. The blurb says it’s 2041, but nothing was very different from now until then. I think the only noticeable thing was the pod cars. My thing is, if you’re going to write a story based on a futuristic time, I’d like to see some of those elements throughout the setting; other then that, I liked everything else, including Dieter and Janos. Each guy had different qualities about themselves that made them better with each other.

From the first meeting of the two, until the last moment on the page I was happy. Sure they had a very rocky beginning. I can’t blame them, Janos is from early 1900’s, and everything he knew was gone, blown out the water. I thought it adapted very well. He was a very quick study. My favorite thing about Janos was him accepting that this present world he lives in does not care who he loves. He was cautious about showing his intentions with Dieter and I get it, he’s from a time where even the thought of sodomy had the person killed. I liked his reactions at the end of the story when Dieter was doing his own Jump. His emotions came full circle. Dieter was amazing as well. I love that he was super confident in his sexuality and how his approach to the story was handled.

For me Dieter grew the most in this story. He had countless hurdles to get across, he was not an aggressive person, but he had to put on a strong face numerous of times.   As for the plot of the story, I really liked that as well. I wish for me that the historic event could have been more familiar to me. When I was reading it, I had to stop and Google to see if this information really happened. LOL, it did. I enjoyed those scenes a lot. All in all, I think the author did a very good job on this book, and I liked it a lot.

Cover Art by Catt Ford. I liked the cover. I think both models are good descriptions of the main characters.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press – All Romance (ARe) – Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 330 pages
Published May 15th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press LLC
ISBN139781632168535
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

A BJ Review: Sarge (F.I.S.T.S #1) by Bey Deckard

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Sergeant Wilkes has had a long and prestigious military career. When he’s injured on the front, Murphy brings him in. Murphy is the opposite of Sarge… big, tattooed, and delightfully submissive. Can a couple space marines stationed on an alien planet where an endless war rages on find something special in each other?

Gritty, violent, somewhat gory short novella. Its kinky, smoking hot and romantic almost in spite of itself. This story made me bawl like a baby, and I loved it!

Sarge is an older, hardened officer Dom; Murphy a younger 6ft 8in quiet, muscular, tattooed, sweet enlisted sub. Murphy also has the ability to see psychic/emotional colors (auras?). The two come together when Sarge is injured fighting on the front line, and Murphy uses his special talent to help him. Right there on the battlefield, wounded and in pain, Sarge propositions Murphy:

“You’re a good boy, Murph,” he says softly to me. “You get me home, get me patched up, and you’ll see what good boys get.”

At first it’s just an interesting diversion for Sarge, but that changes as he comes to realize what he’s found in Murphy.

Murphy is intelligent, but he doesn’t talk much. And damn it, he doesn’t need to because the nuance of communication between him and Sarge is exquisite. When it comes to D/s, one thing that fascinates me is when the physically larger guy is the submissive/bottom. And my goodness isn’t Murphy an enticing one. But its more the two together that really gets me about this story. They’re perfect together. Such devotion. I was seriously holding my breath and biting my nails at the end.

Speaking of the ending, it felt a bit abrupt at first. But the more I thought on it, the more I realized that wasn’t the case–the ending is perfect. I would love to explain that specifically, but don’t want to spoil it. Just read this little gem. I highly recommend it and cannot wait for the next in this series to come out.

The cover conveys the savage heat of the planet, and the overlaid images give a hint of the size difference of the characters. A good representation of what the book has to offer.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 56 pages
Published October 2014 by Smashwords Edition
ISBN139780993701764
edition languageEnglish
seriesF.I.S.T.S #1

A BJ Review: The Heracian Affair (Space Files R #1) by Liv Olteano

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Rizzo Berg is tormented by memories of his lost lover and Dom who died in combat years before. After yet another in a string of really disappointing dates, Rizzo goes to sleep in his apartment and wakes up on a spaceship with an alien Captain Conrad D’Ollet of Heracia, a man so dominant Rizzo’s knees turn to jelly. The Heracians need help, and Rizzo is a humanitarian, and the perk of spending more time around Conrad isn’t one of the reasons he offers that help, right? They seem made for each other. But Conrad has his own past and neither man is willing to risk his heart, let go of the past, and believe in a future together.

This is an unusual and well-written erotic space romance with angst, BDSM, aliens, and action. It begins as insta-lust based on both physical attraction and dominance, but morphed into more quite rapidly.

The world building was enough to give me a good feel for it without getting bogged down in description as some fantasy/sci-fi can do. For the most part, the author did an excellent job of giving just enough to paint a picture while not letting the details interfere with the flow of the story. A few things that I would have really enjoyed though are a bit more physical description of Heracians, and some background on how their AI/biological combo had come about.

Speaking of the flow, this is a quick-paced story that kept my attention and made me smile a lot. I completely enjoyed Riz’s snarky, abrasive personality. He was so fun! Adored the scene that resulted in them becoming bonded due to Riz’s error in cultural understanding. OMGosh, that was just hilarious. Then there are the cute nicknames Riz tends to use, his irreverence, brazen sexuality, and ballsiness are a perfect next to Conrad’s calm determination. Overall, a very fun read.

I’m not a huge fan of the cover by Brooke Albrecht, mostly because I’m not really sure what it is or how it relates to the story. The concept just doesn’t come across to me.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 131 pages

Published March 20th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press (first published March 19th 2013)

ISBN13 9781623804350

edition language English

series Space Files R #1

A BJ Review: Peripheral People (Ylendrian Empire) by Reesa Herberth and Michelle Moore

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Corwin Menivie and Nika Santivan solve cases the old-fashioned way until they’re paired with Westley Tavera and Gavin Hale, the most powerful Reader/Ground team on the force. While Gavin and Nika hit it off right away in more ways that one, Westley rubs Corwin the wrong way right from the start, and not only because he avoids psys for reasons of his own.  A bit of a fluke occurs when West’s talent reads a corpse other than the one they were there to investigate and puts them on the trail of a brutal serial killer that kills with his mind. Soon Nika and Gavin are sharing a room, and Corwin finds himself spending more time with the quirky West.

I’ve read stories in this world before, so the world building is always excellent. This one had more of an urban fantasy type feel for me than the outer space sci-fi I’m used to with this series. Well-written, excellent characterization, but the pace was slow for me in this one. I felt the book was probably longer than it needed to be. That said, it was an enjoyable read.
West is a quirky high level psy who’s had some trouble with getting too involved in his cases, taking too much risk to the point of endangering his ground and best friend, Gavin. Past cases haunt him, and his power is so strong and pervasive it gives him nightmares. When Nika and Gavin get together, he finds himself turning more to Corwin who he thinks as a null. When the truth about Corwin comes out, the two begin to get closer in ways neither have done before.

I enjoyed all four of the characters in this book. Nika was an exceptionally well done kick-ass female, not something we see a lot of in M/M romance. Kudos to the authors for that.

While there is violence and gore in this, most of it takes place inside the mind rather than in the physical world. An interesting twist. The felt the connection between the two MC, but I would have enjoyed it if there was just a bit more of the hot times. There were a couple, but for the length of the book, there could have been more.

This book has mystery, romance, and sci-fi elements all woven nicely together with a very satisfying ending. I’ll continue to read more in this world as it comes available.

Cover Artist: Simoné. This cover is just stunning. Take a look the entire art (as the cover is just one side) here. Perfectly captures this story. Bravo.

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

 Book Details:

ebook, 430 pages
Expected publication: May 11th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626492684
edition languageEnglish
seriesYlendrian Empire

Ylendrian Empire (Universe)

The Ylendrian Empire universe is a series of loosely-connected space operas written by Michelle Moore and Reesa Herberth.

Fast-paced heists, gritty paranormal mysteries, rescue missions in far-flung exotic jungles . . . the character-driven adventures and romances of the Ylendrian Empire are a chance to explore a new set of stars, with just enough spice to keep you wanting more.

Currently available:

The Balance of Silence
The Slipstream Con
In Discretion
Peripheral People

Find out more about the Ylendrian Empire at http://ylendrianempire.com

A Sammy Review: Paradox Lost by Libby Drew

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars:

He’d had sex with a ghost, and nothing in his life had ever felt more real.

Reegan McNamara is from the year 2145. He’s a time travel guide with a bit of an addiction to the jaunts. When he gets the chance to go back to 2020 and see a man he considers a hero give a speech, he jumps at it. Everything starts out fine, but when one of the woman purposefully slips from the group, he finds himself in a whole lot of trouble.

Risking life and limb, Reegan heads back to 2020 after getting the other travelers back safely. Each minute he’s there the risk grows as he begins to cause ripples in the continuum of time. He needs help, and fast. That’s when he turns to cop turned P.I. Saul Kildare, a man with many demons of his own. They’re in a race against time, and Reegan needs to find Silvia before it’s too late for both of them. He just never expects to find love in the past, or the pain that comes with knowing they have no future.

This is what you need to understand. Your past isn’t a string of bad choices. Your mistakes don’t weaken you. And a person doesn’t have to save thousands of people to be a hero. He can save two. Or one. He can save himself, and that might be the hardest, bravest task of all.

I’m not typically a time travel fan, granted I haven’t read much of it. I feel like the plot can go cheesy far too easily, but I was pleasantly surprised by this. There was a sense of adventure mixed with heat and a dash of world building. It was a fun ride, enjoyable.

I felt for Saul and the author did a great job of projecting the pain that he associated with alcohol and being around it. I’d get the same feelings in the bit of my stomach that she conveyed for him, and it made me ache for him. The situation with his sister was also salient, though perhaps not as much as the alcoholism.

Reegan on the other hand wasn’t as easy for me to connect to on a personal level, but I did appreciate his sense of adventure and humor. It was so interesting to see him in the past (or, well, future for me), and how marveled he was by the simplest of inventions, or how puzzled he was by the lack of voice commands. It was charming and sweet.

The secondary characters, such as Silvia and Cammie, were also really nice. Two strong females fighting to survive, each in their own way. I appreciated that and how the author didn’t make Silvia out to be a complete victim. She still fought for herself.

I love the futuristic world that Libby Drew created, and I’d actually love to see more of that in her stories. She threw in some great plot points and it’d be interesting to see her do a series of books that stretch across that development of time and some of the historical events she points out here.

Overall, a nice story that kept my interest.

While I’m not a big fan of the colors of fonts on the cover, it does manage to do a nice job of conveying the futuristic and scientific theme that underlies this book.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 228 pages
Published January 27th 2014 by Carina Press
original titleParadox Lost
ISBN139781426897832
edition languageEnglish

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Battle Stations (Alliances #2) by Chris T. Kat Release Date: October 12, 2015

Goodreads Link Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Cover Artist: Anne Cain

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Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2) by Anna Butler Release Date: July 22, 2015

Goodreads Link Publisher: Wilde City Press Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas

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Breeding Stations (Alliances #1) by Chris T. Kat Release Date: July 27, 2015

Goodreads Link Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Cover Artist: Anne Cain

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press eBook | Dreamspinner Press paperback

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A BJ Author Rec: Author Jaye McKenna

~ BJ

About author Jaye McKenna –

Books You May Have Missed from Jaye McKenna (with links to BJ’s Reviews):

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Battle Stations (Alliances #2) by Chris T. Kat
Release Date: October 12, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anne Cain

Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2) by Anna Butler
Release Date: July 22, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas

Breeding Stations (Alliances #1) by Chris T. Kat
Release Date: July 27, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anne Cain