Blurb
When Teyth was but a child, a cruel prince took over his village, building a great granite tower to rule over the folk. Greedy and capricious, the man will be the bane of Teyth’s existence as an adult, but as a boy, Teyth is too busy escaping his stepfather to worry about his ruler.
Sold into apprenticeship to the local blacksmith, Teyth finds that what was meant as a punishment is actually his salvation. Cairsten, the smith, and Diarmuid, his adopted son, are kind, and the smithy is the prosperous heart of a thriving village. As Teyth grows in the craft of metalwork, he also grows in love for Diarmuid, the gentle, clever young man who introduces him to smithing.
Their prince wants Diarmuid too. As the tyrant inflicts loss upon loss on Teyth and Diarmuid, Teyth’s passion for his craft twists into obsession. By the time Teyth resurfaces from his quest to create immortality, he’s nearly lost the love that makes being human worth the pain. Teyth was born to sculpt his emotion into metal, and Diarmuid was born to lead. Together, can they keep their village safe and sustain the love that will make them immortal?
Review
I think the easiest way to review this is to say this:
Amy pulled no punches with this book. Though this isn’t a tragedy, it is tragic. Though it doesn’t end happily the ending is very up-lifting.
This is a dark, angsty fairy tale that makes some of Amy’s other books look positively fluffy!
Amy, as always, is an amazing writer and delivers again with well-developed characters, amazing creativity and a smooth, gorgeous storyline.
If you don’t like stories written in “accents” this may bug you as she uses a “dialect” throughout the book to give it a very authentic “feel”.
Amy must own stock in Kleenex. That’s the only explanation I can come up to explain her ability and desire (?) to make us bawl like babies time and again.
People looking for a light-hearted, easy read should run far, far away.
Don’t read this in public (especially at work – learn from my mistake.)
It reminded me of her book Hammer & Air – if you liked that you’ll like this.
This isn’t my favorite of Amy’s genres – I love her contemporary work far more. That being said this is still an amazing book – Amy doesn’t write “bad” books. I recommend this book to fans of fantasy/fairy tales and fans of the “Queen” herself
Twenty years ago the UK’s water supply was contaminated with an experimental pathogen, Lycanaeris, causing widespread panic across the nation. Terrorism was suspected but never proven, and when nothing happened–no epidemic, no unexplained illnesses–the whole episode was written off as an elaborate hoax. But Lycanaeris was selective. Only those of a certain age, and with a specific gene in their DNA were infected. Time would reveal the pathogen’s true nature, when those susceptible grew up Altered.
Daniel is one of thousands forced to hide his altered status by living a quiet life. He’s not like the others, though. Daniel can’t help looking so distinctive or being able to see every altered for what they really are. To those abducting altereds, that skill makes him valuable.
For Jordan, shifting from human to wolf means living under the radar to avoid unwanted attention. Meeting Daniel complicates matters. Daniel’s existence is a threat to Jordan and his friends, but Jordan can’t seem to shake the strange connection between them. When danger threatens, there’s little time for Daniel and Jordan to work out their feelings before lives are at stake.
One minute Daniel was looking at a tall dark-haired, really hot man, and in the blink of an eye he’d changed into a huge black wolf, fangs bared in a snarl—clearer than anything he’d seen before.
Kimi’s Thoughts:
This was a very interesting spin of the shifter mythos. Someone has bio-engineered a pathogen that is dumped into a water supply and no one really knows why but we are given a glimpse that it might be government weapons related or possibly someone else doing illegal bio-warfare research. The mystery festers just beneath the surface of the new societal shift the emergence of shifters and those who can see the shifters’ inner animals thanks to their own variation of the body alterations caused by the pathogen.
The pressure is on for those who shift and those who can “see” the shifter’s animal counterpart while theya re in human form as someone has begun bringing in those who can see the shifters and using them to unmask shifters, who have been mysteriously disappearing all over the city. The sexual tension between Daniel and Jordan sizzled as does the animosity of his small “pack” as they fear the risk that Daniel’s existence brings to them. Daniel and Jordan are not ready to give up though, and when someone they care about is taken, the pair take action.
The result is the beginning to an excellent suspense thriller filled with shifters, sexy men and plenty of romance, and gritty writing. I look forward to reading the next of the series.
(Book 3 of the A Vampire In Waikiki series)
Waikiki vampire Jimmy Thunder is excited to finally have his cherished mate Tem all to himself. With their family members gone, and this being Valentine’s Day, he has one thing on his mind—some hot undead, man-on-man action. Except Jimmy’s life is never that simple.
Tem is troubled by bad dreams of the life he left behind. And Jimmy, the go-to guy for Waikiki’s undead denizens, is required to come up with a new Ma Ma Loa. But who, or what, is a Ma Ma Loa? Can’t a guy be left in piece to enjoy love’s most famous day? NOTE: This book was previously published (with no assigned ISBN). This reissued version of the book has been reedited.
Review
This short story starts with Tem remembering his sordid past and feeling depressed because his brother moved away. But now it’s Valentine’s day and Jimmy has something exciting to give him.
There is lots – lots and lots – of sex. A fair amount of whining. Some really interesting folklore. And another happy ending for our pair of unique Hawaiian Vampires.
I didn’t love this book simply because Tem was really annoying for most of the book. I did enjoy the folklore and I still love Jimmy.
Kai Hayashi, heir to the earth dragon clan, already lost his mother to the rebels threatening to overthrow the council. When his grandfather suggests an arranged mating with not one, but two men, each with certain skills to help protect Kai, the young dragon prince doesn’t exactly need persuading.
Retrieval expert and leopard shifter Jace Dashwood has worked for the Hayashi family for a year now, helplessly in love with his employer’s grandson. Kai is all the things that Jace could never be, innocent and gentle. He had thought to keep his feelings to himself until the dragon king made him an offer too good to be true.
Having worked as a mercenary for too long, bear shifter Ted Graves finally decided to put down roots. He thought that joining a mating agency meant he was going to get the normal life he thought he had been craving but instead he got an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Review
The Happily Ever After Mating agency is designed for shifters who haven’t found their mates and want to settle down. In this case Kai’s uncle uses it to help find Kai the right mate to protect Kai as well as mate him.
Jace has already been working with Kai’s family and his uncle identifies Jace as a mate/protector right away.
Ted is tired of being footloose so he signs up to the mating agency and is pleased to hear from Kai’s family. He’s a bit surprised to find out it’s to be a three way mating and that his alternate duty will be protection but after meeting both men he’s very willing to continue with the plan.
Jace and Kai have been mutually crushing on one another for the last year, but not acting on it. When their third joins them they all acknowledge a mutual attraction that sets them on fire.
In addition to the immediate bonding that takes place, there is danger. Someone wants to take Kai out of the picture and replace him as the future dragon king. There is also the pesky little thing about Kai maybe being more than “just” a dragon shifter…
**
This is one of those surprise reads that you stumble upon every now and then. (I have to admit a weakness for cheesy shifter romances – the ones where the plot is thin but the sex is hot and the storyline light and usually full of fun. Nothing too angsty and nothing too stressful.) I thought this was one of those, but it is surprisingly more. There is a rich story line and compelling drama but also some real emotion and depth to the love story as well.
I thought the ménage was very believable and though I could feel bad for Ted at first- he seems odd man out to the couple of Jace and Kai – it was quickly made clear that he was integral and equal and definitely well loved.
I really enjoyed this and the others in this series and highly recommend them!
The war is at a fever pitch with both sides stretched to the limit, when the dark wizards score a shocking victory and capture Orlando St. Clair. Haggard with worry and grief at the separation from his lover, Alain fears that even if they find Orlando, the vampire’s heart and mind may be far too broken to save.
Knowing the Alliance teeters on the brink, Christophe Lombard, the oldest, most powerful vampire in Paris leaves his self-imposed seclusion to join the fight. Alain’s lost friend Eric Simonet, who betrayed him to join the dark wizards, is faced with a choice between revenge and redemption. And Jean, enraged by Orlando’s capture, faces the most agonizing decision in his unlife as the final battle looms: Will their actions lead to the shattering of the Alliance or the salvation of the world?
Review
This is the finale (sort of) to the Partnership in Blood series. Really, it’s the end of the war, there is still some relationship stuff to be dealt with in 3 more books that follow.
Essentially, we see the various couples moving through their relationships some more. Some more sex. Some more angst. Some more drama.
Orlando goes missing. This is a huge hurdle in this book. It takes a lot of cooperation to get him back.
After the war dies down, the focus is on the couples and what will happen next.
If I could I would tell you to NOT READ THE EPILOGUE. Personally, it really didn’t need to be there and just made me cry and cry. I got kinda mad in fact… I can’t understand why it was necessary, unless it was just one more bit of proof of the devotion between these two characters…
Anyhow, I was glad to see the war finally end and know that in the upcoming books we get to see more of these wonderful characters that Ariel Tachna has done such an amazing job of creating.
If I had to give an overall summary for the series it would be this: If you enjoy very detailed stories, with an abundance of central characters, if you don’t mind f/f and m/f storylines and you don’t mind a good cry, you’ll find this series highly satisfying.
I had to round this book down to 3.5 of 5 hearts for the Epilogue alone. Personal preference. I guess I just enjoy living in ignorance sometimes…
After his sister’s death, businessman Marshall Hunter gains custody of his niece. Unused to children, Marshall struggles to connect with her. In an effort to make her more comfortable in her new home, he hires professional muralist Pace Barlow to personalize her room.
Pace is intrigued by his tiny client, and even more interested in her handsome uncle, but Pace isn’t certain he’s ready for the commitment of an instant family.
When Marshall decides to move for the sake of his niece, will he be able to keep his relationship with his young artist, or will he have to give up love to become a good father for a lonely little girl?
The love baked into an old-fashioned recipe might bring the two men together, but some things take more than magical cookies to fix.
Review
This is another installment from the magical cook book that helps people in need. In this case Marshall is a lonely, suddenly single father who needs someone in his life and help with his niece whom he is now guardian to.
Pace is the carefree artist he meets to help paint her room but finds he’s ridiculously attracted to.
Together they rapidly move through “getting to know you” to hitting the sheets to moving in together. It’s a short story and we have to just accept that between the magic in the cookies and suspending our disbelief, these men can find a deep and abiding love in a very short time.
Their chemistry is excellent and the story is short and sweet.
Overall I thought it was a nice, “light” story and if you don’t take it too seriously, a lot of fun.
Waikiki vampires Tem and Jimmy Thunder are happily undead and married, about to celebrate Christmas when their cat Moontime brings an unusual treasure to the door…a baby in a box. But this is no cute, cuddly kid. It’s a demon baby with red eyes and razor sharp teeth. Jimmy, hopelessly besotted with his hot and sexy husband, sees his new life of man-on-man fun being wrecked by this snarling, spitting, forked-tongued little incubus that has apparently won Tem’s heart.
With half of Waikiki’s wacky residents coming to Christmas dinner, what’s a devoted husband to do? Jimmy calls in all kinds of favors to figure out the identity of the kid, how he got to them, and how to ensure this will be a merry—not marred—Vampire Christmas.
Review
This is the short, funny, kinda bizarre and very steamy next installment in the Vampire in Waikiki series.
Tem finds a cursed baby and wants to keep it and name it George… ok not George but Beezlebub. Div is worried about raising a baby and losing some of Tem’s attention. But it becomes clear that the baby needs their help so they enlist the help of some more of their strange acquaintances and… hilarity ensues.
Interspersed with the hilarity is all the way-hot-vampire-porn-star-sex and it’s both sweet and raucous.
If you enjoyed book one in the series you will want to keep going. This is better (in my opinion) than book one as it seems to have found more focus and since the characters are already developed we get to simply enjoy them.
With the battle of Egypt behind them, Alec and Cronin are enjoying the thrill of new love. Though fate doesn’t wait long before throwing them back into the world of weird.
They know Alec’s blood is special, though its true purpose still eludes them. And given Alec’s inability to be changed into a vampire, Cronin is free to drink from him at will. But the ramifications of drinking such powerful blood starts a ripple effect.
With the help of Jorge, a disturbing vampire-child with the gift of foresight, Alec and Cronin face a new kind of war. This time their investigations lead them to the borders of China and Mongolia—but it’s not what lies in the pits beneath that worries Alec.
It’s the creator behind it all.
In the underground depths of China, amidst a war with the Terracotta Army, they will find out just what the Key is, and what Alec means to the vampire world.
Review
Wow – oh wow! Alec is back and he and Cronin are so – so – so hot together!
Alec and Cronin face Genghis Kahn and the Terracotta Army as well as some others… to be named later… for the answers they need to save the world as well as to save Alec’s eternity.
Something strange is going on in Alec’s physiology that makes him and Cronin insatiable for each other. They can’t bear to be separated for even a moment. They need one another desperately and succumbing to their need has an unpredictable and sometimes terrifying result.
They must answer riddles and dig deep to find the truth that will set them free, but once they do – WOW – is it ever an amazing ride.
I really, really, really loved this sequel to Cronin’s Key. It was very satisfying and action packed as well as amazingly touching and sweet.
There was a lot of hot smexy times, though many were only hinted at. What I really loved was the desperate need and devotion the two shared. It was very passionate and all consuming and really drove you to keep turning the page to seek the solution along beside Alec, Cronin and the team they assembled.
I loved the new powers we see in the other vampires as well as the crazy interesting Jorge and all he has to “show” Alec about his future.
This was a terrific sequel and in my opinion an even better book than the first. I highly recommend it and the series … well and the author!
5 of 5 hearts
PS When oh when do we get these and other NR Walker books on audio? Soon isn’t soon enough!
Being a witch doesn’t mean one can beat the devil forever.
Jeffrey Overton, unemployed IT professional turned poker player, pushes his luck once too often and runs afoul of the host of an illegal card club. The man sent to escort Jeffrey to a “meeting” about his supernatural winning streak arrives at Jeffrey’s crappy North Portland apartment, lock-picking tools in hand and a charm to block Jeffrey’s magick.
Head muscle for said host, Mike Wells, is a Daisy from Daisyville. He isn’t a witch. What he lacks in magickal talent he makes up for in brawn, so he doesn’t expect the guy he’s after to overpower him. But once Mike renders Jeffrey helpless, he’d rather seduce him than bring him in.
Jeffrey and Michael ditch the “meeting” and end up hunting some of the same people they ran from, trying to get Jeffrey back into his own body. And that’s only part of the adventure. The pair travel halfway across the country on the quietest road trip in history and find missing people, empire-building witches, and maybe even the families they’d both thought lost to them.
Excerpt: If Sal had sent someone after me, a short trip up to Seattle might be a good idea, maybe even BC. That called for some new clothes, so I grabbed my battered gym bag—my quick escape kit—and was almost home free when the kitchen door burst open. It would’ve been dumb to turn off the light when the goomba first went to work on the lock—I can’t see any better in the dark than your average Daisy, not when I’m blocked. Once that massive body filled the doorway, I wished I had. Wished I’d done something. He hesitated, barely a moment, and I bolted for the front door. He grabbed me before I made it out of the kitchen and pinned both of my arms to my sides. It wouldn’t work, I knew that, but I still tried to burn his hands. All I needed was enough time to—fuck, is he laughing? “Give it up, pretty boy. You’re blocked.” The big man pushed me against the wall face-first and pulled both hands behind my back. “Hey, wait a sec, big guy. Let’s talk about this. I can—” He pushed me flat against the wall, and the rest of that sentence disappeared in the rush of air he squeezed from my lungs. I couldn’t help being turned on, even though pain and domination usually aren’t my thing. Neither are bears, but underneath the padding he felt nice and solid, leaning full against me. He tightened a plastic zip tie around my wrists with shaking hands. And then he held me there.
Charley Descoteaux has always heard voices. She was relieved to learn they were fictional characters, and started writing when they insisted daydreaming just wasn’t good enough. In exchange, they’ve agreed to let her sleep once in a while. Charley grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area during a drought, and found her true home in the soggy Pacific Northwest. She has survived earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods, but couldn’t make it through one day without stories.
Tiernan Guaire was exiled from the Fae Realm a century and a half ago for his brother’s murder. His soul torn in half, he lives by his vows—never to trust, never to love. And if he can only be whole by finding and loving the human with the other half of his soul? He’s content to live broken and half-souled.
Kevin Almstead’s future, the career he’s worked for as long as he can remember, has been taken away by a vote of the partners at his law firm. Chance brings him to Purgatory, the hottest all-male nightclub in Washington, D.C., to a meeting with a Fae, with long blond hair, ice-blue eyes, and a smile promising pleasures he’s never dreamed of. But there’s no such thing as chance.
But Tiernan isn’t the only one to find Kevin in Purgatory. The most ancient enemy of the Fae race sees in the handsome lawyer a way to destroy the world from which it, too, was exiled. And only the strength of a true SoulShare bond can keep it from what it seeks.
GALE FORCE
Conall Dary is the mightiest mage born to the Fae race in more than two thousand years, ever since the Sundering of the Fae and human worlds. But that power condemns him to an untouched, virginal life—sex calls to power, and his power is enough to drain the magick, the life, from his entire world. Exiled from the Realm for refusing to turn his talent to service a Noble’s petty revenge fantasies, his soul is torn in two and his magickal gifts blocked.
Josh LaFontaine is a gifted tattoo artist with a heart of gold. While doing a good turn for an ex-boyfriend, he’s stunned when a gorgeous red-haired twink appears out of nowhere at his feet during New York City’s Pride march.
The Marfach was thwarted in its first attempt to capture a Fae. But when a terrible accident separates Conall and Josh before they bond, it’s a race to see who finds the mage first, the monster who will use him as a weapon to destroy his race, or his SoulShare.
DEEP PLUNGE
More than two thousand years ago, the healer Lochlann Doran was the first Fae to leave the Realm after the Sundering of the Fae and human worlds. After centuries of wandering the human world, seeking his SoulShare, he has spent all his magick, and lost all his hope.
Garrett Templar is the star pole dancer at Purgatory, the hottest gay nightclub in Washington, D.C. If his past hadn’t taught him the futility of hope, his present surely would; HIV-positive since age 18, his illness has suddenly and inexplicably mutated into drug-impervious AIDS.
A SoulShare bond with Garrett may give Lochlann back his magick, his gift of healing. But it also might kill him. And if he survives the return of his magick, the Marfach and its host are waiting to use the dancer as bait in a deadly trap. Only an impossible love can save them both.
And everyone knows Fae don’t love….
FIRESTORM
Rian Sheridan is a foundling, a Falls Road corner boy, whose world went up in flames beside an Orangemen’s bonfire of hatred last July the Twelfth. A pain he barely remembers is a siren’s call, taunting him, daring him to find its source and lose himself to it. And he searches in the only place he knows, the S&M underground of Belfast.
Cuinn an Dearmad is the last surviving Fae Loremaster. He’s just seen the beginning of the death of the Realm, the home of the Fae race and their haven from the twisted evil of the Marfach. The only hope of saving the Realm starts with finding the Prince Royal of Fire he himself stole from the cradle, sent through the Pattern, and lost in the human world, many years ago. He has a few guesses about where that hope ends, none of which bode well for him.
Rian and Cuinn are an impossible pairing, two SoulShared Fae. Any two Fae strike sparks, but these two Fae are an explosive combination. Drawn into an escalating series of sexual collisions, their passion will save—or destroy—two worlds.
Fingertips stroked the back of his hand, gently, possessively, and Kevin fought to suppress a shiver. Not hard enough, though, because there was that smile again. A lazy, sensual smile that absolutely should not be on the lips of anyone he hadn’t spent at least twenty-four hours having mind-blowing sex with. Which short list did not include anyone of this seductive blond’s gender.
Yet.
As if he’d heard Kevin’s thought, the man arched that ringed eyebrow; the grip on his hand tightened, a thumb slid around to stroke his palm. “You don’t even know why you’re here, do you?”
“And I suppose you do?” His voice came out gruff, harsh; the air thrummed around the two of them, tingling with a dark electricity.
The blond chuckled, a sound like warm honey. “You’re buttoned down tight, lanan. And you came in here because…”
Shit.
“Secretly, you want someone…”
Damn, damn, DAMN…
“Someone like me…”
Long thick blond hair. Black leather jacket, gleaming with a sheen like melted butter in the flickering light from the bar. White muscle shirt. Jeans first painted on and then sliced half off. God damn.
“…to unbutton you.”
s majored in creative writing, back when Respectable Colleges didn’t offer such a major, so she had to design it herself. Her university boasted one professor willing to teach creative writing, he being a British surrealist who went nuts over students writing dancing bananas in the snow but did not take well to high fantasy. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa at the age of nineteen despite him, sent off her first short story to an anthology being assembled by an author she idolized, got shot down in flames, and found other things to do, such as going to law school, ballet dancing (at more or less the same time), and nightclub singing, for the next thirty years or so, until her stories started whispering to her. Now she’s a legal editor and the mother of a budding filmmaker, and is busily wedding her love of myth and legend to her passion for m/m romance.
Blurb
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