The ghost at my door claims to be my ex-boyfriend, back from the dead. Yeah, right.
Two years ago on October 31st, my world fell apart and I know it’ll never be fixed. No ghost can ease my broken heart and bring my boyfriend back to me. None. Now there’s a ghost at my door claiming to be Tristan. I don’t believe it. Ghosts don’t exist—or do they? Have I mentioned it’s Halloween? I hate Halloween.
Morgan’s Review
This is part of a series (Scare This! #2). The others are by different authors and do not seem connected to one another in a significant way.
This is a very short story about a guy, Paul Michaels, who lost his boyfriend, Tristan, two years ago on Halloween. This year he’s moping, sad, and hating the holiday he and Tristan had always loved and celebrated together.
He thinks someone is playing a horrible joke on him when Tristan’s ghost appears before him claiming to be real.
After some pretty thorough convincing (and ghost sex), Paul finally believes Tristan’s ghost is who he says he is. Which is good, because Tristan made a “deal with the devil”, a demon actually, and he has 24 hours to convince Paul he’s real and that he still loves Halloween and still loves Tristan. If he can do that he has a chance to come back to life.
**
Megan Slayer did a nice job with this little Halloween short story. It’s cute, sexy and fun. The plot is a little weak but the writing is good.
It was too short to really delve too deeply into the characters or their love but I liked what we do know of them and enjoyed them as a couple.
Aside from a sympathetic parole officer, Aiden Finn is alone in the world. He knows this is his last chance—after a lifetime in and out of prison, one more mistake will land him there to stay. Unfortunately, his job as a night custodian at a motel is neither satisfying nor good for building his confidence, and booze and burglary are always just a step behind him.
Enter beautiful, exotic, and secretive Luka Gabor, the motel’s new security guard. He seems to know a great deal about literature, history, and travel but otherwise remains a mystery. Aiden has to admit, the sex has never been better, and he might even be feeling the beginnings of friendship. He dares to hope that this time, he won’t mess things up—if lurking monsters don’t ruin his plans.
My Review
Aiden thinks he’s a “loser”. He’s an ex-con on parole ,working at a nothing job, his last chance before being sent back to prison for life. He’s got a GED but nothing else. No money, no friends, nothing much to do. Until he meets Luka.
Luka is the new security guard at Aiden’s work and every night, during Aiden’s dinner break, Luka gives Aiden a BJ! He never seeks reciprocity and refuses to see Aiden in daylight hours. Sure they enjoy some lovely conversation as well, but most of their “relationship” is confined to these encounters.
At first Aiden goes with the flow, enjoying the benefits of Luka’s peculiar form of contact, but then he begins to get attached, and his feelings get hurt.
To make himself “a better man” (and to distract himself from Luka), Aiden joins a book club, considers going to community college and starts to think about the future. Where does Luka fit in to his new life plan?
Eventually, Luka has to tell his secrets and Aiden has to decide if his monsters can co-exist with Luka’s.
**
This is a short, sweet love story. Both Aiden and Luka are so alone and so … troubled. The secret is pretty easy to figure out, it’s not meant to be a great mystery, but I liked how it gets divulged and this is a unique take on the vampire theme.
I really felt like Luka and Aiden had a chance at making a go of things, and I wished the book had continued on- maybe another chapter or two at least – to give us a picture of the two of them together, as a couple, with no secrets.
This was a great, unique, vampire story and I highly recommend it, giving it a 4.5 of 5 hearts, dropping it down from 5 only because it was too short.
Audio:
Max Lehnen did a good job with this. His accent for Luka was good (I wished it were a little more pronounced) but the “vaguely European” accent he used matched what I imagined Luka having.
The sound quality and editing was good as well.
I give it a 4 of 5 hearts.
Overall I’d give it a 4.25 of 5 hearts (rounded back to 4.5 to keep things easy).
Aiden burst out laughing and moved one hand to ruffle Olly’s hair.
“Hey!” Olly exclaimed as he pulled back in order to glare at Aiden, who just smiled bigger and pulled him back into his arms.
“I couldn’t resist,” Aiden said, the laughter evident in his voice.
“Yeah, whatever. Anyway, back to what I was saying, but hopefully without interruptions this time.” Olly looked pointedly at Ryan when he said that. Ryan seemed to be studying him intently, but didn’t utter a word.
Olly looked away and started talking again. “I know where the pack is, or at least, I know where a bunch of canine shifters are being held.”
“How do you know that they’re part of our pack?” Lex asked, sounding like he was trying to restrain his eagerness.
Olly turned to him. “Because I heard a few of the guards talk about how they captured a bunch of them together.”
“And why didn’t you get caught?” Ryan asked, anger in his voice.
“Because,” Olly paused, then sighed. “The house they’re being held in belongs to Walter.”
Aiden gasped and when Olly looked at him, he saw the horror that was on his face.
“How long has Walter had shifters imprisoned on his property?” Aiden asked, outrage in his voice.
“I don’t know for sure, but it would be a number of years.” Olly couldn’t face any of them as he said that.
“Who is this Walter?” Ryan growled.
Olly looked up at him, then looked away as he replied, “My father.”
Beany lives in Western Australia. She first started reading romance novels in 2008, but it wasn’t until January 2010 when her Kindle got delivered that the world of erotic romance opened its doors to her, and she hasn’t looked back.
With suggestions and support from friends, her muse—“affectionately” known as PITA—was finally able to break free, and in January 2014 her first story was written. Since she can’t put PITA back in his box, Beany has decided to give in and team up with him. Together they’ve made plans to write both MF and MM stories.
Author Contact:
She can be reached at [email protected]
Or visit her at http://www.beanysparks.com
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Cover Artist: Latrisha Waters
Beany Answers:
Q: When you start a book, do you already have the whole story in your head or is it built progressively?
A: Not at all, I have no idea how the story is going to end up when I start writing it. Sometimes I don’t even know what the conflict is going to be until it happens.
Q: What is the book you would bring with you on a desert island?
A: Can I cheat and say my iPad or Kindle? Then I could have a continuous supply of stories!
Q:When and why did you begin writing?
A: I began in January 2014 and wrote the whole book in a month. I have always been coming up with stories in my mind, mainly after I finish reading a story or blog instalment, then I’d let my mind come up with scenarios about what happened next. Then, with a lot of encouragement, I finally sat down and started writing. Now I couldn’t get PITA back in his cage for anything in the world…not sure if that’s a good thing…
Parker Williams believes that true love exists, but it always comes with a price. No happily ever after can ever be had without work, sweat, and tears that comes with melding lives together.
Living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Parker held his job for nearly 28 years before he decided to retire and try new things. He enjoys his new life as a stay-at-home author and also working on Pride-Promotions, an LGBT author promotion service.
Author Contact:
Connect with Parker on:
Twitter: @ParkerWAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parker.williams.75641
Or you can visit his website: ParkerWilliamsAuthor.com
Publisher: Self-published
Cover Artist: Laura Harner
Blurb:
Adopted at an early age by a wealthy family, Jake Davis’s life appears easy. Even in college, he is blessed with good grades and an apparently clear path to a pro football career. Good thing his best friend keeps hanging around to keep his head from getting too swollen.
Zakiya Incekara has always been…odd. Being fluent in six languages and having a flair for international cooking should open the world to him, but those skills leave him isolated.
When Jake sees Zak for the first time, with water beading down his slender form, something inside him shifts, and it hungers for Zak. To have him. To claim him. And Jake knows that whatever it is, it won’t be denied.
Excerpt:
Jake’s hand was rough, his skin dry. Zak loved how his fingers gripped tightly, but not so much that it hurt. Jake said nothing as they walked along the streets of the campus. There were few people around, but Zak did not care if everyone was watching them. He was confused as to his attraction to Jake, but it was something he could not deny.
The soft jazz music poured from the door of the pub when Jake pulled it open. Jake’s hand on his lower back urged him inside. Zak sniffed appreciatively at the scent of Cajun spices, no doubt from the blackened catfish special. His stomach protested, and he heard Jake snicker, but he could not seem to raise the ire he should. Jake escorted him to a booth and allowed Zak to sit back against the brushed leather.
“Two dinner specials coming up,” Jake said brightly.
Zak gazed at Jake’s hulking form as it moved away, marveling at the sinewy grace as he dodged patrons and servers. It was odd. He had never met anyone like Jake. He doubted there was anyone like Jake. He felt comfortable in his presence. Jake’s size did not intimidate him. In fact, that made him all the sexier. But his eyes were what made Zak melt into a puddle of goo. The way they twinkled in the dimmest of light. When Jake so much as glanced at him, Zak felt he was the sole thing Jake saw.
Jake turned from the bar, and Zak watched as the bright smile turn into a sneer. He dropped the tray, the catfish crashing to the floor, before he stalked to where Zak sat. Jake grabbed a man, probably about forty, by his throat and pushed him against the wall.
“You don’t so much as breathe near him,” Jake snarled.
The man looked cool as he smiled and croaked out. “You are everything I had heard you would be, and more, my lord.”
Vodou. Obeah. Santeria. These religions seem mysterious and dark to the uninitiated, but the truth is often very different. Still, while they hold the potential for great power, they can be dangerous to those who don’t take appropriate precautions. Interfering with the spirits is best left to those who know what they’re doing, for when the proper respect isn’t shown, trouble can follow. In these four novellas, steamy nights of possession and exotic ritual will trigger forbidden passion and love. You cannot hide your desires from the loa, or from the maddening spell of the drums. Four acclaimed m/m authors imagine homoerotic love under the spell of Voodoo.
The Dance by Kim Fielding
After being surrounded by deaths and near-deaths, introverted chemist Bram Tillman wishes he could undo the past year. Then beautiful Daniel Royer shows up with a warning about more danger ahead—and a promise to use vodou to help Bram discover what’s trying to kill him. But while Bram’s attraction to Daniel grows, vodou spirits change Bram in unexpected ways.
Review
Bram has lost his lover in the last year and with him, much of his joy in life. In addition to that, he’s the victim of a random attack that puts him in the hospital. Next come a series of near death experiences no one can explain… except for Daniel, the brother of the man that put Bram in the hospital.
Daniel’s answer: voodoo. Bram, a man of science is not swayed by this argument but he is entranced by Daniel.
When things continue to get strange he turns to Daniel for help, and together they put an end to the strangeness and find love.
**
This is the best of the bunch. Very sensual, you can almost hear the French, smell the rum, and taste the sweat. It’s a great short story in that it absolutely fulfills it’s obligations of the five elements of a story: great characters, an interesting setting, a fully developed plot with tense conflict and a very satisfying resolution.
5 / 5 hearts
“The Bird” by Eli Easton
Colin Hastings is sent to Jamaica in 1870 to save his father’s sugar cane plantation. If he succeeds, he can marry his fiancée back in London and take his place in proper English society. But Colin finds more than he bargained for on the island. His curiosity about Obeah, the native folk magic, leads him to agree to a dangerous ritual where he is offered his heart’s most secret desire—one he’s kept deeply buried all his life. What happens when a proper English gentleman has his true sensual nature revealed and freed by the Obeah spirits?
Review
Colin doesn’t know it, but he’s in love with his best friend. In 1870, you don’t admit that to just anyone, even yourself. It takes a voodoo ceremony for him to make this realization and then he has to convince his friend to take a risk, if that weren’t enough.
Following a close second as best of the bunch, this was another great short story that fulfilled its obligations in a few pages. Very well crafted. It’s historical and educational without being pedantic. The writing is very dark and evocative and quite unlike the previous books/stories I’ve read by Eli Easton.
She always produces an amazing story and this is no different.
4.5/5 hearts
Uninvited by B.G. Thomas
When a hot tip leads Kansas City reporter Taylor Dunton to a series of grisly murders, his investigation points to Myles Parry and his vodou shop. Myles wants nothing more than to practice his religion in peace, and he hopes Taylor can help him show the community they have nothing to fear. The problem is all the clues point to Myles as the suspect and only Taylor can help him prove his innocence. However, this case has also caught the attention of the vodou spirits of the Lwa… and they’ve taken an interest in Taylor as well.
Review
Taylor wants to move up in the journalism world. He gets a hot tip from a friend on the force that leads him to a voodoo shop for answers. There he meets a practitioner (of voodoo) who teaches him the truth behind the myth and together they solve the mystery and fall in love.
This was an interesting story, not unlike The Dance, filled with information and a unique look at what religion is. Though I didn’t feel the love as much as I did in the first two stories (it was insta love without a lot to back it up) I enjoyed the writing and ending was excellent.
4/5 hearts
“The Book of St. Cyprian” by Jamie Fessenden
When Alejandro Valera finds a book of black magic in New Orleans, he ships it to his friend Matthew in New Hampshire so he can read it when he gets home. Unfortunately, Matthew’s dog, Spartacus, gets to the package first, and Alejandro returns to find Matthew locked out of his apartment by the suddenly vicious pit bull. The boys call on all the magic they know to free Spartacus from the evil spirit, but they might need to accept that they’re in over their heads.
Review
Alejandro finds an old book on magic and sends it home to his childhood best friend, Matthew, for safekeeping. Something escapes from the book and possesses Matthew’s dog.
Together Alejandro and Matthew must use the magic they learned from Alejandro’s Abuela to rid the dog of the spirit. Oh, and along the way they admit that they have always loved one another in a more-than-friends way.
This was the weakest of the lot. The love story took a decided back seat to the voodoo and felt a little out of place. Perhaps if this had been longer the romance could have been developed and given a proper resolution, but the ending was a big disappointment and left me unsatisfied.
New York City’s streets are more dangerous than ever with the leaderless Order of Adrasteia and the Ikelos Coalition, a newly immerged Therian group, at war. Innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire and although the THIRDS round up more and more members of the Order in the hopes of keeping the volatile group from reorganizing, the members of the Coalition continue to escape and wreak havoc in the name of vigilante justice.
Worse yet, someone inside the THIRDS has been feeding the Coalition information. It’s up to Destructive Delta to draw out the mole and put an end to the war before anyone else gets hurt. But to get the job done, the team will have to work through the aftereffects of the Therian Youth Center bombing. A skirmish with Coalition members leads Agent Dexter J. Daley to a shocking discovery and suddenly it becomes clear that the random violence isn’t so random. There’s more going on than Dex and Sloane originally believed, and their fiery partnership is put to the test. As the case takes an explosive turn, Dex and Sloane are in danger of losing more than their relationship.
Morgan’s Review
Chaos in THIRDS land.
The Coalition has a mole from inside THIRDS and some Therian is killing humans. And if that isn’t enough, things inside THIRDS are in chaos as well.
Dex and Sloane are navigating their budding relationship. Sloane is trying to get the rest of his team to pull it together and leave personal business at home. Dex is trying to help Cael with his feelings for Ash. Letty and Rosa are … okay, they’re fine. Taylor is sexually harassing EVERYONE. The new guy Levi might be hooking up with Lou, and Dex has to plan for his pre-birthday-party-party. It’s a lot to deal with.
In this installment we get to see a lot of Sloane and Dex and most of it is really, deliciously, ooey and gooey. Sloane even purrs! (Wait til you read that part – so fantastic!) They seem solidly on the forward track until… well… Sloane runs … again. Dex inadvertently moves the relationship forward and Sloane isn’t prepared for it, so Sloane takes off for a bit, but eventually, with the help of Ash (of all Therians) figures out what a good thing he has in Dex.
The sex is super hot and Dex and Sloane as a couple are hilarious. (My favorite is the closet scene: “This isn’t what it looks like. I dropped some change, it rolled under the closet door, and when I went to pick it up, my clothes fell off. True story.”)
Ash has something going on in his life that is making him distance himself from Cael and Cael is heartbroken and making potentially fatal mistakes as a result.
When the dust settles and the bad guy (for the moment) is disposed of, we’re left with a cliff hanger. We’re going to have to wait til next YEAR to see what happens – that Charlie Cochet, she’s naughty!
Now, we can all probably guess the outcome, but in addition to the main worry, we also have to worry about Cael and Ash – will Ash ever figure things out and get it together enough to be with Cael?
And, really, what is going on with Calvin and Hobbs? Inquiring minds want to know.
Overall, this was a wonderful third installment to the THIRDS series and I really enjoyed it. There was lots of Therian shifting which I like, Sloane acting like a happy kitty, which I liked and some tricky spy stuff, which I like.
I highly recommend this book and the series and give it a 5 of 5 hearts.
