April sale on Sanctuary books 1 - 7

April sale on Sanctuary books 1 - 7


For full details of each book, including reviews, excerpts and buy links please see:

Tournament of Shadows by SA Meade - Review 5/5 and highly recommended

Tournament of Shadows by SA Meade - Review 5/5 and highly recommended

In a shadowy game where defeat can mean death, a deal with the enemy can change things forever.

In 1842, Captain Gabriel O'Riordan of the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars is sent on a mission to Bukhara. His task—to try to free two of his compatriots from the clutches of a mentally unstable Emir.

On his way, he encounters Valentin Yakolev, an officer in the Russian Army, who is also on a mission—to persuade the Emir that an alliance with Russia would be in his best interests. Gabriel, disguised as a holy man, is not happy to be the object of Yakolev's intense scrutiny. After all, he's working for the opposing team in the Great Game being played between their two nations.

When Gabriel realises that his mission is little more than a forlorn hope, a game he has no chance of winning, he's desperate enough to turn to Valentin to help and offer him anything in return. What he doesn't expect is to have his plans to return to Calcutta scuppered by events.

Instead, he and Valentin flee north, fighting off bandits, their desire for each other and the hardship of desert travel. Their travails bring them closer together until a secret from Valentin's past tears them apart.

Can they set the past behind them and move on together?

Review 5/5 and highly recommended

Captain Gabriel O’Riordan and Valentin Yakolev meet in very unexpected circumstances with one offering his body to the other in return of a favour. Neither is who they first appear to be. Think undercover and stealthy, think sacrificing self for others, think hero...

Secrets, journeys, danger, misunderstanding, love, and some incredibly beautiful love scenes make this a seriously cool book. This is *historical fiction* but if you don't normally read that sub genre of MM don't be put off. This is a timeless love story with a perfect HEA and if it means anything to anyone reading this I seriously just sat and read the whole book in one sitting.

The writing is utterly gorgeous... SA has a lyrical way of writing that just transports me to the scene. I even got tired of the heroes having to eat rice... ROFL

Highly recommended. Seriously.

Buy Links

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK)


Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1) by Jordan L. Hawk

Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1) by Jordan L. Hawk

Some things should stay buried.

Repressed scholar Percival Endicott Whyborne has two skills: reading dead languages and hiding in his office at the Ladysmith Museum. After the tragic death of the friend he secretly loved, he’s ruthlessly suppressed any desire for another man.

So when handsome ex-Pinkerton Griffin Flaherty approaches him to translate a mysterious book, Whyborne wants to finish the job and get rid of the detective as quickly as possible. 

Griffin left the Pinkertons following the death of his partner, hoping to start a new life. But the powerful cult which murdered Glenn has taken root in Widdershins, and only the spells in the book can stop them. Spells the intellectual Whyborne doesn’t believe are real.

As the investigation draws the two men closer, Griffin’s rakish charm threatens to shatter Whyborne’s iron control. 

When the cult resurrects an evil sorcerer who commands terrifying monsters, can Whyborne overcome his fear and learn to trust? Will Griffin let go of his past and risk falling in love? Or will Griffin’s secrets cost Whyborne both his heart and his life?

Review - 4.5/5

Oh my... Ival and Griffin... *loved*. A mystery story with a lot of surprises that really kept me second guessing and two main characters that against all the odds thrown at them had a lovely love story. Whyborne, or Ival as he remains in my mind, was written at the beginning as a quiet man, and a shadow of what he could be and ended the hero that he deserved to be. Awesome. Very cleverly written, and I want to move onto book 2 in this series as I'm not ready to leave these two behind. 

Intriguing, sexy and scary. Loved.

The Whyborne & Griffin series:Widdershins (Book 1)
Threshold (Book 2)
Stormhaven ( Book 3)
There is also, Eidolon: A Whyborne & Griffin Short Story

Buy Links

People's love should not be divided by law - David Cameron, Prime Minister

People's love should not be divided by law - David Cameron, Prime Minister

CONGRATULATIONS to you all...

RJ Scott and all at Love Lane Books want to congratulate anyone who marries under the new UK laws...

I am so bloody proud of my country and the fact that common sense has prevailed.

* * * * *

At the end of the day there is a whole lot of people still bitter that common sense overcame their concerns, most of which appeared to revolve around what defines *marriage*. Allegedly what has happened here in my country is that those of us who support the changes in marriage law are looking to undermine *traditional one man one woman marriage*.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said: "We can't just redefine an institution - redefine something that always has been - because we say it's something that we want. "This is actually very self-centred. This is not about rights, it's about seeking cultural dominance and seeking to redefine marriage for all of us." (BBC News)

Having been married to hubby for nearly 21 years, in the *traditional one man one woman* sense, I can tell everyone now, I don't feel undermined. I just feel so damn happy that the things I wanted in my life that meant I wanted to be married, are now available to same sex couples in love in the country I live in.

And as to the whole thorny issue of religion? Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby told the BBC that the Church of England would now drop its opposition to same-sex marriage, as Parliament had spoken. The law's changed; we accept the situation.

Okay, so he isn't coming out in support but he's seeing that his church have to accept that the majority have spoken.


Last of all, well said David Cameron... 

Mr Cameron said: ‘Making marriage available to everyone goes beyond individual relationships, proposals and weddings– it says something deeper too about the sort of country we are.This is a country with proud traditions of tolerance, respect and equal worth. With this reform we are being true to those values. In turn we are sending a powerful message to young people growing up who are uncertain about their sexuality: we are telling them that they are equal.’



A Reason To Stay - Heroes Book 1, coming 11 April

A Reason To Stay - Heroes Book 1, coming 11 April

Blog Posts that happened

Blog Posts that happened

A new focus from me on the blog posts I have made and the authors I love (all Amber's idea!)... I thought I would do a round up every so often of what I and the others on my favourite list have been talking about!

Me!

Grave Diggers MC: Solo, Carol Lynne - Review
Sprinting... how I break down my writing
Blog Story - ​The Things That Dreams Are Made Of - Post 16
Editing your manuscript is vital... here's why... and a thank you ...
Relief Valve blog tour - JL Merrow
JC Wallace - Curiosity Killed Shaney blog tour
Legally Wed - Rick R Reed - Review
Normal Enough - Marie Sexton - Review
E-book pricing and the thorny issues around perception of value
Kian's Hunter - Fire #1
Always, by Kindle Alexander - Review 4/5

Amber Kell

Early Download for Farren’s Wizard!
Forever My Love – #1
Enter to Win & Join the Party
Print Book News!
Pretty New Cover Art!

Meredith Russell

New Release: The Bad Wolf
Be My Valen-Tone

Chris Quinton

Caravaggio's Angel - Available Now!
The Great Cover Hunt

Marie Sexton

Normal Enough is Available Now!
Introducing a New Pen Name: AM Sexton
Cinder: 2nd Edition Available Now

Rowan Speedwell

On Gratitude, and Why I Am Not Writing

Josephine Myles

Vintage Smut Sunday: Men and Motors (gay erotica, NSFW)
Update Monday: on learning to relax

Kay Berrisford

Cover Reveal – Wolf in Gucci Loafers by Tara Lain
Lord of the Forest now available in paperback!
All Loose Id titles on rebate at All Romance

Eli Easton

What I’m Working on: Kingdom Come
Recommended: “The Reluctant Berserker” by Alex Beecroft

Sue Brown

Same Sex Marriage Almost Here
What About Now?
RIP Christian Smith
Frankie & Al: Buy links and excerpt

JL Merrow

More Tea Vicar?
What’s Your Poison?
Pets in Fiction
Relief Valve is out today

Clare London

Rainbow Romance Writers – chapter business
On the red carpet – Mickie B Ashling
The UK Meet soap opera climax … almost!
UK Meet nearing capacity


Grave Diggers MC: Solo, Carol Lynne - Review

Grave Diggers MC: Solo, Carol Lynne - Review

Sam“Solo” Braun lives by one truth, the Grave Diggers Motorcycle Club above all. The creed has served him well, giving him the only real family he’s ever known.He would die for his brothers and them for him, but they don’t know he prefers men over women. Coming out to a group of men who fear no one isn’t high on Solo’s priority list, especially because he’s never indulged in more than one night stands.

Everything changes after one night with Eric James. For the first time, Solo can’t stop thinking about a single night he’d spent with a man. When fate intervenes, Solo comes face to face with his blue-eyed obsession only to find out Eric is a cop. Solo hates cops, and so do his brothers in the club. However, Solo decides to gamble everything and spend more time with Eric under the guise of getting information.

Falling in love with a cop is a very dangerous proposition for a man in Solo’s position, so why can’t he walk away?

Review - 4.5/5 & and a *Guilty Pleasure* book

This is the first book in my new recommended category of Guilty Pleasures. You know... the kind of books you snuggle down with where the sexy characters are hot and the story is exactly how you want it to be.

Carol Lynne is my guilty pleasure and has been for many years and this book is no different. I loved Solo, but I loved Blue even more. Solo was hot, but Blue just won me over with his general yumminess. This is a lovely sexy romance with a happy ever after, and for the first book in a series it did an awesome job of beginning to world build. Also, stunning cover... licks torso...

Hopefully Rowdy's story is next.

Buy Link

Stiff Rain Press

Sprinting... how I break down my writing

Sprinting... how I break down my writing



Sometimes I just need to close out everything, put my headphones on, and bang out the words. Some days this is so hard to do.

So I sprint. I use the timer above, sometimes I am alone, sometimes other author friends sprint along side me. Basically I just keep typing. If I have some detail I need to check (eye colour, surname etc) then I ignore it in this half hour and simply put a row of XXXXX where I need to fill in specifics and fact check later.

On a good day I can get 5000 words down in three hours (6 sprints) on an average day I can still manage 3000. The best sprints are when I am writing with others, but I can still use this method when I am writing solo. The feeling of success when the alarm sounds and I realised I have written 500 words, or 200 or even 1100, is like a personal pat on the back.

I also reward myself with a cuppa after every couple of sprints.

Also this is good for my shoulder as I time myself for regular breaks to stretch.

Do you sprint?


Relief Valve blog tour - JL Merrow

Relief Valve blog tour - JL Merrow


Hi, I’m JL Merrow. Thanks to RJ for welcoming me here today as part of the Relief Valve blog tour. :D

Giveaway


I’m offering a free signed paperback copy of 2013 Rainbow Award winning romantic comedy Slam! (I’m happy to ship internationally) to a randomly chosen commenter on the tour, plus a $10 Amazon gift certificate!

I’ll be making the draw around teatime on Monday 7th April, GMT. Good luck! :D

The Blog Post

Today I’m pondering the following question:

Why do fictional characters have pets?

For some animal characters, of course, the question might more properly be phrased, “Why do fictional pets have humans?” Think of Lassie—does anyone even remember who her nominal owner was? Or what about Flipper the crime-fighting dolphin, Willy the freedom-loving whale, or Skippy the Bush Kangaroo?

Here, the animals were the stars of the shows, and indeed their whole raison d’être. But what about shows, or stories, where the animals play only bit parts? Why include them at all?

Well, for one thing, it makes the human characters seem more real, more sympathetic and relatable. Although not always—the image of James Bond villain Ernst Blofeld stroking a fluffy white cat springs to mind. Here, the bad guy is rendered more grotesque by juxtaposition with a cute little furball. But generally speaking, a character seen stroking his ferret, tickling his pet trout or playing fetch with his dog is rendered more likeable.

Many famous fictional characters have pets. Harry Potter has Hedwig the owl, although she is a working pet, being the wizarding equivalent of a Muggle teenager’s mobile phone. The Earl of Grantham, master of Downton Abbey, has his yellow Labrador retriever, Isis. And, of course, Sherlock Holmes’ companion Dr Watson famously kept a bull pup.*

Pets add colour. They give the human characters something to do with their hands. And, of course, they can be a sly way of illustrating character.

You can judge the character of a man by how he treats his fellow animals – Paul McCartney

In Oliver Twist, we know Bill Sikes is a wrong’un when we see him beating his dog, Bull’s Eye. But it need not be so blatant: in Mansfield Park, the indolent Lady Bertram dotes on her lapdog, known only as “pug” – an overbred, highly strung, unattractive animal of no practical use whatsoever. Well, they do say pets and owners grow to resemble one another!

I’ve always liked giving my characters pets. In Slam! my main character and narrator Jude has a little dog, Bubbles, who is, shall we say, not the most intelligent of animals, but incredibly affectionate and loyal.

In Pressure Head and Relief Valve, of course, Tom has his two cats, Arthur and Merlin. I’ll leave it up to the reader to discover just what they illustrate about Tom and Phil! ;)

Question: Do you have a favourite fictional animal?

* But nobody knows what Doyle actually meant by this. It probably wasn’t, in fact, a dog!

JL Merrow

JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy.

She is a member of the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.

Find JL Merrow online at: www.jlmerrow.com, on Twitter as @jlmerrow, and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jl.merrow

Relief Valve

If you dig up the past, be prepared to get dirty

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing since plumber Tom Paretski and P.I. Phil Morrison became connected at the heart, if not always at Tom’s dodgy hip. Neither of their families has been shy about voicing their disapproval, which hasn’t helped Tom’s uneasy relationship with his prickly older sister, Cherry.

But when Cherry is poisoned at her own engagement party, the horror of her near death has Tom’s head spinning with possible culprits. Is it her fiancé Gregory, a cathedral canon with an unfortunate manner and an alarming taste for taxidermy? Someone from her old writers’ circle, which she left after a row? Or could the attack be connected to her work as a barrister?

Phil is just as desperate to solve the case before someone ends up dead—and he fears it could be Tom. At least one of their suspects has a dark secret to hide, which makes Tom’s sixth sense for finding things like a target painted on his back…

Warning: Contains a strong, silent, macho PI; a cheeky, chirpy, cat-owning plumber; and a gag gift from beyond the grave that’ll put the cat firmly among the pigeons.

Now available in ebook: Samhain Publishing | Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk


JC Wallace - Curiosity Killed Shaney blog tour

JC Wallace - Curiosity Killed Shaney blog tour



Hi, everyone! I want to thank RJ for inviting me to the blog. Curiosity Killed Shaney is my first published novel and I am thrilled to share this story with all of you.

This blog tour got huge fast! There are awesome prizes to that will be given away at the end of the tour. At the end of this post, you will find a link to enter! Check in at www.jcwallacebooks.com for links to all of the blogs in the tour and you can enter as much as you like!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Shaney and Hudson Joint Interview

Shaney and Hudson are the MCs of Curiosity Killed Shaney. I previously attempted to interview each of these guys separately (click here for the past Shaney interview, past Hudson interview) and those didn’t go so well. Hopefully, having them here together, the process will go better.

JC: So I’ve tried to interview you both, but those were unexpectedly cut short (eyes Shaney who looks chagrined), so I’ve decided to interview you both together.

Shaney: Thanks for having us here again today, JC. Sorry about the last two times.

JC: No problem, Shaney. Just sit there, don’t move and try to focus. (Shaney nods enthusiastically)

Hudson: Yeah, thanks for your patience with us (gives Shaney a sideways glance).

JC: So I’m going to ask you each the same questions however, there’s a catch. You must answer the questions for each other. (That raised some eyebrows). First question, how old are you, where do you live and what do you currently do?

Shaney: Hudson is twenty-six. He lives in Tupper Lake, NY on Gull Pond and he’s the best carpenter, ever! But he’s shy so he would only tell you he’s an okay carpenter but really he’s awesome. Also, he does work for people who can’t pay so he’s a generous carpenter as well.

Hudson: (smiles at Shaney) Shaney just turned twenty. He also lives in Tupper Lake. He’s currently finishing up his community service hours, which is going surprisingly better than in the past. I’m hoping he’ll start some college classes soon after we clear up some lingering “issues.” (Shaney smirks)

JC: Here’s an easy one. Boxers, briefs, or commando?

Shaney: Hudson is a briefs man. And boy, do they make his package hu—

Hudson: Shaney! (shakes his head) Let’s keep my size of my package between us, okay? (Shaney nods reluctantly) Shaney is all about the boxers and the wackier the better. I think my favorite pair is the one with the elephant on the front and the trunk where you put your...um...

Shaney: Package? (snickers)

JC: (now I’m shaking my head) Tell me about your personalities. Are you the life of the party or more of a wallflower?

Shaney: Hudson is a total wallflower, but I’m slowly hammering that out of him. He tends to be shy and reserved and totally stoic at times, but I’ve seen behind all of that. When he laughs, his eyes lights up, and his smile gets big and he just doesn’t know how gorgeous he is. (Yup, Hudson’s blushing). He is kind and generous and honest and hardworking. One of the best people I’ve ever met.

Hudson: Shaney is not just the life of the party, he is the party. At times that can be overwhelming, but he’s shown me how to have more fun. He has a spark that’s always lit, and he wants to know what’s happening and why it’s happening. That tends to get him into some trouble at times and scares years off of my life, but I wouldn’t change him for the world. He’s got a heart the size of a mountain and he cares about people. And he’s brave. Braver than anyone I know. (Hudson turns a soft gaze on Shaney who smiles back warmly)

Shaney: Thanks, big guy.

JC: Wow, so that leads me to my next question. Did you each of you expect to fall in love with some like the other?

Shaney: Hudson so didn’t expect to fall with someone like me, I think. I mean he’s big and burly and I’m short and scrawny. Plus, I can be more trouble than I’m worth, and I sometimes wonder if he would be happier with someone more mature.

Hudson: (shakes his head vehemently) Stop, baby. You’re perfect just the way you are. We fit. Did Shaney think he would fall in love with someone like me? He’s so open and out there in the world. He doesn’t hide who he is or how he acts. Like he said, I’m closed off, tend to be a loner. He needs someone who’s alive and will live life with him. I’m not too sure I can be that person for him.

Shaney: (jumps up, stands before Hudson and cups his cheeks) You’re my everything and exactly what I need. Don’t ever doubt that. (Hudson smirks, nods and then they’re kissing...and kissing...and groping and...)

JC: Um...guys?....Shoot, I’m never going to get them through an entire interview. See ya later and get a room!

Thanks for stopping by! Tomorrow, the blog tour will visit the blog of Elyzabeth M. VaLey. Hope to see you there!


Available at

R&P Publishing Amazon Barnes and Noble

ARe BookStrand

Blurb: Shaney's curiosity is always getting him into trouble, including stumbling into a ritualistic circle and being imbued with an energy that will eventually tear him apart. He soon finds out that Hudson, a man he cares for deeply, might be responsible for his misfortune. Add in the betrayal by his best friend Todd and the desire of a demented occultist named Silas to control the energy inside of him and there seems to be no way out. Can Shaney find a way to rid his body of the nefarious energy before he dies a horrible death?

Excerpt

The cabin was dark. Still, the uneasiness plaguing Shaney’s gut crept through his veins. Todd shifted restlessly beside him.

"Any chanting or pressure to run away?" Todd asked in a hushed voice.

Shaney peered out into the unnerving darkness. "No chanting. Running has crossed my mind, but that chicken shit is all on me.”

“Since when does anything remotely interesting scare you off?” Todd asked.

“Since yesterday,” Shaney replied and waved Todd to follow him to the stairs leading to the front door.

The dried, crusty remnants of mud crunched beneath Shaney’s sneakers as he crept up the stairs. Shaney froze on the last step. Shit. The front door was ajar again. Hudson must have locked it when they’d been there earlier, right? Why would he have left it open? Shaney’s apprehension kicked into a heart-pounding panic, but they’d come this far, they couldn’t run now. Using the end of his flashlight, Shaney warily pushed the door open. He scanned the interior and his eyes widened as he stepped in cautiously.

“What the fuck?” he managed to get out.

Pushing in behind him, Todd let out a loud gasp, and then took a step back. “No.”

What little furniture there had been was piled into the corners. Complex symbols and shapes drawn in black covered the walls and the ceiling. Rendered on the old wood floor were more symbols and shapes in what looked like white chalk.

“I’ve seen these before,” Todd whispered, gesturing to the cryptic graffiti covering every surface.

“And?” Shaney asked, waiting for the punch line.

“And, fuck, this is bad.”

“Define ‘bad,’” Shaney croaked out.

“Like oh-shit-you-don’t-mess-with-anything-this-powerful bad.” Todd sounded a bit awestruck.

Shaney continued to run the beam of the flashlight over the symbols, which looked like a cross between something occult, Egyptian, and tenth grade geometry class. The symbols ranged from small, about a foot wide, to massive, like the one on the floor that spanned at least eight feet. Taken as a whole, each symbol was a dizzying array of angles and intersecting lines. But looking closely, Shaney could discern repeating patterns such as triangles, squares, and circles. Other odd shapes and numbers rounded out the symbols. It was as if he’d jumped straight into an episode of Supernatural. Maybe last year’s attempted exorcism of Shaney’s alleged demon hadn’t been so far-fetched.

“How fucking long would it take draw something like this?” The angles were too precise, the lines too straight. Someone had taken painstaking care in executing these images.

“So not the part to be focusing on,” Todd said dryly.

“So what’s all of this for? Some kind of magic spell? Some occult shit? Exorcism? Voodoo?” Shaney was trying for sarcasm, but with the hair standing up on his neck and tremors rippling his skin, he couldn’t pull it off. He stared at the massive circular symbol that consumed the floor and swore the lines were vibrating. He opened and closed his eyes to try and stop the visual disturbance.

“Yes and no to all of the above,” Todd stated matter-of-factly while pulling out his phone.

“What’re you doing?”

“Taking pictures.” The blinding white flash lit the room as Todd methodically documented the symbols without moving closer into the room.

“Change places with me,” Todd said, scooting past Shaney to capture the symbols on the wall behind him. “Whatever you do don’t step on any symbols,” Todd said just as Shaney was about to lay his shoe on one.

Shaney twisted mid-step to avoid the small S-shaped symbol beneath his foot, but his center of balance shifted when he knocked his shoulder against the open door. The momentum slammed the door shut and Shaney stumbled back into the room. Flailing his arms, he managed to remain upright.

Todd turned to Shaney. His face paled in the illumination from their flashlights. His eyes widened in what Shaney could only describe as unadulterated horror.

Shaney chuckled nervously. “Umm, Todd, I stepped on a symbol,” Shaney said, standing almost dead center of the largest one on the floor. No answer. When Shaney tried to move, his lower body wouldn’t respond. Oh, shit. “Todd, I stepped on a fucking symbol and I can’t move!” Panic flooded his system with adrenaline as he repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to move. That seemed to snap Todd out of his trance.

Todd glanced around the room, and Shaney hoped he was looking for a solution to his dilemma. Todd’s eyes stopped on the closed door. A partial symbol covering the door lined up with a symbol that was its mirror image on the wall adjacent to it. Closing the door had made the two halves a whole.

“Damn it!” Todd sprinted to the door, leaping over symbols on the floor. He grabbed the handle and yanked hard on the door, but it didn’t budge.

A low vibration beneath Shaney’s feet pulled his attention away from Todd’s struggle. He frowned. The vibrations reminded him of an approaching train on the railroad tracks—and his foot was caught in the proverbial rails.

“Todd?” Shaney swallowed hard as the vibrating intensified and filled his legs.

Todd stilled his attempts to open the door and turned back to Shaney.

“Todd, something’s happening. Get me off of here!” Shaney pleaded as all of the hairs on his body stood on end. A shot of tingling energy pulsed up through the soles of his cross trainers, and flashed through his entire body.

* * * * *

Curiosity Killed Shaney Blog Tour Giveaway!!

Shaney is so excited about his story being told that he is giving away some great prizes!

P.S. He’s really excited to give them away!

Prizes:

1- $25 Amazon Gift Card

2 Curiosity Killed Shaney Ebooks

2 of Maximus’ “Duct Tape” T-shirts

3 “Freeze Warlock” Coffee Mugs

2 $5 Amazon Gift Cards

Click here for pictures of Prizes

You can enter daily along the blog tour, as often as you like!

Enter Shaney’s Giveaway!

About JC Wallace

I have been writing all of my life, however it was just this year that I ventured out to be published. In my day job, I am a behavior analyst. At night and on the weekends, I write about all things men. I believe there is nothing hotter than two men finding and loving one another, whether for a night or forever. An avid reader of M/M romance, I love a good twist of a plot, HEA, HFN, or tragic ending.

I am owned by three kids, one grandchild and one on the way, two dogs and one cat. I live in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains in Northern NY

Website: www.jcwallacebooks.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jcwallacebooks.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jcwallacebooks

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7237038.J_C_Wallace

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jcwallace


Legally Wed - Rick R Reed - Review

Legally Wed - Rick R Reed - Review

Legally Wed

Love comes along when you least expect it. 

That's what Duncan Taylor's sister, Scout, tells him. Scout has everything Duncan wants--a happy life with a wonderful husband. Now that Seattle has made gay marriage legal, Duncan knows he can have the same thing. But when he proposes to his boyfriend Tucker, he doesn't get the answer he hoped for. Tucker's refusal is another misstep in a long line of failed romances. Despairing, Duncan thinks of all the loving unions in his life--and how every one of them is straight. Maybe he could be happy, if not sexually compatible, with a woman. When zany, gay-man-loving Marilyn Samples waltzes into his life, he thinks he may have found his answer.

Determined to settle, Duncan forgets his sister's wisdom about love and begins planning a wedding with Marilyn. But life throws Duncan a curveball. When he meets wedding planner Peter Dalrymple, unexpected sparks ignite. Neither man knows how long he can resist his powerful attraction to the other. For sure, there's a wedding in the future. But whose?

Review - 4.5/5

I have to admit this is the first Rick R Reed book I have read (it wont be my last!) and I bought it on the recommendation of Amber Kell (but no one tell her that!).

This is a very up close and personal account of the shift in marriage laws up in Seattle, where it rains a lot and people wear socks with sandals (The horror!). 

I don't know where to start with this book. I loved it, and the characters, it didn't matter that you kind of knew how things may go because that was the point. This is a beautiful look at love and all the parts of it we don't always think about. The cuddles, and looking at a nice view together, and the companionship. Sometimes it is about the spark, the sex, but there is the *peace* of absolute certainty that you are with someone who loves you that is often overlooked. 

I loved this book. Very clever. Very real. Recommended.

Buy Links



Normal Enough - Marie Sexton - 5/5

Normal Enough - Marie Sexton - 5/5

Normal Enough

When Brandon Kenner shows up at Kasey Ralston’s garage with a 1970 Chevelle SS 454, Kasey is smitten by both the man and his car. But Kasey is a mechanic with a shameful secret. He has a fondness for old muscle cars, a fondness that goes far beyond what most people would consider normal. So between what Kasey considers a disgraceful fetish and his long estrangement from his family, he finds it easiest to be alone, even distancing himself from his coworkers.

But it doesn’t take Brandon long to guess Kasey’s secret, and he doesn’t think the sexy mechanic’s fetish is weird. In fact, he likes it, and he makes no secret of his intentions to seduce the man.

Kasey doesn’t know how to resist someone as charming as Brandon, and he’s more than willing to be seduced. But what are Brandon’s long-term intentions? Kasey is afraid of hoping too much, but equally afraid that when all is said and done, Brandon will leave, and Kasey will be left alone once again. Can Kasey be normal enough for a relationship with Brandon, despite his fetish?

Review 5/5

*Love me some Marie Sexton*

This is such a clever story. When I saw the word fetish in the description I expected something lighter than this book, an easy read that took a short break that was heavy on sex. Which, let's face it, this is Marie Sexton, she writes hot sex... BUT... although this book forcuses on something that isn't maybe the *norm* this is not a book about sex, but family, and loss, and childhood memories, and making yourself a stronger man in the face of adversity. I adored Kasey, just adored him, and really got inside his head. I wanted more from Brandon, only because I selfishly wanted more words... ROFL...

This is a HFN, but that is cool, because I see a HEA in what they have together, and that is all I needed... 

Buy Links

Amber Allure | New release not on Amazon @ 22 March


E-book pricing and the thorny issues around perception of value

E-book pricing and the thorny issues around perception of value

I wanted to do a simple post about income to authors from sales of e-books, and how much a typical author may make per e-book sold on Amazon as the main example.

As I began to write it I realized there is much more to this blog post than just black and white sums of money.

Pricing in the ebook industry is an emotive subject, and as an author and a reader I can see both sides.

I personally consider that how much someone will pay for an ebook depends on what their perception of value is.

Does the purchaser equate the cost of a book with the cost of a coffee? Or are they using their last $3 to buy a book?

Either way, as an author it is vital to be in that middle ground where people perceive your book as being good value. This could be as simple as setting the perfect price. Or as nebulous as understanding your own value as an author. 

Kian's Hunter is out today and I am charging $2.99 for it. It is 26,000 words. I probably won't make many sales on it as people tend to prefer me for my contemporary writing, but it is a story close to my heart and I wanted it back out there. Cover art, editing, marketing, it all costs money. I will need to sell quite a few copies to cover those charges, but it doesn't matter, that story is available and I can smile that it's done and with readers. The price is the one that Love Lane place on any Novella up to 35,000 words... or thereabouts... ish...

That being said, having discussions with hubby on price got me thinking about the whys and wherefores of pricing.

"Ebook sales have surpassed printed books on Amazon.com, but the publishing industry continues to wrestle with the issue of how to price ebooks competitively, while still providing a reasonable profit for authors and publishers." (1)

Did you know?

On Kindle - an author/publisher will receive 70% royalty if the ebook meets certain requirements, one of those requirements is that the book is priced between $2.99 and $9.99 (although there is a new category which complicates it further!). If the book is outside this range the author/publisher only earns 35% instead of 70%.

Therefore you will find a lot of authors have their books at a minimum of $2.99.

Example

For example, the following illustrates the incomes for a non-agent represented $2.99 Kindle book sold on Amazon.com to someone in the US.

Self Published authors:

Sale price: $2.99
Amazon percentage: $0.90
Amazon download charges etc: $0.04
Income to an author who self publishes $2.05 per kindle book sold

Authors with a publisher who offers a fairly standard 40/60 split on royalties:

Sale price: $2.99
Amazon percentage: $0.90
Amazon download charges etc: $0.04
Income to the publisher: $2.05
Income to an author with a publisher is $0.82 per e-book sold

Proviso, these are rough amounts, not specific, and there are differences along the line, not least of which are conversion rates on currency.

Setting a price

There are factors helping to decide on how to set a price. I can't talk for the publishers and how they set their prices but there are interesting questions to answer for the author who self publishes. There are whole discussions to be had on supply and demand, perception of value, whether your heart rules your head or the other way around and so on.

What is a book worth to the reader?

From my point of view as a reader, I have auto buy authors and I pretty much don't care what they charge, I will buy them... looks pointedly at my list of auto buy authors on the right hand side of this blog! Would I think differently if their book was low at 99c or high at 9.99? No, because I have a perception of there being a 'good value' in the reading of anything they write, and I know these authors will deliver me a good story, a 99c price doesn't devalue them to me, and a higher price won't put me off. My latest autobuy for example was a book priced up at over $8.

Talking of the 99c book

Another question is whether an author selling their book at 99c makes more sales? Does this price devalue the book? Are people suspicious of content or quality? Is there in fact an actual price that people see which means they feel the book will be *good*? There are a lot of authors, both in our genre and outside, who successfully use the 99c price point. Especially when the 99c book is the perfect impulse buy for people to try out your writing. 

Fireman/Cop is at 99c, as a hook for the rest of the series. This was a marketing initiative from Totally Bound, I probably need to discuss whether it worked, to inform my own pricing strategy! 

Thoughts on 99c books?

Buying from a publisher vs buying from Amazon

Another hot question is whether a reader should buy direct from a publisher, or whether they should go to Amazon/B&N/ARe etc.

I can't speak for other authors, but my major market is Amazon. However, I know for example one close author friend has her biggest market on All Romance. It seems to depend on the author. 

Thing is, and this is only my opinion, I would prefer sales through Amazon, just because you are then more able to sell enough to get at least into the top 100. The visibility of being on that list can then lead to more sales. So even though the author makes more money when someone buys direct from a publisher, at the end of the day, you may drop from visibility there and sales will drop.

It seems you can't fight the behemoth that is Amazon.

Returns

I have no words on Amazon's policy on e-book returns... ROFL... literally... don't get me started...

Piracy and price

I'm not sure you want to get me started on how many MM books are pirated either... Some people say the pirates wouldn't have bought the book in the first place so we're not losing anything. I don't know. I'm so over it now...

But... there will always be pirating, simply because $0.00 is a very good price to pay for any word count! But like returns, every book lost is income lost, which could potentially affect the price of the book to those who pay. Sighs...

Summary

At the end of the day, the 'balance of pricing' is maximising profit vs the possible kudos of big sales vs loss leaders vs getting to the top 100 on Amazon and being visible. I wish I could say it is easy being able to find that perfect price, or having a valid opinion on what prices should be... if anyone feels they have the answer, please tell me!

And yes, I know I went on a bit, but I'm hoping there are some points to debate in here... :)


(1) http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/ezine/ebook-pricing-strategies.html

Useful articles:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/guest-post-by-john-locke.html
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/04/24/99-cent-ebook/



Kian's Hunter - (Fire Trilogy #1)

Kian's Hunter - (Fire Trilogy #1)

Cover art by Meredith Russell

The Book

Kian has crossed over from his world to ours to seek revenge. His plan is to kill the monster who murdered his Uncle. The same monster who used magic to escape to our world and is hiding here and growing in strength.

Regan Campbell is a hunter of Demons. The first son, of a first son, he is the one who protects this world from the monsters that no one else knows are here.

When Kian reaches this world, he knows Regan is the perfect man to fight alongside him, but Regan trusts no one.

It isn’t until they are facing death and a terrible evil that will be let loose, that Regan finally realises he can trust another...his fated partner, Kian.

Kian - First edition

Kian was originally written as a short stand alone book but became more when book 2 and book 3 were requested by the publisher.

After working on several paranormals I have a new respect for how a book like this should be written. Hence why I have re-writen parts of it and changed the way the story flows.

As usual, if you bought the original Kian, please email the receipt to rjscott.team@gmail.com and I will happily send you the updated book.

The Fire Trilogy

Book 1 - Kian's Hunter
Book 2 - Darach's Cariad
Book 3 - Eoin's Destiny

Buy Links

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Smashwords | B&N | iTunes | Kobo


Reviews - Kian's Hunter

MM Good Book Reviews - 3.5 - 4/5 - "....This great little novella introduces us to a world that is nearly parallel to our own but has magic....

....I have to recommend this to those who love paranormal romances that are a bit bumpy, danger, tension, and a touch of angst, some sweet loving, accepting fate, and a very interesting ending...."

Rainbow Book Reviews - "....This first story is a great start to the Fire Trilogy. It contains some interesting magical concepts focused around the mysterious magik of Fire, great characters in Kian and Regan, and an evil opposing force I don’t think I’ve seen the last of with the ending of this book. What more can you ask for in an adventure series? I also think this rewrite (based on the original short story published three years ago) is a wonderful improvement and now contains all the emotional and supernatural elements I am looking for in an “otherworldly fantasy”...."  

Rainbow Gold Book Reviews - 8/10 - "....For me this book was well thought out, well written with a great plot that makes you want to read more. I enjoyed reading and understand the parallel word, Kians power of Fire. There isn’t a lot of sex but I don’t feel that the book needs more...."

Bike Book Reviews - 5/5 - "....This book blew me away, not only did Rj create wonderful characters that almost jump off the page, she created a whole world that is so vibrant and real it boggles the mind! Kian and Regan will make you fall in love with them as they fall for each other! Check out this lovely story, you will not regret it!...."

Joyfully Jay - 4.5/5 - "....Oh, the world building in this book just sucked me in and kept my attention throughout.  Scott does a really great job of creating a world, giving us the information we need, and making us believe.  I was drawn into the parallel world storyline, loving the way it’s presented and the Fire that lights everyone, whether it’s a physical manifestation or not, and how everything is connected.  Couple that with two engaging MCs and I really enjoyed this book.

One of the things I really loved about this book was that we only spend time with our two MCs.  There’s no extraneous secondary characters here, and for this story, it worked perfectly.  The plot lends itself to being with just these two guys, and it was to its benefit that there was no one else to muck up the works.  Not to say that we didn’t get a taste of other characters, because we did.  But the focus was solely on these two men, their mission, and their bond...."

Gay List Book Reviews - "....An exciting and sexy world of magic and parallel worlds, demon hunting and bonded mates. This is the first book in the Fire Trilogy so it sets up the world and characters....

....This story goes by fast, but I was comforted by the knowledge that I have two more stories full of magic and love to learn more about this world and its people and watch three friends, who are more like brothers, find their mates and fall in love...."

Reviews - Kian when published with Silver Publishing

Jessewave - 4/5 - "....I know that this specific quirk of mine is mine alone and many of you enjoy shorter stories much more than I do (give me a 500+ page novel any day and you’ll make me a happy man). That said, to build a paranormal world and make it work in a short page count is much more difficult that creating one in the first place, so I give props to RJ Stone for that. This is a story which I think many of you who love paranormals will like. There is one sex scene which is particurly steamy and because I can’t resist, here’s a clue: They both have FIRE. Imagine sex with fire and you’re on the right track...."

Top 2 Bottom Reviews - 4.5/5 - "....Kian is the first book in the author’s Fire Trilogy series. This fast paced novella starts the trilogy off perfectly....
....The author gives just enough background on Kian and his world to make sure the reader returns for more and I for one can’t wait to see what happens in the next book...."

Excerpt

Chapter 2

Regan Campbell ordered one of everything from the menu. He loved diners like this that served breakfast all day, with waitresses who knew everything and short-order chefs who cooked the food he adored. The diner had the quickest service he had seen in months; he had coffee almost immediately, and in the space of ten minutes, he had a plate placed in front of him piled high with bacon, eggs, and pancakes.
This particular diner sat on the outskirts of Enner Falls, a small town in the foothills of Wolf Mountain, the peak of the Gallatin National Forest. He had traced little more than rumors to end up in Enner Falls, and here he was, a week before All Hallows’ Eve, a few days from a full moon, wondering what the hell he was going to find. At this time of the year it was difficult to pull out the real threat from the sugar-high hype, and he expected more than the average crazy Demon to come out and play.

“You okay there, honey?” Rita, his waitress, topped off his coffee, and he smiled up at her.

“I’m fine, thanks,” he said quietly. No sense in drawing attention to himself by ordering more bacon even though he was tempted.

“Shout if you want more coffee.” She walked off to the next customer, and he could swear he heard her humming, although it was fairly tuneless.

His detailed and painstaking research had led him initially to the town across the valley where there had been ten unexplained disappearances in this area over the last year. Classic Demon shit right there. But the town was a bust. No signs of a Demon infestation, now or even in the past. Hunger made him stop in Enner Falls, but instinct had him keeping his back to the wall and facing the door. Electricity sparked in the air and Regan was on edge. His instincts hadn’t let him down before. Something was wrong here.

Halfway through his bacon, which incidentally was the sweetest yet saltiest bacon he had ever tasted, the door opened, a blast of frigid air swirling into the warm inside. Regan looked up. That same instinct that made him stop in Enner Falls had him categorizing every newcomer, analyzing seating, and being very aware of each vehicle in the lot outside. Everyone so far, from police officer to teacher, had passed by him and nothing about them flagged his concerns. The new arrival, though? He was a different story.

The stranger was tall with blond hair, windblown and tousled and falling in disarray around a young elfin face. He didn’t fit in in his long black coat, not in this diner full of men in jeans and plaid shirts, and every red warning light Regan had inside switched on full. Deliberately, Regan placed his knife and fork to the side of his plate. He chewed his mouthful of bacon and swallowed before slipping his hand under the table to close around the knife he had on his lap under his jacket. Details about this stranger screamed wrong, and Regan was a master at following his gut feelings.

The new arrival cast his gaze around the diner, resting briefly on Regan, offering the other man a chance to see a flash of green in intensely colored eyes. Green Eyes couldn’t be any more than twenty and was clearly some kind of model wannabe or an actor, maybe. Whatever he was, he stuck out like a sore thumb in his black duster and dark pants. The long coat seemed to be leather, but not rigid cowhide. It was supple, molding against the newcomer like a second skin, then flowing out to just above knee length.

He didn’t seem uncomfortable as the hum of casual conversation dropped and everyone just stared; he simply looked back at everyone who looked at him. Regan tensed as that impossibly green gaze swept back towards him and stopped. The other man blinked steadily and offered a small smile, but Regan wasn’t in the mood for smiling. The smell of a possible hunt tickled his nostrils.

Green Eyes wasn’t the kind of thing he’d been tasked to kill—Regan knew the signs for one of those bastards—but the newcomer wasn’t normal either.

Regan pushed his chair back a few inches, giving himself room to move should he need to, as the other man ordered water and some breakfast. He was ready to act, analyzing the distance between a potential kill and a subsequent run to his car. It wasn’t far, but he wondered how he was going to get out of this one without people recognizing him as that guy who killed the man in the long black coat.

The unfamiliar man moved to his corner of the diner. He stopped dead center in front of Regan. A moment of charged silence followed as he focused intently on Regan and then frowned.

“Regan Montgomery Campbell?” The words were softly spoken, and there was an air of uncertainty around the stranger; the question in his words screamed that he wasn’t entirely convinced of what he was asking.

“Sorry?” Regan was very cautious with his words, his fingers flexing and tightening around the handle of his blade. The other man tilted his head questioningly and then flicked a glance towards the empty bench across from Regan.

“Can I sit down?”

Regan said nothing. Evidently the stranger took this as a tacit invitation to sit, folding six feet of lean male and long black coat into the booth opposite. He placed the water in front of himself and extended a hand in greeting.

“Kian ap Rhys,” the stranger offered in a soft lyrically accented voice. Then he waited. Regan didn’t immediately take the hand; he tried not to touch any Demons before he killed them, his reaction a mix between self-preservation and distaste. He suddenly wasn’t certain he didn’t have something like a Demon sitting opposite him. They were at an impasse. Regan didn’t want to shake his hand, and this Kian guy was evidently not getting the hint.

Close up, Regan could see that Kian’s eyes were not just green, but an intriguing mix of greens and silver flecks, bright right-in-your-face jade and mesmerizing sea green. There was something there in those sea and starlight eyes, something akin to innocence or trust. Abruptly compelled to respond, Regan found himself switching his knife to his left hand and extending his right. He wasn’t one to play games, and clearly this Kian guy knew his name, so there was no point in either of them pretending he didn’t.

They touched, Kian’s grasp firm, and Regan was startled at the connection in the warmth of the other man’s grip. Unnerved, he released his hold and sat back. His fingers tingled with the spark of electricity that had passed between them, and he closed his hand into a loose fist. What the hell was going on that his body was pushing through the flight-or-fight he usually focused on and experiencing sensations he wasn’t ready to let in?

Kian placed his hands flat on the table on either side of his water. “I need your help, or rather, I think we need each other’s help. I don’t know yet,” Kian offered firmly.

Regan narrowed his eyes. He didn’t leave trails; no one knew who he was or what he did, so how the hell did Mr Actor-Model here think he could be of any help and how did he know who Regan was?

“You want to explain what you mean?” Cut to the chase was the best way.

“I know some things about the Demons you track down. I could give you some new ideas of how to track them.” Regan tried to hide the combination of shock and disbelief that shot through him behind his schooled expression of I don’t care. This guy not only knew him, but he knew about the things Regan collected and dispatched? Something was seriously wrong here, and instinctive barriers sprang immediately into place. Defense. Avoidance. Get the fuck away.

Disgruntled, Regan didn’t even answer, simply swallowed the remainder of his coffee in two gulps and stood, grabbing at the jacket and ensuring the knife remained hidden. He didn’t even say goodbye. He just left without a word, nothing to indicate he had been there except the money he placed on the counter. Kian whatever-his-name-was didn’t follow, and it was only as Regan drove away from town that he realized he was shivering. Well, that was a new one—he wasn’t even cold. Pure emotion coursed through him, concern and distrust and the faint hint of fear.

He didn’t know who the stranger could be, but Regan added another emotion to the list of things he was feeling after he had touched him. Attraction.

I’m fucking stupid. Desire was unwelcome baggage on his back. Okay, it had been at least two months since he had seen any action, but fuck, there was no way he was lusting for a man he had met perhaps ten minutes ago. He palmed his dick, half-hard at the memory of those striking eyes and that soft hair. Since when were blond models who knew too much his kind of thing?

Firmly dismissing his body’s interest, he ruthlessly pushed down the tension in him. He needed to hole up for the day until dark took hold of the town and he could return to hunt the Demons he had been tracking. He followed battered wooden signs for the falls he assumed gave Enner Falls its name, and they took him down a short but convoluted gravel road out of town and up towards the base of Wolf Peak.

This was as good a place as any to regroup.

Regan pulled off the road and parked the Jeep behind some trees in a small roadside picnic area that was closed for the winter. Anyone passing would not be able to see him and feel compelled to stop and ask if he needed help or was lost. He checked the time. The sun hung at least an hour off noon, and he sighed. Waiting around in this job was sometimes close to soul-destroying, but it was necessary for success in everything he did.

Why the Demons fed at night was a mystery none of his ancestors had ever managed to solve, but as a result, the dark was as much his hiding place as theirs. Why they only fed on adults and not children was another enigma. On the run up to Halloween, it was something he was grateful for. He shuddered to think of what the actual Halloween night could become if the Demons fed on the young. It would be a horror movie.

Boredom and then irritation had him pulling a folder of papers out of the Jeep and stomping over to a small circular clearing that smelled of autumn. The leaves on the ground and what remained on tall strong trees were a tumble of gold and red. Snow had filtered through the straggly canopy of nearly bare branches and evergreen pine trees to leave a dusting on the wooden tables in the picnic area by the falls. It made for a comfortable, if slightly damp, carpet to sit on, and he settled at a table. The constant roar of the waterfall curtain was a welcome friend. There was intel to be rechecked, his blade had to be sharpened, and he desperately needed to find his center after his brush with the strange guy in the diner. He spread the papers, a mix of his own notes and newspaper reports, on a piece of plastic bag from the Jeep.

People had been disappearing all along the base of Wolf Mountain starting about ten months before and, for some reason, peaking each month at the full moon. Of course, rumors of a werewolf abounded, but that was as ridiculous as blaming it on vampires, because neither of them actually existed. All the signs pointed to a Demon infestation, and in a few days, All Hallows’ Eve, the next full moon on the chart, he needed to clear them out.

“See, I really need to talk to you.” The voice was crisp and slightly accented.

Regan sprang to his feet, his knife in his hand and adrenaline sparking in his body, to face the man he had last seen in the diner, his arms crossed and a patient expression on his face. Regan looked past him. He couldn’t see a car. He would have heard a car even over the noise of the falling water. Fuck, he should have heard footsteps or something. How the hell could he call himself a Hunter? Then the thought came to him. How exactly had Kian managed to catch up to him some six miles out of town in the space of a few minutes?

“What the fuck?” To be honest, that was the most coherent response Regan could manage while facing the man who had somehow achieved the impossible—tracked him down, caught him, then surprised him.

“My name is Kian ap Rhys,” the stranger introduced himself again. “I know you’re Regan Campbell. I know you hunt monsters that suck the life out of people and make them puppets that kill. I know you do this the same as your father did before you and his father did before him—”

Regan didn’t want to hear the whole great-grandfather crap timeline and stopped Kian with a raised hand. A strange fear curled inside him as he listened to the movie-set-reject’s words. He twisted the knife in his hands, the intricate scrolled words on the hilt sparking, gripped it tighter, and took one step towards the tall, slim stranger. Regan’s legs were slightly bent at the knees and he assumed a fighter’s stance. His lips thinned as Kian held his ground and seemed not at all disturbed by Regan’s aggressive step forward.

“You clearly know who I am.” Regan had two questions and he needed answers now. “How do you know and why the hell would you want to know?”

Kian nodded. He’d evidently been expecting the questions. “The how is easy. My family has known of your family for many years. The why…well, I think that is much harder to explain.” Kian stopped. He shook his head and sighed, and Regan grew irritated at the silence.

“What are they? Hunters as well?” That didn’t make sense. Regan only knew of one cousin who trawled through Canada doing what Regan did in the continental US.

“My family? No.”

“I’m listening,” he prompted impatiently.

“I have my own reasons for being here. I have something I need to do, and I only have one night to do it in.”

“That doesn’t answer the question. Could you be any more cryptic? How the hell does what you need to do connect with what I do?”

“Look, it’s simple. I need you. You need me.”

“I kill the monsters fine on my own. I don’t want or need someone else.”

“There is a stronger evil here that even you can’t kill.” Kian looked uncomfortable, worrying his lower lip with his teeth before crossing to the nearest tree and sliding down the trunk to sit cross-legged at its base. Not only had he laid two wicked-looking knives on the ground in front of him as he sat, he’d actually turned his back to Regan as he walked over. Those two actions caused Regan to relax, by just the merest fraction, his tight hold on the knife. He abruptly felt like he should do the same as Kian, so he crossed to the next tree over, close enough to Kian to talk. He rested a hand on the rough bark, then used it to lever himself down, stretching his legs in front of him. The concessions he made to the Hunter inside him were basic: his knife remained in his hand and he maintained a hyperawareness of his surroundings. He didn’t understand why he had bothered to give Kian the time of day, but he had, and for some strange reason it felt safe to do so.

“Keep talking,” he insisted.

“My uncle died slowly. Then on the Gate Day last year, the Danio made its move.”

“Gate Day?”

“The same as your Halloween.” Kian paused and closed his eyes briefly. Regan wriggled uncomfortably at the naked grief that crossed Kian’s expression. “My uncle was…hurt…by the Danio, and something was taken from him…” Kian kept stopping in his explanation and casting glances up at Regan.

Regan didn’t have to be an expert to sense there was more to this whole thing than Kian was telling him.

“Something? Someone? You’re gonna have to be more specific. What was taken?”

Kian shook his head. “I can’t explain yet. Just without it, he was inevitably going to die. Nothing could save him. And the Danio was strong after he stole it.”

“Okay, stop there.” Regan held up a hand, the hand with the knife in it, pushing threat into his voice. “Start again, and this time leave out the mysterious bullshit mumbo-jumbo.”





Chapter 3

Kian didn’t know what to say. Regan deserved the truth if there was any expectation of getting his help with the Danio and getting back his uncle’s Fire. So it was essential to start explaining this, in detail, with reasons why Kian needed help and why Regan had to join Kian in his quest. He considered carefully the words he needed to use and they flowed fine in his head. Thing was, when he actually came to vocalize what he needed, he blurted out the one thing that was guaranteed to drive Regan away in a matter of seconds.

“We are destined to be bonded.” Gods. Why did I say that? Now Regan would just think him mad. “Together,” he attempted to explain by adding more. “Only together, bonded, can we hope to…” He stopped talking when he realized he was making even more of a hash of it.

Regan didn’t move. Not one muscle. He just stared, and Kian dropped his gaze, uncomfortable under the steady scrutiny of deep brown eyes. He looked up again. Those eyes held a myriad of emotions, including disbelief, if Kian read it right. It didn’t help that the longer Regan sat still, the more Kian could take his fill, memorizing the face and features of his intended bond-partner, and the more confusion filtered into his brain.

Regan was the diametric opposite of himself, shorter where he was tall, dark-haired where he was blond, settled and focused where he couldn’t concentrate on something for more than a few minutes at time.

On the day of his birth, the Council had told his father of the destiny that awaited his son. His father had mocked the seers. No son of mine will cross to the other world. Destiny had a nasty habit of biting when you weren’t looking, though, as evidenced by the fact that he now sat in the one place his father swore he would never go to, opposite the very man he had been promised to twenty-one years ago.

Kian sensed the movement even as energy coiled inside Regan, and Regan’s knife moved through the air towards him, Regan uncurling and following in a millisecond.

“Stop!” he shouted, but it was too late. The Fire was there in that same instant, a barrier of emerald and sea green that blocked knife and man with an impenetrable wall, thrusting both back until Regan, knife by his side, was thrown bodily away from Kian.

Pushing the Fire away, Kian scrambled over to Regan who lay unmoving, his eyes open, staring up at the canopy of trees.

“Regan, I’m sorry, are you—” Kian touched the stunned man, wincing at the spark of energy that still coursed through him.

“What. The. Fuck?” Regan bit out, his entire body trembling and his gaze fixed on Kian.

“Can you sit?” Kian needed to get Regan up and breathing correctly. The Fire had hit him dead-on; Kian knew a lesser man, a man not his partner, would have been struck dead. Regan grumbled his annoyance as he allowed Kian to help him up, and Kian was never happier to hear the threats that Regan muttered under his breath. At least coherency proved he was alive.

“What just happened?” Regan spat out as he moved to a sitting position using the nearest tree as a leaning post, then slumped against the rough bark and drew his knees up to rest his hands on.

“It’s Fire,” Kian began. Regan examined his hands as if he was checking for burns. “Not hot fire, it wouldn’t have burned you. See, I have no control. When my Fire thinks I am being threatened, it just…” Kian trailed off, and instead, he shook a hand in a gesture that he hoped Regan would see as a combination of apology and explanation.

“Fire.” Regan’s voice remained steady, but Kian could see past that to the man beneath, the man who had a healthy amount of fear swirling inside him. Kian shuffled the few feet towards Regan and sat cross-legged to one side. Feeling more nervous than he thought he would at exposing this part of him, he held out a hand. As natural as breathing, he allowed a small amount of Fire to travel inside of him to light a small flame in his palm. Regan stared, fixed and focused on the green flame.

“We call it Fire. It’s part of us, and when we reach twenty-one, it kind of happens to us naturally between one day and the next.”

“Power?” Regan ran an unsteady hand through his short, spiky hair, gripping at it like that would help him understand.

“I’m not from your world, Regan Campbell.” Kian said the words gently, and to Regan’s credit, the man didn’t move or run screaming to the hills.

“Like that wasn’t obvious.” Regan’s voice held a derisive quality, sarcasm layered over fact. “What are you? A Demon?” he asked, suspicious.

“There’s another place, another world that sits just out of alignment with your reality. On Gate Day the worlds align nearly perfectly, and it’s possible to move from our world to this one a week or so on either side of that date. This”—Kian waved expansively at the forest around them—“is what we call the Other World, and we watch you as much as we can manage. My world, my time, is…” Kian had practiced these words so many times, but still they felt like ash in his mouth. “I guess the easiest way to explain is that it’s parallel to this world, a phase step away from your time and place. It’s this place, but it’s a shared space.”

Regan still listened, and he wasn’t stopping Kian. That was a good sign. Right?

“In my world, when you get to be twenty-one you get your Fire—”

Regan interrupted. “Twenty-one, Fire, so you said. And?”

“It’s a mark of maturity, for want of a better word. The Fire stays with you until you die. If I ever lost my Fire before my natural span of years is crossed I’d die, Fireless and too soon. That is what happened to my uncle, but he didn’t just lose his Fire. It was stolen from him by a Danio.” Kian emphasized the sound of the letters, Dan-yo.

“Okay, so this Danio stole your uncle’s Fire, meaning your uncle then died. And?” Regan had clearly focused on the bad guy in the wash of confusing explanation, which was definitely a good sign. “What is it? Like a Demon?”

Regan tilted his head as he asked this. Kian watched for mockery but there wasn’t any. Obviously Regan seeing things others would never see was enough for him to believe there could be something else out there.

Kian continued, “It’s a beautiful world, Regan, my world. Full of the power of Fire. Peaceful. For every bright place, though, there are those that are darker. The Danio is evil to the core.”

“The bad guy,” Regan inserted helpfully.

“A remnant of a much older time, before we had peace.” He moved closer, now only inches from touching Regan with his fingers, craving that contact. It was near impossible to be this near to his mate and not to take him into his arms. In his world, they would have bonded already.

“Keep talking,” Regan pushed, and Kian realized he had stopped and just stared at Regan’s mouth. Kian shook his head to clear it. He couldn’t let the call of his destiny pull him away from what he needed to do. He needed to focus, concentrate on telling his story, no matter how much distraction the need to touch Regan caused.

“Last Gate Day, your Halloween, the Danio used the stolen Fire to cross to this world.”

“My world?” Regan closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, determination in his expression. “This Danio thing is in my world? Why?”

Kian shook his head. “It had been doomed to die in my world. It was a prisoner, but it escaped and came here. But its energy would have been low and it wasn’t its Fire it used to get here, it doesn’t have any Fire of its own. Cut off from my world, it couldn’t recharge.” He searched for a word that made sense and used the closest he could think of. “In the next few days though, when the connection is strongest between this world and mine, it will be able to draw power from my world and then it will have enough Fire to control.”

Regan narrowed his gaze. “Control what exactly?”

Kian shook his head slowly. “That’s the problem. It stole the Fire. It wasn’t born to use and care for it. Once it recharges, its attention will shift between the wild Fire inside it and the lure of energy and life-force in the world—your world—around it. It’ll be unpredictable malice with a weapon that is controlling it as much as it is controlling the Fire.” Until he’d said the words aloud, Kian had refused to consider the rampaging danger the Danio posed. Once spoken, he had no choice but to face it.

Regan spoke stiffly, obviously keeping his emotions at bay. “Okay.” He blinked steadily, staring at Kian. “So you’re here with your powers, and you can take it out, go home, end of story. What do you need me for?”

“You’re my bonded partner.”

“Yeah, so you said, alongside all the other crap you have been laying on me. What does that mean exactly?”

Kian winced. He could see Regan was skeptical. Perhaps going back to the beginning would be a good thing? “Sometimes who you’re supposed to be with is obvious and sometimes there is choice. Other times there seems to be no choice at all. My father was told I would be bonded with a Hunter in this world. That Hunter has to be you.”

“Bullshit.” Regan snorted his disbelief, and Kian felt physical pain snap inside him. He needed to make Regan see.

“The Danio and I, when we meet, we will have equal Fire. There is nothing I can do to stop it. We would just stand behind identical barriers and I wouldn’t be any stronger than it. I wouldn’t have enough to send it home where it could be dealt with. However, with you at my side—”

“What? You want me to throw my knife at it? Yeah, ’cause that went so well last time.” Regan rubbed at his elbow and grimaced. Kian felt shame heat his face. His Fire had just been trying to protect him.

“If you were there with me,” he continued, “I would be stronger and could push it back through to the other side where my kind will be waiting to deal with it.” Kian hoped that was true. He’d left Darach a clear message to go and find the Elders who would be able to deal with the returned criminal. He just hoped his best friend wasn’t still angry with him and had instead read the note and understood it.

“So what you need is for me to be at your side, when we find this…Danio, because that will make you stronger. Then you will go back home, end of story.” Regan looked half-hopeful, and that same pain that had started inside of Kian surged to a new level. What did Regan want to hear? Should Kian tell him he’d made a one-way trip to this side of the gate and that he could never go home?

If Regan was next to Kian, then the being would be defeated by their joined strength and sent back and the Gate between the two worlds could be closed and spelled shut. What he didn’t tell Regan was that he would remain fully in Regan’s world. He had broken ancient rules to come through to this world. To go back would be to face certain death as punishment.

“Yes,” he finally lied. “End of story.”

“This sounds like something you’re making up as you go along.”

“I wish I was.”

“Tell me how you got from the diner to here without a car.”

Always, by Kindle Alexander - Review 4/5

Always, by Kindle Alexander - Review 4/5

Always

Born to a prestigious political family, Avery Adams plays as hard as he works. The gorgeous, charismatic attorney is used to getting what he wants, even the frequent one-night stands that earn him his well-deserved playboy reputation. When some of the most prominent men in politics suggest he run for senate, Avery decides the time has come to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. With a strategy in place and the campaign wheels rolling, Avery is ready to jump on the legislative fast track, full steam ahead. But no amount of planning prepares him for the handsome, uptight restaurateur who might derail his political future.

Easy isn't even in the top thousand words to describe Kane Dalton's life after his father, a devout Southern Baptist minister, kicks him out of the family home for questioning his sexual orientation. Despite all the rotten tomatoes life throws his way, Kane makes something of himself. Between owning a thriving upscale Italian restaurant in the heart of downtown Minneapolis and managing his long-term boyfriend, his plate is full. He struggles to get past the teachings of his childhood to fully accept his sexuality and rid himself of the doubts brought on by his religious upbringing. The last thing he needs is the yummy, sophisticated, blond-haired distraction sitting at table thirty-four.

Review - 4/5

My Mum tells me a story. I don't remember it happening because I was really little, only seven. But my Great Gran died in August 1974 and my Great Grandad just couldn't wrap his head or his heart around losing her, He insisted on going to his allotment every day to bring fresh veg back to the house, just as he had done for her for so many years. He passed away in December, he just couldn't live without her.

Always has the same depth of feeling and frankly I sobbed for the last few chapters. As much as I did when I watched the end of Titanic, or The Fox And The Hound. Okay, so that may not be a brilliant recommendation. You may hate Titanic, you may not like Disney films, but anyone who has ever loved another person to the exclusion of everyone else will really *feel* this story.

It would have been a 5/5 for the way it gripped my heartstrings so very hard at the end, but I skipped quite a few of the many sex scenes, just looking at dialogue. Don't let that put you off either, you can skip as well if you're not into what felt like a sex scene every chapter or so. I also didn't *feel* the kids so much, but then I was focusing on Avery and Kane. I wasn't sure on the Mister nickname, but this could be a US thing, so you can ignore that as well.... ROFL... Every time I read *Kennedy* I was thrown a little, but I guess this could have been a nod to the other Presidential aristocracy. I would have thought there would be more protection, and a gay VP I'm kind of not seeing... but that is all forgotten when you get to the end.

What this book ends up being, and where it comes into itself at the end is that it is a story of forever love and all that it means, and it very cleverly ticks every box by the end that will have you burying your face in the pillow for a good cry.

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