Taber Delane is lucky be alive, but his career as a firefighter ended the day a beam snapped resulting in a crushing spinal injury. Most of his friends are willing to give him space, everyone except paramedic, Deacon Hall.
Deacon hasn’t met a challenge he couldn’t tackle and he knows Taber needs someone in his corner who isn’t afraid to stand up to the big bad fireman. The longer he’s around Taber, the more the sexy vulnerability of the man comes through. Deacon finds he doesn’t just want to be Taber’s live in caregiver, he wants a chance at the passionate man beneath the stubborn shell.
A shell that is cracking, no matter what Taber tries to hold it together. Without knowing how, Deacon being in his home starts to open his eyes to the man Deacon hides from the rest of the world and Taber craves to know more. A lot more.
Now if only Deacon can get Taber to see that it isn’t so bad having him there to assist. Even if sometimes Taber is naked, dripping wet, and angry as hell.
Pages or Words: 43,556 words
Excerpt:
“You’re not giving me a sponge bath,” Taber snapped and glowered at Deacon as he wheeled himself into the locker bay. The sweat ran down his temples, his shirt soaked through with it. He took in his motionless legs and grimaced before shooting Deacon another irritated look.
Deacon sat with his feet on one of the peeling dark blue benches, his back reclined against a bank of gray lockers along the far wall in the physical therapy building. A book was balanced on his knees, and black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. His shaggy auburn hair fell to curl around his ears in disarray.
Deacon peered at him with pale green eyes. “There go my dreams of rubbing you down and tweeting the pics.”
About the author:
Draven St. James is a born and raised Oregonian. She has traveled extensively in search of mischief and mayhem to fill her books. Her ventures have been quite successful in inspiring a wealth of stories. Of course at the end of the day, coffee within reach, laptop at the ready is where she finds her peace.
Where to find the author:
Bailey McMillan’s life is a mess. The general public blames him for his former employer’s nuclear pollution, resulting in professional disgrace. Humiliated, he takes a job as an editor at a science magazine run by his best friend, John.
That part isn’t so bad; Bailey is fond of John, who seems to find Bailey’s abrasive nature amusing. Unfortunately, working for John also leads to writing an astrology column in exchange for getting free rein in some op-ed articles, and then being sued over one. The (totally coincidental) accuracy of the column offers opportunity for further professional disgrace if anyone discovers its author. And then Bailey digs himself a little deeper.
In an attempt to prove astrology is bogus, he agrees to an experiment to date someone from each star sign. As if that weren’t bad enough, Bailey’s got a stupid crush on John, who stubbornly insists on a detailed breakdown of every date, bad and otherwise. Bailey’s luck has to improve sometime, right?
Review
Bailey is a pompous ass who is forced to write horoscopes by the scientific journal he works for. It’s totally beneath him and he hates it.
John is the editor of the journal and also Bailey’s best friend.
As an experiment Bailey agrees to date a variety of men from the different astrological signs and this is the story of all those horrible dates.
In the end John sets up himself as the final “date” because he’s always had an attraction for Bailey and wanted to prove to him just how good they’d be together.
**
There is a lot of really funny stuff. Alix Bekins clearly has a sharp mind and writes very witty dialog. I thought John was a dear and way too good for Bailey and I never, never, never liked Bailey. At. All.
So… it was hard for me to get behind his success in the dating department. Especially when he ends up having sex with some of his dates.
Call me old fashioned, but that just ruined this for me as a romance.
I wanted it to be all about Bailey and John and developing their relationship. But beyond showing us how un-suited all the other men were (and what a prick Bailey can be) I was never really convinced John deserved to be saddled with Bailey for all time.
Audio
Peter B Brooke did a nice job with the narration. He definitely added to my enjoyment and I probably enjoyed this more as an audiobook than if I’d been simply reading it.
Overall I give it 2.5 stars for humor, good writing and a nice narration, but can’t recommend it as a romance because it just wasn’t that believable or engaging on that front.
After ten years as an active duty Marine, Captain Eric Ramos is rejoining civilian life. His first job is chauffeuring, assisting, and generally keeping track of NBA young gun Tyler Haley. Tyler’s had a rough few months, and his team owner is convinced he needs some hand-holding if he’s going to keep delivering wins for the St. Louis Fire Foxes.
Instead of the arrogant, over-privileged athlete Eric expected, Tyler is a big, blond, lonely twenty-three-year-old who needs more than just an employee to keep him in line. While taking care of Tyler, Eric changes from employee to friend, to something more. And when Eric realizes that something is burning the kid up from the inside out, he’s determined to find a way to help him before Tyler’s carefully constructed façade turns to ash.
Review
Tyler is a very, very young star basketball player who was recruited out of HIGH SCHOOL to play pro ball. He’s scared. He’s conflicted. He’s also gay.
Eric was hired because he’s gay. Tyler’s manager wants Tyler safe and so far all the staff either uses Tyler for his connections, his money, or his access to sex. Eric is seen as being immune to all that based on his past history and his indifference to the female form.
Eric is immediately attracted, both physically and emotionally to Tyler. He sees Tyler as a kid brother at first: needy, shy, naïve, innocent. When Eric begins to suspect Tyler might swing his way he’s conflicted about those feelings. He doesn’t want to take advantage of the guy but he’s also developed some serious feelings for him that go more than skin deep.
Tyler has had some super-bad experiences in h is past that make his life rituals important, and one night the team loses it’s winning streak, forcing Tyler to do something he hates, but feels is necessary to bring the team back to winning. It’s superstitious and awful, and it almost breaks him.
Luckily Eric is there to pick up the pieces and together they finally admit their attraction and begin to act upon it.
**
If you had asked me to rate this story at about the 50% mark I’d have given it 5 hearts, easily. It is so amazingly engaging. Dawn Douglas has created the perfect innocent paired with the toughest Alpha male and the sexual tension between them was both believable and hot. The separation between them was authentic and you questioned Tyler’s sexuality right along with Eric throughout most of the book. (Is he gay and closeted? Is he in denial? is he gay for Eric?… it was hard to tell!) The basketball stuff was a little unbelievable, but interesting and acted as a nice background for the romance to develop against.
I absolutely detested Tyler’s past (as I was supposed to) and felt wretched for how it affected him. I so wanted Eric to help him move through his fear and pain and know what real love is.
Without spoiling things for you, they do get together… in the last few paragraphs of the book. All that sexual tension is released with a few groping sessions and lots of tears and no resolution, let me say it again, absolutely NO resolution. Eric does not get to help Tyler get through this, we can hope he might one day, but we are left without only hope.
The book/story just ends. POW.
I was flummoxed! Then pissed!
The story was so, so good and then it just ended… like the bell rang and the author had to turn her paper in at the end of class.
Since I was listening to the audio book I had to check to make sure I had the full story and that there wasn’t some technical error.
What I found was that, no, this is the entirety of the story, but that the ebook had this included as an epilogue/author’s note:
“I LOVE short stories. Not that novels aren’t wonderful, but there’s something special about being able to say everything you need to in a limited number of pages. And my favorite short story, bar none, is Frank R. Stockton’s The Lady, or the Tiger?
If you ask me when I’m irritated with my husband, stuck in traffic, or generally having a bad day, I’m pretty sure a tiger came out of the door to the right at the end of the story. When I’m in a better mood, a lady came out of the door, and the hero rode off into the sunset with his prize. I like the fact that the ambiguity of a short story leaves room for imagination.
In this novella, Tyler has some very serious history to address. Instead of turning what I had always intended to be a novella into a novel and exploring psychological issues that are far above my pay grade, leaving these particular characters with some ambiguity, with a happily for now, felt like the right thing to do.
That said, I’m the author, right? I created them, which means I’m allowed to suspend reality if I want to…
So in my mind, the real end to Tyler and Ram’s story goes something like this:
Tyler and Ram both found excellent counselors. The Fire Foxes won four successive NBA Championships. Tyler came out. The universe said, “Huh,” and moved on with life. Ram got his master’s degree from Wash U, went into politics, and changed the world. They got married, adopted baseball crazy twin boys, and were frequent guests on “Real Time with Bill Mahr.” And they lived happily ever after for the rest of their days.
The End.”
So, yeah. The author tells us that since this is her story she can end it however she wants and that in her mind the couple ends up with a HEA but she doesn’t owe her audience the actual WRITING of the HEA.
Without this author’s note, I would barely call it a HFN (Happy for now).
Needless to say, this did not sit well with me and it definitely affected my rating of the book.
I had really loved this story up until the (NOT) ending and was so, so disappointed at where it left off.
Audio
Randy Fuller is not my favorite narrator, but he does a fairly nice job with the narration. I enjoyed his voice choice for Eric, but felt that Tyler sounded a bit too old and not enough different from Eric.
All in all I can’t really recommend this book or audiobook because I wouldn’t want to inflict the frustration I felt on anyone else.
I give it a 2.5 of 5 hearts simply because Randy did a nice job and the writing was good up until the end, but the overall story/enjoyment really wasn’t there and I wouldn’t recommend it at all.
On the surface, Ben seems to have it all: money, influence, good looks. He smiles and jokes in all the right places, but it’s all a façade. Inside he’s a wreck, and it’s only getting worse. With his Congressman father using Ben’s recent kidnapping for his own political agenda, and Ben still struggling to get over the only guy he’s ever loved, he feels like he’s losing his grip on reality and he’s quickly spiraling out of control.
Then he meets Dante, an enigma of a man with as much self-hatred as Ben has. In Dante, Ben finds what he didn’t know he needed: Dante’s control, his power, is the only thing that clears the fog in Ben’s brain. For the first time in his life, Ben has a lover who just might need Ben as much as Ben needs him. When they’re together, the demons from their pasts don’t lurk so heavily on their shoulders.
But Dante can’t fix him. Not when a memory from Ben’s past is haunting him in ways he doesn’t understand, waiting for him to put together the missing pieces in his head…and what he discovers just might have the power to break him for good.
This is the continuation of the Broken Pieces series and picks up telling Ben’s story. If you are looking for a story that’s sweetly romantic with lots of sizzling sex, this is not what you’re looking for. If you’re not s fan of stories filled with angst, this is not what you’re looking for. But with that, I will strongly suggest you step outside your box and pick this book up. If you haven’t read the previous two in the series, I would strongly suggest that you do as to have a greater understanding of what is going on with Ben.
Ah, Ben. Ben: the beautiful, confident, wealthy and powerful, sussessful defense attorney who has it all together. On the surface. But underneath that polished surface is a man in a tremendous amount of pain. Pain from his childhood, pain from an unrequited love of the past and present, pain from his family’s betrayal, pain from the horrific crime committed against him, the list goes on. Ben is a mess, mentally and physically. He realizes this but is powerless to stop it. In one of the BSDM club he frequents, he sees Dante for the first time and something about this man calls to Ben.
Dante, like Ben, is a man who is broken. He too has his demons from the past that he unable to shake. But one night, he looks up to see the gorgeous blond man who is struggling. There is an instant attraction but Dante does not want to get involved with Ben because he can’t save him. But that’s exactly what Dante did to a certain extent.
These are two men, both with demons who need to be exorcised. They’re two men who are lost. Both adrift in their own seas of misery. Their pasts eating away at them gradually.
Neither man is in a position, emotionally to embark on any type of relationship but they are drawn to and falling for each other.
This book was hard for me to read, but not because it was badly poor written; no, it quite the opposite, actually! It was heartbreaking to read Ben’s ordeal. Poor man was sinking into the depths of alcoholism, fueled by his obvious and untreated PTSD. Being with Dante helped, but with both men being so damaged, neither was equipped to save the other. This story’s ending was quite a surprise. I’ll give you a tiny spoiler: Ben’s family will get their just desserts towards the end. It was one that I was quite satisfied with.
Both men get their HEA, I am glad to say. Considering the pain that they had to endure, it made their HEA all that much sweeter. This series and this author is definite worth reading.
Two years after riding off into the sunset with ranch owner Rand Holloway, Stefan Joss has made a tentative peace with his new life, teaching at a community college. But the course of true love never does run smooth. Rand wants him home on the ranch; Stef wants an exit strategy in case Rand ever decides to throw him out. Finally, after recognizing how unfair he’s being, Stef makes a commitment, and Rand is over the moon.
When Stef gets the chance to prove his devotion, he doesn’t hesitate – despite the risk to his health – and Rand takes the opportunity to show everyone that sometimes life’s best surprises come after the sunset.
Review
Now that Stefan and Rand are together we get to see just how they manage to make things work between the city-boy Stefan and the recently-gay-rancher Rand.
This is a great look at a couple after the “happy ending”. With Rand and Stefan there was so much keeping them apart that you have to wonder how things are going after the last kiss.
Well, it turns out that life hasn’t been that easy. Stefan is still keeping himself distant and not fully committed to Rand and Rand senses this. Rand is still being a controlling a**hole and driving Stef nuts.
When something comes up, taking Rand out of town, Stefan is left to handle some important ranch details and WOW does he screw up! He ends up in a fight, riding a bronc, showing up on YouTube, and scaring Rand half to death.
Meanwhile, Stef is also finding out some “truths” about Rand’s history that just might shake up the entire family.
Interestingly, Rand isn’t in this story very much and though it’s all about him and his family, Stefan plays the more important role throughout. In my mind there was too much time with them apart to call this story absolutely perfect, but since it’s Mary, it’s pretty damn close!
If you enjoyed Timing you will HAVE to read/listen to this as it absolutely cements the love Rand and Stefan share and gives you a much needed glimpse at their future. I don’t think it’d make much sense as a stand-alone.
Audio
Sean Crisden narrates this and Timing. He does an absolutely amazing job with Rand’s growly Texas drawl. I adore Sean’s take on the Alpha Male and like I said, Rand is oh so Alpha. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be this way or not, but Sean continually pronounces Stefan’s name as Stef-awn, where I always thought it was Stef-en. In either case, he’s consistent, and I ended up finding it endearing! The sex scenes are scorching and Sean does a great job differentiating all the other voices as well. I particularly loved the Foreman’s voice – very, very sexy.
The listening definitely adds to the overall enjoyment of this story.
Blurb
Stefan Joss just can’t win. Not only does he have to go to Texas in the middle of summer to be the man of honor in his best friend Charlotte’s wedding, but he’s expected to negotiate a million-dollar business deal at the same time. Worst of all, he’s thrown for a loop when he arrives to see the one man Charlotte promised wouldn’t be there: her brother, Rand Holloway. Stefan and Rand have been mortal enemies since the day they met, so Stefan is shocked when a temporary cease-fire sees the usual hostility replaced by instant chemistry.
Though leery of the unexpected feelings, Stefan is swayed by a sincere revelation from Rand, and he decides to give Rand a chance. But their budding romance is threatened when Stefan’s business deal goes wrong: the owner of the last ranch he needs to secure for the company is murdered. Stefan’s in for the surprise of his life as he finds himself in danger as well.
Review
Stefan and Rand hate one another. Right? Well, maybe not so much.
Stefan is Rand’s sister Charlotte’s BFF. Charlotte is getting married and needs Stefan in the wedding. Stefan and Rand have always butted heads, but since a few things have changed around the ranch (like Rand’s divorce, his homophobic dad’s death and the fact that Rand is now very financially protected from the bigory of Texas), Rand is finally able to admit the attraction he’s had for Stefan for all these years.
This floors Stefan, but he admits his own attraction to the hunky cowboy.
The only problem is that Stefan doesn’t see himself as a one-man guy and definitely not a guy who lives on a ranch in Texas.
After a lot of super hot sex and some misunderstandings and a gun fight (!) the two manage to come together in a very HEA.
**
I love Mary Calmes’ alpha males and Rand is oh so Alpha! The sex between him and Stefan is super hot and then the love that gets declared super romantic.
We begin to understand more about Rand’s family here in this, book one, and this lays the groundwork for what we learn in book two, After the Sunset.
After spending most of his life in special schools, Caleb Stone now faces public high school in his senior year, a prospect that both excites him and threatens to overwhelm his social anxiety. As a deaf teenager, he’s closed himself off to the world. He speaks a shorthand with his parents and even finds it hard to use American Sign Language with people in his local deaf community. But Caleb finds comfort in his love of photography. Everything he can’t express in real life, he posts on his Tumblr.
Struggling to reconcile his resentment for his father’s cruelty with the grief of losing a parent, Luc Le Bautillier scrolls through Tumblr searching for someone who might understand his goth look and effeminate nature. When Luc reblogs a photo by Caleb, sparking a conversation, they both find it easier to make friends online than in person.
Luc and Caleb confront their fears about the opinions of the outside world to meet in New York City. Despite Caleb’s increasing confidence, his parents worry he’s not ready for the trials ahead. But communication comes in many forms—when you learn the signs.
Review
Caleb is a deaf, high school photography enthusiast who only wants to be normal. His past has made him a misfit in the deaf world and his present makes him a misfit in the hearing world. He is an amazingly hard worker and doesn’t realize how lonely he is.
Luc is a Goth teenager living in Manhattan. He’s surrounded by people who don’t understand him and only has a handful of people who truly care about him.
Both boys are looking for high school to end and yet both really couldn’t want more different things from life. Luc likes attention and hates the East Coast. His mother really isn’t… there and his sister is the person who he looks to for love and support. Caleb is an only child who is close with his parents but only wants to blend in and be invisible and can’t wait to move to NY.
When Luc sees a picture taken by Caleb online he is instantly attracted to it and the boy behind the art. They make a long distance, electronic connection that eventually leads to video chats, multiple daily texts and emails and finally an in-person meeting.
Though neither boy is “out” and neither has ever had a boyfriend (or girlfriend) they know that they are interested in the other “that way”.
From this point forward the boys move their long distance relationship along, growing closer and closer, spending more and more time together, both emotionally and physically.
When Luc needs a shoulder to cry on it’s Caleb he seeks out. When Caleb gets disappointing news, Luc is the one who can bring him out of his funk.
Finally, high school is over, Caleb is scheduled for an important surgery and college can be the next thing the boys tackle… together.
**
Wow! This is an amazing book. It is so simple in its premise: boy meets boy, boy kisses boy, boy falls in love with boy, HEA. But… each MC is so richly drawn and carefully constructed that the simple story only showcases the complexity of its characters.
The boys live polar opposite lives, but somehow have similar experiences of isolation and loneliness. They want their parents approval but don’t necessarily NEED it. They both love and hate their peer group and want to be their own true selves.
Though there are moments of tension, most of this story is a really slowly blossoming love story and coming of age story in one. Both boys grow and change and seem to fit better in their own skin by having known the other.
I have no idea if there is a part two, but there should be! When we leave both boys are really on the cusp of manhood and though you know their love is deep and abiding, I would love to see what happens to them on their own, with their new lease on life.
Anna Martin writes so smoothly that the story flows without effort and you are sucked into the lives of Caleb and Luc instantly, from page one.
I loved how the back story for each boy was never completely, fully explained, but dribbled out as the other learned it, in a very organic and real way. I really want to know what happened to Caleb to make him stop speaking and why Luc has nightmares, so I hope there is more to come for these boys.
The sexy times were sweet and tender and totally age appropriate, and though the story line is YA I think anyone would appreciate their story. Sex plays a role, but not the central role.
Only a privileged few know L’Ange’s head of security Arman de Soto is a shifter, and even fewer know he’s been systematically killing off a pack of werewolves. The reason for this vengeance is a secret Arman trusts with no one, quite the opposite of his obvious longtime pursuit of the château’s overseer, Linus Hobbes. Despite Arman’s reputation as a loner, the only thing he needs to complete his life is Linus. Predator and prey just don’t mix—but Arman won’t give him up.
Linus has lived alone for more than seven years, sheltered at L’Ange under an assumed name and hiding secrets of his own, including his terrifying attraction to the most dangerous man he’s ever met. Arman knows Linus should be afraid of the predator stalking him, but Linus is still drawn to him like a moth to a flame, no matter how much he tries to deny his instincts. It’s not until Linus’s past and Arman’s crusade exposes their secrets and opens L’Ange to attack that Arman realizes waiting any longer is a risk he just can’t take. So he’ll have to take his quest to the source of the threat in a gamble to protect L’Ange, Linus, and any future they might have together.
Review (previously posted for the book)
We met Arman in Old Loyalty, New Love. He was the mysterious bodyguard who helped protect Roman and Quade. Though we were led to believe he was interested in a certain jackal named Tucker, we find out quickly that this was a red-herring, serving to stir jealousy in the heart of Linus.
Linus is the fastidious and cold caretaker of L’Ange. It’s clear he’s been abused in his past and we learn early on just how terrible that abuse was. Arman has been Linus’ protector and often his touchstone for years, but the time has come for that relationship to develop to its full potential and Arman isn’t waiting any longer.
Arman is a man of mystery. We don’t know what he is, though we all think he must be a shifter – it isn’t until quite a bit into the story that we figure out just what he is. (I think everyone will be surprised by the reveal!)
In addition to hiding who he is, he also hides what he does. We find out that he has an agenda- a vendetta really – of epic proportions. This vendetta makes him almost an anti-hero. He’s definitely not the typical perfect Alpha we have seen in other Mary Calmes’ stories. He’s got a dark side that he’s embraced fully.
Surprisingly, Linus is perfectly okay with this dark side and in fact, he too embraces the vendetta and we see some pretty significant changes in his personality as a result of this.
One of the things I really liked about this story was that Linus and Arman get together pretty early on. They work as a team for most of the story and it was imminently satisfying to watch their relationship grow and deepen while they worked together.
Though it might seem a bit blood-thirsty, the vendetta is explained really well and at no time did I feel that there was any other possible course of action than that which Arman took.
I really felt that in this “universe” the animal natures of the shifters were really well developed and “authentic”. These aren’t people who just happen to have the occasional “furry power” thrown in to explain insta-love and mating. They are truly unique beings with a different set of rules and personalities.
I loved that Roman wasn’t quite on board with the vendetta. Sure, he loves Linus and despised what happened to him, but he wasn’t born a shifter and he still sees things through a human lens and judges by a different rule-book.
Mary Calmes is amazing at world building and her shifter universe is unique, creative and very well developed. She isn’t afraid to stray from typical “shifter” lore and she draws us in with her own clever style.
The chemistry between Arman and Linus is scorching hot. Mary writes excellent sex scenes and the sexual tension and it’s subsequent release is phenomenal in Fighting Instinct.
Though it isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time I say it – I love Mary Calmes’ books and I highly recommend them all.
Audiobook
Tristan James narrates this book as well as book one and as you know he is one of my favorite narrators. His voice is delicious!
In this he doesn’t do much to differentiate Linus from Arman, but the emotion and speech patterns he uses makes it evident who is talking.
I LOVED the banter and devotion between Arman and Linus. Tristan does a beautiful job of playing the growly Arman off with the cool and calm Linus. One of my favorite parts is when the group wants to make Arman the Alpha and include John, the lion in the new “pack”. Hysterical!
I can’t wait for the next in the series and I hope we see our lion with his mate very soon!
Blurb
When Tanner moves to Chicago for a new job, he experiences his First Shift, a revelation that signifies he’s met his mate since the last full moon. The only problem? He doesn’t know who it is. To find his mate, he enlists his new assistant Jon to arrange a series of dates, but each one turns out more disastrous than the last.
With the next full moon quickly approaching, Tanner finally determines the identity of his true mate. Unfortunately, Jon has since disappeared, and Tanner must now begin a new search. Is it really Jon’s family crisis pulling him away, or is Jon just not that into him?
Review
Tanner moves to Chicago and immediately feels the pull of his mate. However, things aren’t like they are in other shifter-lore. He doesn’t have any extra-sensory abilities to perceive his mate other than a vague sense of “rightness” when they meet. So he does a little experimenting, knowing that only skin on skin contact with his mate had to have occurred on the day before his first shift, so he arranges to carefully meet with each male that he had contact with that first day.
Jon is Tanner’s assistant and he gets roped into helping Tanner arrange these meetings. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Jon is Tanner’s mate and eventually Tanner figures this out.
Unfortunately, by the time Tanner figures it out the clock is ticking and he has only a week left to claim Jon or else they will both forever forfeit their ability to fully turn into wolves AND Jon is missing AND Jon’s mother has been cursed by an evil warlock AND did I mention the clock is ticking?!
**
This is a very clever and somewhat unique take on shifter lore. There is some pretty hot pre-mate self-sexy times and then when the two do finally mate, it’s very sweet and plenty sexy as well.
The paranormal stuff was interesting – the Grimoire, the warlock, the rules, etc. I love when the shifters actually shift and act “wolfy” and they do that a bit in this book.
I was on pins and needles waiting for Jon and Tanner to finally mate, and was a bit confused as to the hold up… but they when they do figure it out it’s lovely.
I wish the story had gone on a bit longer once Tanner had figured out Jon was his mate and maybe a bit thinner in the before part, but that’d be my only complaint.
The story captures your attention right away and never lets up, definitely a good read for fans of shifters.
(As a side note, without sounding too judgemental… if I hadn’t read the blurb I’d have skipped this book based on the cover – it’s so cheesy! The name doesn’t really relate to the story AT ALL and that put me off at first, but the story itself makes up for these small issues.)
Excerpt:
M’lan knelt beside the assassin’s bronzed body. He placed his palm on Jamil’s chest and silently beseeched Salar to remove the deadly impulses instilled in Jamil ever since he began his training as an assassin. Jamil closed his eyes and seemed to relax, but as the warm energy of the god seeped through M’lan’s fingers, Jamil jerked suddenly to full alertness. Like a cobra striking he seized M’lan’s wrist and gave it a painful twist, eyes flashing. M’lan sat back, startled.
Jamil did not let him go. He let out a slow breath and lifted M’lan’s fingers to his mouth. He kissed the knuckles of a clenched fist. “The last thing I need is more spells to confuse this simple warrior’s mind.”
“A prayer is not a spell!” M’lan tried to pull free but couldn’t. He gritted his teeth, fighting back a rising anger. Jamil’s strength both entranced and infuriated him.
“Stop trying to weaken me.” Jamil said in a wretchedly calm voice. “You must stay here and do your duty, I must go away and do mine. Nothing has changed.”
M’lan inhaled slowly, breath catching. “Let me go.”
Pages or Words: 60,000 words
Author Name: Alexis Duran
Author Bio: Alexis Duran was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. At the University of Oregon, her fascination with people and relationships led her to major in Sociology, but her main love has always been creative writing. She’s worked in museums, fashion, finance and film production. Her favorite job so far was cataloguing the collection in a haunted Victorian Mansion. She’s had several short stories published in the mystery, horror and literary genres and is the author of the Masters and Mages erotic fantasy series. Her fiction has won several awards including the Rupert Hughes Award from the Maui Writers Conference. She lives with one dog and four and half cats. She is currently working on the next Masters and Mages novel and several other erotic novellas.
Where to find the author:
Facebook Author Page:http://www.facebook.com/alexis.duran.18294
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AlexisSDuran
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/alexisduran1177/
Other: My blog at http://alexisduranblog.com
Other: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8332457.Alexis_Duran
