A Paul B Review: Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2) by Anna Butler

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

heart-scarab-by-anna-butler It’s been a year and a year and a half since Bennet returned from T-18. Eighteen months since he last saw Fleet Lieutenant Flynn. Things with Joss are just as rocky as ever since his return from that mission. So Bennet was half relieved when Rosie, his second in command picks up him for his next mission, the evacuation of illegal settlers on the planet Telnos. The religious sect that settled there believes it is just a government plot to control them. However, the Maess drones and ships do show up while Bennet and crew are trying to convince one settlement to leave. Several are killed during the attack, including children, which Bennet sees as a senseless waste of life. As the Shield team moves the survivors toward the cutter, Bennet is hit in the helmet with a laser blast. Rosie gets the remaining survivors on board and leaves the planet, unable to retrieve Bennet.

Back on Albion and the Gyrfalcon word spreads of Bennet’s death. This news hits the family hard, along with Bennet’s partner Joss. Joss goes into a depression because of the way he has treated his relationship with Bennet over the past nine years. He regrets the dozens of affairs that he had while Bennet was off on missions. He makes an ancient sacrifice to the old gods to help guide Bennet’s soul into the afterlife. Among the pieces he buries is a heart scarab, the symbol of a heart place keeper of a mummy, which Bennet particularly liked. When the family attends the midnight watch (the equivalent of a memorial service), Rosie suggests to Caeden, Bennet’s father, that they send another mission to rescue whatever survivors were left to honor Bennet.

When his family does not know is that Bennet survived the attack. He has been living with a group of miners that failed to get off the planet when the Maess attacked. He and the chief miner Ifan round up what is left of the human population on the planet that they can find and bring them into the mines for safety. When his comm link buzzes, he realizes that against all normal protocol, Shield has returned and that he will be rescued. During the rescue however, he suffers a direct laser blast to his knee, once again putting his life in danger. His family, Joss, Flynn and Rosie must now deal with the consequences of Bennet’s return.

This second book in Anna Butler’s Taking Shield series deals with the emotional and psychological effects of relationships and war. Bennet is still trying to process his reunion with his father. Joss, having used different men to deal with the loneliness of Bennet’s absence, finds that they were all pointless. When he learns of Bennet’s affair with Flynn, the question becomes if it is worse to have several different affairs that mean nothing or one affair that means something. Flynn is all confused as to why Caeden is so interested in helping him with Bennet. After all is said and done, it seems no one escapes this drama without some heartache.

The cover art by Wilde City Press has Bennet superimposed inside a Shield badge against a star filled sky. I think it is very appropriate for the book.

Sales Links

Wilde City Press

Book Details

EBook, 396 pages

Edition Language: English

Published: July 22, 2015 by Wilde City Press

ISBN: 978-1-925313-25-3

Series: Taking Shield

Gyrfalcon (Taking Shield #1)

Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2)

A Paul B Review: Gyrfalcon (Taking Shield #1) by Anna Butler

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Many centuries have passed since a part of Earth’s population has settled on the planet Albion. It has only been just over a century since the war with the Maess started. While the population of Albion deals with fighting the war, the Maess use drones to do their fighting. In fact, no one has ever seen someone from Maess. The creepiest thing about the drones is that as the war continues, the drones begin to look more and more humanoid.

Against this background, Shield Captain Bennett tries to negotiate his life. As part of the reconnaissance unit of the war effort, his mission is to get in behind enemy lines, find information about the enemy and if possible, destroy outposts to cripple the enemy’s operation. Not bad for an academic whose family has had a long line of military service. But the fact he is not in active duty in the military and the fact that Bennett is gay and in a relationship with a man almost twice his age has caused a rift with his father. Add in that his partner for the last seven years is tired of Bennett going off on dangerous missions and not satisfied with his academic position makes life tense for Bennett.

Called in from his break after his last assignment, Bennett must once again go behind enemy lines. When his own starship gets called to replace a damaged vessel, Bennett is transferred to the dreadnaught Gyrfalcon. Not only is the dreadnaught probably the wrong type of ship for his mission, its commanding officer is none other than his father. His hope is to keep things civil until the end of the mission. Then there is flight Lieutenant Flynn who captures Bennett’s attention. Flynn is not only cocky, but has the flight skills to back it up. A love them and leave them type guy, Flynn sets out to make the Shield captain his next conquest. That is if this mission doesn’t get them both killed first.

The world Anna Butler has created is both simple and complex at the same time. Set several centuries into the future, Albion is made of Earth refugees. The governmental order has ten national governments and one planetary government. There is a pantheon of gods that are worshipped but they are not discussed in detail. What was meant as a simple expression of friendship was taken as an act of war by the drones of the Maess. Then there is the life of Bennett. His home life is screwed up in all different ways. He would like nothing more than do research but knows he needs to contribute to the war effort, even though it’s not the type of help his father expects of him. He has been with his partner Joss for seven years but he begins to have feelings for Flynn that he hasn’t had for Joss in a long time. This is a great start to this series.

Cover art by Wilde City Press is outstanding, brands the series and is a eye-catching cover.

Sales Links

Wilde City Press

Book Details

EBook, 317 pages

Edition Language: English

Published: February 18, 2015 by Wilde City Press

ISBN: 978-1-925180-84-8

Series: Taking Shield

A Paul Review: The Wolves of Daos 5 by Rebecca James

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

“As difficult as it was to wrap his mind around, Michael couldn’t deny that it all felt like the truth. He was half-alien, living in an alien civilization, mated to an alien, had an alien inside of him, and evidently other aliens were trying to kill them. In other words, his life was now a bad sci-fi movie”

Luckily for us readers, The Wolves of Daos 5 is a well-crafted science fiction novel. Let’s start with the main characters. Michael has believed he was human all his life. His mother died in childbirth. His father left when he was six. He was raised by his maternal grandmother according to his mother’s wishes. Through his life, he has suffered from social anxiety. At his grandmother’s insistence, Michael goes to college but lives outside the city in a cabin in the woods so he does not have to deal with the other students in a dorm.

Quinn is an alpha werewolf out on a run with a couple of his betas. He smells what he knows is his mate on the wind. He goes to investigate. He sees a young man trying to repair a roof in a driving rain storm. He howls at his mate, who is startled and falls off the roof. Quinn goes to check on the man and bring him in the cabin. When the man wakes up, Quinn tells him that not only is Michael his mate, but also an omega werewolf. Michael disbelieves the story he has been told as a symptom of a concussion. That is until Quinn morphs into his wolf. Michael asks for time to process this and Quinn agrees. Thus begins Michael’s journey into what he terms a bad sci-fi movie.

I found Michael charming as he navigates into this alien world into which he is brought into by Quinn. As with anyone new to a society, he makes occasional social faux pas. The whole checking out another man’s crotch as a way of greeting just puzzles Michael. Michael is also introduced to Ezzy, another omega who must be somehow related to Lucy Ricardo. The schemes that he drags Michael into makes him comment that he shouldn’t be his Ethel. Author Rebecca James builds an interesting world where Daos 5 is actually superimposed on Earth’s reality through magic. One of the more interesting beings in the book is that of the doctor that is taking care of Michael. People who are averse to slimy things will know where Michael’s apprehension with the doctor comes from. This is an excellent start to what I hope will be a long series of books.

The cover by Brandyjo Newton is gorgeous. It fits the book well.

Sales Links

Rebecca James | Amazon | Smashwords | ARe

Book Details

EBook, 195 pages

Edition Language: English

Published: September 24, 2016 by Rebecca James

ASIN: B01M0WFAUV

A Stella Release Day Review: Murmuration by TJ Klune

RATING 2,75 out of 5 stars

murmuration In the small mountain town of Amorea, it’s stretching toward autumn of 1954. The memories of a world at war are fading in the face of a prosperous future. Doors are left unlocked at night, and neighbors are always there to give each other a helping hand.

The people here know certain things as fact:

Amorea is the best little town there is.

The only good Commie is a dead Commie.

The Women’s Club of Amorea runs the town with an immaculately gloved fist.

And bookstore owner Mike Frazier loves that boy down at the diner, Sean Mellgard. Why they haven’t gotten their acts together is anybody’s guess. It may be the world’s longest courtship, but no one can deny the way they look at each other.

Slow and steady wins the race, or so they say.

But something’s wrong with Mike. He hears voices in his house late at night. There are shadows crawling along the walls, and great clouds of birds overhead that only he can see.

Something’s happening in Amorea. And Mike will do whatever he can to keep the man he loves.

My review on Murmuration by TJ Klune will be brief. You want the truth? I don’t have a lot to say. I could have given it 5 stars because in a way it deserves the highest rating but I can’t and I’ll try to explain why without spoiling it. Basically I’m not sure what to make of the plot. I found the relationship between Mike and Sean sweet and cute. I liked the story. I found it mysterious, it intrigued me since I read the blurb and it kept my interest through a long part of it. I had no idea what was going to happen, where the author was going to take the MCs, but I wasn’t worried because I knew I would have an HEA.

I liked the writing, it’s easy and great and brought me to Amorea and its sceneries and habitants. It brought me on a balcony, it brought me on a sterile room. I appreciate the author’s talent, his invention, he loves words and he knows how to use them to create unique and awesome sentences. I have to give it to TJ. The book is amazingly written and well done, really really well done. Unexpected as everything TJ writes. I’m blown away but still not in a good way.

That said I can’t give it 3 stars. The problem is I’m so disappointed and angry. This story was hard to take to me and I can’t overcome the bitter taste if left on my heart. I could have so loved Murmuration but TJ ruined everything. He destroyed what I loved, who I loved, all the people I met in Amorea, in the last part of the book. And to me is unecceptable. And the ending? That was supposed to be a HEA? It wasn’t.

The cover art by Reese Dante is amazing, one of the best covers I saw this year.

Sales Links

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 324 pages

Publication date October 28th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN 1634774558 (ISBN13: 9781634774550)

Edition Language English

A Free Dreamer Release Day Review: Changing Worlds (Worlds #1-2) by Cari Z

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

changing-worlds-by-cari-z Their love will either inspire change in the world or tear it apart.

Former starship captain Jason Kim and his lover, Ferran, are starting a life together on Ferran’s native planet. The Perel matriarchs reluctantly allowed their marriage in the hopes of securing better diplomatic relations with humanity, even though the decision ignites anger from traditionalists. Ferran’s family accepts Jason and the love the two men have found, but other influential families are less accommodating and much less willing to welcome an outsider to their isolated, subterranean world. Some of their enemies are willing to go as far as eliminating Jason permanently. Tensions are quickly building toward a breaking point that might push Perelan into a bloody civil war.

If Jason and Ferran have any hope of surviving the coming conflict, they’ll have to rely on their devotion to each other more than ever before. But that won’t be easy when a figure from Jason’s past reappears to make them question everything.

First Edition of Opening Worlds published by Storm Moon Press, 2011.

First Edition of Changing Worlds published by Storm Moon Press, 2012.

First of all, the blurb is a bit misleading. The things mentioned in the blurb do happen, but it takes a while to get there. The book starts with Ferran and Jason meeting and falling in love, so they don’t start out as an established couple and Jason is still an active starship captain.

I’m always a bit wary of real aliens in my romance, because I’m so not into tentacles. But while Ferran is definitely an alien and definitely looks different than a human, there are no tentacles. So, yay for me!

Cari Z. got really creative with the Perelans and their world. A matriarchy is rare enough that I always find it interesting. “Changing Worlds” is a perfect example that world building and romance can and do work perfectly well together, without either part of the plot having to suffer. That’s something not a lot of romance authors seem to get and which always bothers me as a fantasy/sci-fi fan who also enjoys romance.

Ferran and Jason are both very likeable. They come from completely different backgrounds and yet compliment each other perfectly. Their romance felt pretty realistic. We got to see the bumps after the very fast falling in love. Although the two of them don’t spend a whole lot of time together before they decide to commit to each other, it never really felt like insta-love.

Reading about Jason’s very real struggles with finding his place in a world that’s so completely different from everything he’s used to was very interesting. We get to learn all sorts of things about Perel together with Jason.

There are lots of hints about Jason’s past in the military and yet we never get a full story of what actually happened. That’s a real shame because it sounds as if he led a very interesting life before meeting Ferran. Since there doesn’t seem to be a sequel (or prequel) planned, there’s no hope for a more thorough explanation. It’s the only reason why I ended up giving this book 4.5 instead of 5 stars.

Long story short: “Changing Worlds” has every chance of appealing to both science fiction fans AND romance fans. Neither part takes away from the other.

I’ll definitely go looking for more science fiction books by this author!

Cover art by Anne Cain: I quite like the cover by Anne Cain. It shows Jason and Ferran, who really fits the descriptions in the book.

Sales Links

Book details:

ebook, 2nd Edition, 236 pages
Expected publication: October 24th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781634779081
Edition LanguageEnglish

A MelanieM Release Day Review: The Pill Bugs of Time (Offbeat Crimes #2) by Angel Martinez

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

the-pill-bugs-of-time Relationship and communication issues plague Officer Vikash Soren, but those are nothing compared to facing stick-throwing tumbleweeds, pill bugs and…time travel?

Vikash Soren, the perfect police officer except for his odd paranormal ability, never seems to lose his temper. Always serene and competent, he’s taken on the role of mediator in a squad room full of misfits. But on the inside, he’s a mess. Unable to tell his police partner that he loves him, Vikash struggles silently, terrified of losing Kyle as a lover, partner and friend.

But life in the 77th Precinct doesn’t leave much room for internal reflection. A confrontation with a stick-throwing tumbleweed in Fairmount Park leads to bizarre consequences involving pill bugs, statues and…time travel? If Vikash manages to survive the week and stay in one point in time, he might be able to address normal things like relationship problems. He just needs Kyle to have a little more patience. Maybe a few centuries’ worth.

Those wonderful oddball paranormal police officers of the 77th Precinct are back in their second crime novel, The Pill Bugs of Time (Offbeat Crimes #2) by Angel Martinez and I couldn’t be happier. I first met up with them in the wildly offbeat and downright scrumptious Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters (Offbeat Crimes, #1) and now get to step back into that paranormal police squad and the romance of Kyle and Vikash to see what’s happened to them all.

Normal was something one left at the door when assigned to a paranormal police station. Officer Vikash Soren had seen that demonstrated the first time he had set foot inside the 77th. During roll call, the man who would later become his partner had accidentally shot fire from his fingers at the ceiling. Someone else’s fire, as it turned out. In the weeks that followed, he had encountered an animated leather jacket, worked with a vampire, a lizard man and various officers of dubious paranormal talents, and had helped stop the killing spree of an alligator snapping turtle the size of a sedan.

It would follow that nothing should surprise him anymore.

But when he walked into the squad room that morning, late due to a doctor’s appointment, his colleagues had gathered around the periphery of the room to watch Greg Santos in a fistfight with a puddle of water.

That’s how Chapter One starts as Vikash wanders over to the desk of his police partner/off duty lover, Kyle, as they also watch the morning’s events unfold. All in all, pretty typical for them, hilarious for us…and oh thanks whoever for the marvel that is Angel Martinez’s twisty turny imagination. Because as great as the fight with the puddle of water? That even better, “really, guys?” solution to it all. Yep, I was home, smack dab right where I wanted to be. Where just when you think it can’t get any stranger, then weird up and rides in the door sailing past a tumble weed made of post it notes who just happens to be called Tim.

Of course, there is a largely personal element looming over all the nuttiness here. Vikash and Kyle’s new relationship is teetering on the edge of failure because of Vikash’s struggles with his own demons. His fears have cost him relationships and jobs before but never has he really cared. Now he does but Vik doesn’t know how to break his pattern. Its so familiar, this heartbreaking inability to break out of a pattern that’s become so infused, so self fulling that it may cost this man the love of his life. Martinez pulls us in so deeply into Vikash and Kyle’s confusion that we sometimes forget that Vik’s chasing after giant time traveling pill bugs with sentient leather jackets and vampires who find blood distasteful. Ok, no we don’t. But it makes everything else seem so perfectly part of their lives too. Normal is overrated here.

Can’t forget about Kyle as he’s never far from Vikash’s life, thoughts and struggles of the heart. Kyle’s pain is on the table too when Vik loses out to his fears and diminishes their relationship daily in small ways, all the while continuing their partnership as policer officers.

I think I love that so much. Layered, believable, characters like Vik and Kyle that fall in love, never have an easy time of it, and all while pursuing some of the most insanely creative and imaginative paranormal crime cases you will want to read about. And while one case may be solved, the relationship just gets eased into the next stage of growth and all our wonderful cast of investigators proceeds forward anew…with some wonderfully great new additions as well.

I love Offbeat Crimes and The Pill Bugs of Time is a grand new story in this series. Its all there. Humor, wild adventures and love…Angel Martinez style! I can’t recommend them highly enough. Grab this and the first story up today.

Cover art by Posh Gosh is the one branding the series. It works.

Sales Links:

Pride Publishing

Book Details:

ebook, Revamp Edition
Expected publication: September 20th 2016 by Pride Publishing (first published June 27th 2015)
ISBN139781786514721
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesOffbeat Crimes – add to your Goodreads shelf here:

Publisher’s Note: This book has previously been released elsewhere. It has been revised and re-edited for re-release with Pride Publishing.

Pre-order Date: 9th August 2016
Available exclusively to Pride Publishing: 23rd August 2016
General Release Date: 20th September 2016

Cover Reveal for Surfacing by A.L. Bates

Synopsis – Surfacing, The Ariel Series, Book Two

A few weeks following the events that concluded DEEP, Book One: The Ariel Series, Captain Joel Riley is struggling to adjust to his new relationship with his medic, Sean, and when a face from Sean’s past sets out to destroy Joel and his ship, Joel faces an impossible decision: Sean or Ariel.

Sensing Joel’s dilemma, Sean makes the decision to leave. He does so knowing he must confront his past and the abuse he suffered. Subjected to the same trauma again, this time at the hands of his brother, he uses the strength Joel taught him to take his future into his own hands.

For Joel, life without Sean proves unbearable and he comes to the realization that he needs more than just his ship. He sets out to bring Sean back… whatever the cost.

Surfacing_600x956

Pre-order Links

Don’t miss the discounted pre-release prices on all retailer sites!

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Book Trailer

Excerpt

THE ALARM WAS ringing. Joel slammed it off before it could do any damage. Normally a captain’s work was never done and he would have a list of things he needed to check before he made it to the mess for breakfast. But the mining season was coming to a close. Quality minerals filled his cargo hold, and he wasn’t even going to need to haggle for a good price this time. The ship was running, the crew were optimistic, and the man asleep beside him had done things last night Joel wouldn’t have thought were possible.

Sean had been a regular feature in Joel’s quarters since the young doctor had gotten shot. Joel ran his fingers over Sean’s bare, milk-white torso, allowing the tips to skate around the fresh scarring on his stomach. The memories surrounding the injury were troubling, but from those dark days came something Joel had never expected. Him and Sean. It was still new; barely two weeks if he didn’t count the long period of sexual tension before they got together.

Never in all his years sailing Ariel did he think he would end up sharing his bed with one of his crew, and certainly not a male crew member. But the past weeks had been some of the most enjoyable he’d ever had. Sean was different from the other folks on the ship and back home. His gentle, compassionate nature was a contrast to Joel’s brash, hard-line approach, but both men cared passionately about the same things: the ship and the crew.

“Hey,” Sean said, glancing down at Joel’s wandering fingers.

“Morning.” Joel ran his thumb over Sean’s lips. The guy was so handsome it made Joel’s knees go weak. “Did I wake you?”

Sean shook his head, a sleepy smile on his face. “No. Or at least not in any way I object to.”

“You sleep deep in my room.”

“Your bed is a lot comfier than mine,” Sean said. He rolled over and draped an arm across Joel’s chest.

“And there I was thinking I had worn you out.”

“Oh, yeah, that too. What are you doing awake so early? You should be as tired as me.”

Joel smirked. “Stamina,” he said, planting a wet kiss on Sean’s face. “And I like to watch you sleep.”

“That’s not creepy.” Sean laughed and snuggled closer, awakening all kinds of sensations in Joel’s body.

Start reading the series with book one!

Synopsis – Deep

Deep AL Bates Fleeing from a troubled past that left him feeling tarnished and used, Sean finds work as a medic aboard the deep sea mining ship Ariel, on a distant planet.

Under the leader ship of the infuriating, yet charismatic, Captain Joel Riley, Sean settles into his simple, but dangerous, new life. It’s a life he soon comes to love; albeit one in which he conceals his sexuality and avoids intimacy.

But Sean’s new world is turned on its head when an old face threatens to expose him for the man he used to be.

With Joel’s help, will Sean learn to come to terms with his past and become a man he can be proud of?

Buy Links

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/deep-by-al-bates/
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Deep-L-Bates-ebook/dp/B01AOB6VW0/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-L-Bates-ebook/dp/B01AOB6VW0/
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Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/Deep-L-Bates-ebook/dp/B01AOB6VW0/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-deep-1969763-177.html

About the author

A.L. BATES has a keen interest in Sci-fi and adventure novels and enjoys writing stories with strong characters in imaginative backgrounds. Although an avid writer, Deep is the first published novella by A.L. Bates.

A.L. Bates can be found on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoralbates

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: No Quarter (Bounty #1) by Christine d’Abo

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

NoQuarter_600x900 Bounty hunter Gar Stitt is assigned the job of capturing the legendary space pirate Faolan Wolf. But the captor becomes the captive, figuratively, when the two find the heat between them combustible. Though unsuitable, their attraction grows and Gar begins to feel things he’s never even allowed himself to consider before. And when Gar is betrayed by the man who rescued him when his family was killed, Wolf is there to help him as the two embark on a journey of revenge.

But what Gar finds along the way is love—a feeling that he hasn’t felt since he was a young man and he had to identify his dead sister’s body. And Wolf loves him in return, though he’s reluctant to admit it since he knows his days are numbered. Surprises are in store for both men, but they find that together they can overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds.

I was a little nervous when I first started reading this story, as I was informed of a severe beating that occurs in the early part of the book, and I read some negative reviews about it. I took over for a reviewer who couldn’t finish the book but told me what to expect. So with trepidation, I arrived at that point in the story, but I found that my perspective was a bit different from some of the other readers/reviewers, and although I didn’t like what occurred, at that point I could understand why it happened the way it did. By the end of that segment of the book, without realizing it, the characters had captured my interest, and I started to look forward to their story. I definitely need to pass on the warning of graphic violence, however. It is very evident that it will be a trigger to those who do not want to read about it.

On the other hand, once those early scenes were out of the way, the development of the relationship between the men, their pursuit of the man who destroyed Gar’s family, Gar’s reunion with a long-lost family member, the exciting space battles, and the rush against time to find a medication for Wolf make this book a very enjoyable read.

Cover art by Lou Harper shows a single man in the act of disrobing. Bright and colorful, this color scheme carries on throughout the series.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, Second, 240 pages
Published April 25th 2016 by Riptide Publishing (first published March 31st 2010)
ISBN139781626493995
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesBounty #1

Release Day for Priest and Pariahs by Mann Ramblings (excerpt and giveaway)

Synopsis – Priest and Pariahs

Ship Logs of the Santa Claus, Book Three

Costa McQuillen is a Pariah, a para-human with tech empathic abilities who has escaped from Earth, where being para-human is illegal—and marks him for extermination. Arrogant and standoffish, Costa is unable to trust anyone, but is willing to risk everyone’s safety to reach the planet Omoikane. His best solution: gaining passage on board the Santa Claus.

Arbor Kittering, the crew’s newest coding tech, is a medical oddity. With the technologies available to prevent birth defects, Arbor’s status as a dwarf brings the kind of attention he could happily do without. Having spent a short time in prison for data hacking and falsifying government files doesn’t help. The Santa Claus is his last chance at a new start, if he can decipher the strange malfunctions plaguing the ship.

Priest, the Santa Claus’ Head Pilot, is a bit of a scoundrel. Perpetually single, Priest is attracted to Costa for his exotic looks, and to Arbor for his unique qualities. In truth, he’d like to have both, but it’s clear such a thing isn’t in the cards. Now Priest needs to make a choice, before it’s too late.

Priest and Pariah Cover

Buy Links

Don’t miss the discounted release prices on all retailer sites!

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/priest-and-pariahs-by-mann-ramblings/
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Excerpt

THE DARKNESS REMINDED him somehow of an unborn child, floating weightless, enveloped by warmth. What would anyone give to fall back into such a simple existence, removed of all need beyond instinctual thought? What a fortunate nine months it would be. What a wonderful life, sleeping and cared for inside the womb, never requiring a voice. All before anyone could teach a soul to love or hate, or something or someone was unwanted.

Is that what was happening here? Had he somehow regressed back before his own infancy? The pangs of jealousy he was experiencing told him no. Sadly, no.

He felt like he’d been slumbering for such a long time, and very, very slowly he was starting to wake. Threads of logical coherence began to tickle his thoughts in the dark. It was not a welcome sensation and he fought to avoid it. Why couldn’t he go back into the lovely silence?

Envy for the ignorance of the unborn rolled through him. How unfair it was to have the innocence of being sequestered and never hearing the taunts of children or comprehending the cries of the intolerant taken away from him. If only he had never heard slurs of hatred or understood what defined a second-class citizen.

What was that sound? Could it be a faint heartbeat in the distant void? It sounded brash and unnatural, refusing to lull him back to sleep like the soothing cadence of a mother’s pulse.

Like a child, he wanted nothing more than to stay safe and warm, but like in every instance, someone always forced a person into the painful light and cold of reality. The darkness parted above him with a soft mechanical hiss. The warmth bled away, making him want to cry.

Daring to open his foggy eyes, he squinted in the artificial light. A woman in a white coat hovered over him.

“Welcome back to the real world,” she said. “Can you tell me your name?”

Book Trailer

Start with Books One and Two of Ship Logs of the Santa Claus!

The Luxorian Fugitive

Luxorian Preview Sergeant Liam Jacks is the security chief of transport vessel, The Santa Claus. He travels the planetary cluster with Marc Danverse, his best friend and captain, seeking to escape his tortured past and find some peace of mind.

Having been through a civil war together, Danverse and Liam are close. Maybe too close….

All that changes when mysterious stranger, Hadrian Jamison, an escaped Adonirati, books passage to Alpha Centauri. Can he be trusted? Can the stories of his past be believed?

As Liam’s fascination with Hadrian grows, jealousy threatens to tear apart his friendship with Danverse.

When Hadrian’s owner shows up, Liam is forced to go against orders in order to launch a rescue mission to save him.

The ensuing conflict may be more than any of them expected.

Buy Links

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Luxorian-Fugitive-Ship-Santa-Claus-ebook/dp/B00V6KO1CG/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Luxorian-Fugitive-Ship-Santa-Claus-ebook/dp/B00V6KO1CG/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/Luxorian-Fugitive-Ship-Santa-Claus-ebook/dp/B00V6KO1CG/
WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/the-luxorian-fugitive-by-mann-ramblings/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-theluxorianfugitive-1768560-145.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-luxorian-fugitive-mann-ramblings/1121637747?ean=9781925222388

A Cook’s Tale

A Cooks Tale - Mann Ramblings The trials and tribulations of the crew and passengers of interplanetary transport vessel, The Santa Claus continues in A Cook’s Tale.

After a horrific breakup, Erron Murfin is bitter, homeless, and friendless. When the cook’s position on the Santa Claus presents itself, Erron decides to escape his current circumstances and join the crew. On board he reconnects with family friend Gamin Wells, whose own secrets and issues begin to surface upon Erron’s arrival. The least of which is the reason the pair haven’t laid eyes on one another in over twelve years.

As Erron settles into his new duties, the men on board take an interest in their newest crew member. Among those intrigued by Erron are polyamorous couple, Barrus and James. Despite Erron’s cautious nature, he’s drawn into a triad relationship with the pair.

But there’s something about Gamin…

Is Erron too damaged to confront his own feelings?

Will his past prevent him from finding what he needs?

Buy Links

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/a-cooks-tale-by-mann-ramblings/
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017I26RXG/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017I26RXG/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B017I26RXG/
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B017I26RXG/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-acook039stale-1925761-153.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-cooks-tale-mann-ramblings/1122908859

About the Author

Like many gay men, when Mann Ramblings grew up, there weren’t any heroes he could relate to. The world held him back while he tried futilely to hide the real person inside. So much has changed since those hollow days. He finally found his voice, the voice that says it’s all right to revel in the so-called inappropriate joys, laughs, and loves that storm inside a man’s head. It took a long time to find that courage and now that it’s here, he plans to use it well.

While spending years more focused on visual arts, he never let go of his innate passion for storytelling—he wanted to write and draw comic books when he grew up. Once he discovered M/M fiction, a whole new world opened with new possibilities. Why couldn’t you have fantastic and dynamic tales with an M/M cast? He started reading the online tales of authors like, Night Tempest, Rob Colton, and Alicia Nordwell, which only fueled within him the need to create. Eventually he found GayAuthors.org, and with a little coercive nudge from Night Tempest, started sharing his tales with an unexpected level of positive response. That experience and support gave him the courage to cross his fingers and aim for the world of M/M publishing.

Born and raised in Michigan, Mann Ramblings continues to type away, wishing it was practical to use a noisy, old fashioned keyboard that clacks with each strike, if only to annoy his loving partner and spoiled miniature dachshund.

Email: mannramblings@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mannramblings
Twitter: @mannramblings

Series Recap Tour & Giveaway – Anna Butler’s Taking Shield Series

Series Recap Tour & Giveaway – Anna Butler – Taking Shield Series

Gyrfalcon (Taking Shield #1)

Earthís last known colony, Albion, is fighting an alien enemy. In the first of the Taking Shield series, Shield Captain Bennet is dropped behind the lines to steal priceless intelligence. A dangerous job, and Bennet doesnít need the distractions of changing relationships with his long-term partner, Joss, or with his fatheróor with Flynn, the new lover who will turn his world upside-down. He expects to risk his life. He expects the data will alter the course of the war. What he doesnít expect is that it will change his life or that Flynn will be impossible to forget.

Amazon US, Amazon UK, Wilde City Press, ARe

Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2)

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 Bennetís job is to get out as many civilians as he canóa 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-brokenÖno. Flynn is just broken.

Amazon US, Amazon UK, Wilde City Press, ARe

Makepeace (Taking Shield #3)

Returning to duty following his long recovery from the injuries he sustained during the events recounted in Heart Scarab, Shield Captain Bennet accepts a tour of duty in Fleet as flight captain on a dreadnought. The one saving grace is that it isnít his fatherís shipóbad enough that he canít yet return to the Shield Regiment, at least he doesnít have the added stress of commanding former lover Fleet Lieutenant Flynn, knowing the fraternisation regulations will keep them apart.

Working on the material he collected himself on T18 three years before, Bennet decodes enough Maess data to send him behind the lines to Makepeace, once a human colony but under Maess control for more than a century. The mission goes belly up, costing Albion one of her precious, irreplaceable dreadnoughts and bringing political upheaval, acrimony and the threat of public unrest in its wake. But for Bennet, the real nightmare is discovering what the Maess have in store for humanity.

Itís not good. Itís not good at all.

Wilde City Press

Author Bio:

Anna was a communications specialist for many years, working in various UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to organizing conferences for 10,000 civil servants to running an internal TV service. These days, though, she is writing full time. She recently moved out of the ethnic and cultural melting pot of East London to the rather slower environs of a quiet village tucked deep in the Nottinghamshire countryside, where she lives with her husband and the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockerpoo.

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