Category: Part of a series

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Breeding Stations Book Blast with Excerpt and Giveaway

BreedingStations

Spunky commander Berit Turner is known for two things: his huge libido and his lack of a filter—he says what he thinks. Berit sets his mind on being part of the mission to Ligador, to make sure the planet is habitable for humans. He’s ecstatic when his team is assigned to the task force. A delegation of Nadisc, a humanoid alien race, accompanies them, and passion ignites between Berit and their commanding officer, Tom. But Berit is determined that Tom is just another notch on his bedpost, as he doesn’t do relationships.
The excursion to Ligador goes wrong from the beginning, when they discover Ligador has been established as a breeding station by their worst enemy: the Tash’Ba. Dinosaur-like creatures become the team’s worst nightmare, and staying alive is going to take everything they’ve got… and then some.
Pages or Words: 204 pages or about 65,000 words

Categories: M/M Romance, Science Fiction

Excerpt:
Excerpt from Chapter One:

After a five-minute standoff with our Nadiscs, I rolled my eyes and squared off in front of them. “Look, I know you have a rule about not giving your name out to anyone, so why don’t we cut it short. You”—I pointed at the woman—”will be R1.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, which I ignored, even though my hands began to perspire. I pointed at the man standing on her left and said, “That’ll make you R2.” I leveled my finger at the remaining one and added, “So you’ll be R3. We should all be able to remember R1, and if we get it wrong when there’s an emergency, we’ll only have to shout for R2 and R3 together and one of you will help us out.”
R2’s eyebrows knitted together very closely, and in the background feet shuffled. Someone cleared his throat. R3 came forward, one step at a time. I could’ve sworn the floor vibrated with every move. All my instincts screamed at me to leg it, but if I’d learned one lesson well, it was not to show fear. Not too much, anyway.
R3’s arm shot out before I had a chance to see it coming. His large hand clasped around my neck and all my hairs stood on end. I kept completely still, waiting for the blow to come.
He gazed at me from dark brown eyes, then lifted his other hand. The atmosphere around us thickened, and my poor confused cock perked up with interest. The Nadisc laid a hand against my cheek, left it there for a while, before he eventually pulled it away.
He pointed at his comrades. “Niyara.”
The Nadisc woman inclined her head.
“This is Xevon. And to make it easier for you and your people, you may call me Tom.”
“Tom?” I blurted. “Don’t you have a fancy name like the others?” The grasp around my neck tightened, and I hastened to add. “Short is cool, though. Really cool.”
“Thought so.”
Tom released my neck, but didn’t step away. Slightly wary, I glanced up at him. He grinned at me, showing a full line of well-tended white humanoid teeth, then beckoned to Niyara and Xevon. They bridged the distances in two long strides and formed a circle around me.
“Um, guys, what’s going on?” I asked, mulling whether I could slip past them or not.
They intertwined their hands and closed the circle around me. Someone—I think it was Carson—muttered something fierce, and a moment later three large bodies crowded me. I opened my mouth to tell them off, or maybe to ask them very politely to back off a little—same difference, really—when an eerie shout resounded through the hangar.
My eyes had to be circular by the time they finished. You could’ve heard a pin drop, it was that silent around us.
Niyara, Xevon, and Tom took one step backward, and I breathed more freely. Niyara smashed her fist against her chest, declaring, “We accept you as our leader on this mission.”
I gaped at her. The Nadisc helped and supported humans, but accepting leadership from a human? They very rarely did. Niyara smiled at me, a genuine smile that showed a prettiness I hadn’t seen before, then she engulfed me in a rib-creaking embrace. I was stumbling to find my footing once she’d set me down when Xevon lifted me off my feet and hugged me too.
He and Niyara turned around and advanced on my crew members, eliciting a few terrified squeaks. I peered at Tom, who showed no inclination of moving.
“What? No hug from you?” I asked.
He held out his broad muscled arms for me, grinning. My mouth went dry and my damn cock pressed heavily against the fabric of my pants. It had to be visible to everyone. For the first time in many years, heat rose into my cheeks. Tom’s grin expanded before he laughed. I stepped into his arms, bracing myself for another painful embrace. Instead, I found myself leaning against a hard chest with equally hard arms around me, fencing me in but without hurting me.
I mumbled into his leather vest, “Do you by chance happen to like blond humans?”
“I do.”
I would’ve screamed hallelujah if Baker’s voice over the loudspeaker hadn’t demanded we get going.
Sales Links:

e-book: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6683

paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6684

About the author:

Chris T. Kat lives in the middle of Europe, where she shares a house with her husband of many years and their two children. She stumbled upon the M/M genre by luck and was swiftly drawn into it. She divides her time between work, her family—which includes chasing after escaping horses and lugging around huge instruments such as a harp—and writing. She enjoys a variety of genres, such as mystery/suspense, paranormal, and romance. If there’s any spare time, she happily reads for hours, listens to audiobooks or does cross stitch.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChrisTKat
Twitter: http://twitter.com/christi_kat
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/ChrisTKat
Blog: http://christikat.blogspot.com
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Chris-T.-Kat/e/B008FQQH2Q

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25803681-breeding-stations?ac=1
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Breaking (Book two of the Fall or Break series) by Barbara Elsborg

Samhain Publishing Presents http://www.barbaraelsborg.com/book/breaking/

This book is slated to be released July 28, 2015

breakingBlurb

Archer Hart is on the move before the man he’s just killed is found. When a bullet whizzes past his ear, he realizes hunter is now hunted. So much for his retirement plans. Someone wants him dead and all he can do is keep running.

Downed by a hit and run driver, barrister Conrad Black is certain the ‘accident’ was deliberate but he has no proof or support. In recovery, struggling to work out of partial paralysis, he has plenty of time to wonder who regrets not striking him harder. At this point, running anywhere is a distant dream.

The confidence, determination and stamina of two alphas males will mean little if neither is willing to bend—seize the love offered—and work together to understand why they’re suddenly both marked men. Not easy for either when Archer has broken the law in the worst possible way and Conrad is the law.

Review

Wow! Another amazing, gripping, very HOT and tender love story from Barbara Elsborg.

We met Conrad in book one, he was Malachi’s ex, the controlling, self-centered, almost kinda evil guy, who redeems himself at the end. He’s been struck down by a hit and run driver and was paralyzed from the accident – briefly. While he’s on the mend, he takes himself to a beach cottage and searches for the person he’s convinced tried to make the hit and run look like an accident.

On a walk one day he sees a surfer nearly drown and risks his own life to save him. That man is Archer, a murder-for hire who is trying to get out of the business. Archer also has someone after him – and he needs time to figure out who that is.

Together, these broken men – both uber alpha – struggle against their powerlessness, their attraction to one another and their pasts.

Of course – neither trusts the other – one being on the side of the law and the other being on the side of the highest bidder.

As the story unfolds it becomes clear that the men might have more of a connection than just the beach rescue.

(I’m not going into that more here – you’ll just have to read it to find out!)

**

As with book one, I thought this was an amazing story with really richly developed characters who organically grew and changed over the course of the story until they became the men who could accept the deep and abiding love that finally finds them.

I grew a bit tired at the secondary plot – it was certainly important – but I wanted to skim parts of the “intrigue” and “action” scenes.

I absolutely loved how Conrad turned from villain to good guy. It felt very real and authentic and not at all forced.

The final scenes were a little confusing to me – I wasn’t sure what Archer’s motivations were in keeping Conrad in the dark for so long – but… in the end it all worked out really beautifully and the epilogue was both hot and terribly sweet!

I highly recommend this book and this series.

4.75 of 5 hearts

5

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Sultry Sunset (Mangrove book 3) Audiobook by Mary Calmes Narrated by Greg Tremblay

Dreamspinner Presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6709

SultrySunsetAUDMEDBlurb

Hutch Crowley is well-liked in the small resort town of Mangrove—he’s got friends in his new neighbors, he’s the owner of the town grocery, and he’s building a community center—but he’s still unlucky at love. Every man he’s attracted to is either taken or simply not interested, including his best friend, Mike Rojas.

When Mike came to Mangrove two years ago, Hutch gave him a job and a place to stay in his guesthouse, where Mike has remained ever since. Despite the rumors circulating about them, Hutch knows Mike is straight and looking for the right woman. But his friends disagree, and after some hints to the contrary, even Hutch finally has to admit that maybe the rest of the town sees something he’s been missing. If Hutch wants to spend each sultry sunset with the man of his dreams, it might be time to figure out what’s going on with his best friend’s heart.

Review

(Review posted previously for book)

If you’ve been reading the series (which you should, but don’t have to), you know Hutch is our grocer, and so far he’s been “interested” in every gay man the town has to offer, but has failed to find “the one”.

We find out that for the last two years he’s had a best friend, Mike “Don’t call me Michael”, living in his guest house and taking up most of his free time.

As you can predict, there is more to them than friendship, despite the fact that up til now Mike has always been straight.

**

I compare these Mangrove stories to cotton candy – one of my all time favorite foods – because they are wonderful, light, sweet and just a touch unsatisfying. Because they are so short, we don’t get a lot of lead-time to develop the tension between our MCs. Sure, Mary always gives us wonderful characters and an amazingly sweet love scene or two, but I really miss her ability to create that heat and draw out the sexual neediness between her characters that she’s just so great at.

I still love these stories, don’t get me wrong – but boy I wish they were longer.

In this case the secondary characters of Ivy and Essien almost – almost! – steal the show, but Mike and Hutch are terribly sweet together and I love them as a couple.

The mangrove series is fun because the small town and the recurrence of previous characters feels like coming home and I eagerly await the next installment.

Audio

Greg Tremblay – one of my favorite narrators – did another amazing job with this. I just love how he voiced the secondary characters including the young girl! I love listening to his telling of these stories because he makes you feel like you are part of the action. Definitely adds to the overall enjoyment of the story.

5 of 5 hearts

5

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Beta Undone (Lone Wolves #2) by Tielle St. Clare

Amazon Presents http://www.amazon.com/Beta-Undone-Lone-Wolves-Book-ebook/dp/B00WTCS5NG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1436807427&sr=1-1&keywords=beta+undone&pebp=1436807429157&perid=1ZTNEYTF2PWW92HH1770

beta undoneBlurb

Is it his fault the Alpha Mate can’t take a joke?

After pissing off the Alpha’s mate, Kia gets sent on a crap job—check on Madge, the crazy werewolf living near Pack lands. Kia has no love for the nutty wolf who makes silver bullets designed to kill other werewolves. He’d just as soon see the bastard gone.

Until he meets him. The half-crazy wolf is sexy and shy and Kia wants nothing more than to fall into an adult puppy pile with the guy.

Madge just wants to be left alone. If the kids from the local Pack would stop harassing him, he’d be perfect, except he’s pretty sure the silver he works with every day is slowly killing him. The one thing he doesn’t need is a gorgeous Beta wolf stalking his property under the guise of helping him. And maybe finding out the truth.

Review

Kia, who we met in book one, is sent to look after the crazy Madge – another lone wolf on Pack Lands. Madge intrigues Kia, though he is prickly as a porcupine.

Madge is scared of something and hiding for fear of his life. When Kia comes in and upsets the little order he has, he becomes even more paranoid.

There are real threats against Madge (for some reason) and Kia takes it upon himself to intervene. He realizes that his wolf is fascinated with Madge and vice versa.

In the end Kia must mate with Madge to save him (again a little Deus ex Machina) but it’s a very sweet HEA.

I wish there had been more explanation of Madge’s predicament and more interaction with them as a couple, but as a short story it was fun and enjoyable.  Madge was a great character and I hope we see more of him in the future.

It was fun seeing Craigh and Rowan again too – especially when Craigh punches Rowan – so funny!

(Free for Kindle Unlimited!)

4 of 5 hearts

4

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Masked Booby (Peckers #3) by Jacques N. Hoff

Dreamspinner Presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6485

MaskedBoobyBlurb

Mickey, Keyser, Clyde….

He goes by many names, calls many different countries home, and has a wardrobe that rivals most professional theater companies, but some days it’s impossible to remember who he really is. It’s the price he pays for the adrenaline. The Masked Booby. A man torn between his instinct to survive and his bird nature of taking a dive.

Irwin Stephens is in love—in love with life, his home, and the animals he watches over every day at work. He doesn’t have a man to call his own, but everything else is so perfect he can’t complain. Except maybe about the scratchy khaki uniform all zoos seem to require with fiendish glee.

When Mickey meets Buff Zookeeper, it should be a one-night love nest, but something besides peckers is up in the land down under.

Review

Irwin works in a zoo and is trying to rescue a puffin shifter he’s found being drugged and kept in captivity. He stumbles upon Undercover Peckers and asks them for help. They send in the crew, including Mickey the masked bandit and all kinds of shenanigans ensue.

Mickey sees himself as a loner, a one and done kind of guy, so he resists the pull Irwin has on him. Irwin is just plain attracted to Mickey, clueless to the internal struggle, and insulted by Mickey’s actions.

When all is said and done, the crew manages to save the puffin and Mickey and Irwin find their HEA.

**

As usual there are a lot – A LOT – of hilarious puns and ridiculous dialog. The pace of the story is quick and the reader must follow closely to keep track of all the players.

I enjoy the mind games of these stories and the light hearted romance. I think, compared to the other two books in the series, that the “story” took precedence over the romance and I missed it. I wanted more time spent with Mickey and Irwin and maybe a bit less building around the rescue. For me this detracted from my enjoyment, but I’m still a fan and will definitely look forward to the next installment.

3 of 5 hearts

3

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Food For Thought Audiobook by Amy Lane Narrated by Philip Alces

Dreamspinner Presents http://www.audible.com/pd/Romance/Food-for-Thought-Audiobook/B011A7NKO4

food thought audioBlurb

Emmett Gant was planning to tell his father something really important one Sunday morning—but his father passed away first. Now, nearly three years later, Emmett can’t seem to clear up who he should be with—the girl with the apple cheeks and the awesome family, or his snarky neighbor, Keegan, who never sees his family but who makes Emmett really happy just by coming over to chat.

Emmett needs clarity.

Fortunately for Emmett, his best friend’s mom has a cookbook that promises to give Emmett insight and good food, and Emmett is intrigued. After the cookbook follows him home, Emmett and Keegan decide to make the recipe “For Clarity,” and what ensues is both very clear—and a little surprising, especially to Emmett’s girlfriend. Emmett is going to have to think hard about his past and the really important thing he forgot to tell his father if he wants to get the recipe for love just right.

Review

Emmett is hiding his sexuality from his friends and families because he thinks if he finds the right girl, makes his own family, he won’t risk a broken heart – again.

Of course, Keegan is NOT down with that. He has feelings – big feelings – for Emmet, but thinks Emmett is straight… or is he?

Anyhow, when the truth is revealed and the closure … closed?… Keegan and Emmett get their HEA.

**

As usual Amy made me tear up when I read about the death of Emmett’s dad… God this was supposed to be a light sweet book! Damn you Amy (shaking fist!).

But… of course that helps us to buy into Emmett’s lies and betrayals.

I loved the cooking part and the paranormal aspect to the receiving of said book… In general I’m digging this series as a whole.

Another win for the Queen of Angst!

Audio

Philip Alces is not my favorite narrator but he ROCKED this. He did an excellent job with the emotion and the humor. I really enjoyed his take on the story and think it added to the overall enjoyment of the story.

5 of 5 hearts

5

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Blue Eyed Stranger (A Trowchester Blues Novel) by Alex Beecroft

Riptide Presents
http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/blue-eyed-stranger

blue eyed strangerBlurb

Billy Wright has a problem: he’s only visible when he’s wearing a mask. That’s fine when he’s performing at country fairs with the rest of his morris dancing troupe. But when he takes the paint off, his life is lonely and empty, and he struggles with crippling depression.
Martin Deng stands out from the crowd. After all, there aren’t that many black Vikings on the living history circuit. But as the founder of a fledgling historical re-enactment society, he’s lonely and harried. His boss doesn’t like his weekend activities, his warriors seem to expect him to run everything single-handedly, and it’s stressful enough being one minority without telling the hard men of his group he’s also gay.
When Billy’s and Martin’s societies are double-booked at a packed county show, they know at once they are kindred spirits, united by a deep feeling of connectedness to their history and culture. But they’re also both hiding in their different ways, and they need each other to be brave enough to take their masks off and still be seen.

Review

This is the second book by Alex Beecroft I’ve read and the second book in her Trowchester series. I really admire her writing. She is fluid, coherent, descriptive and not telling, creates amazingly detailed characters and a deeply emotional story.

This is a very DARK story. There is an almost instant connection between the two lovers but the physical aspect of their story is a slow burn.

Martin is in the closet and Billy has some serious psychological problems. When they find each other they find that other piece of their soul that completes them.

Martin teaches history at a high school (British equivalent) and is obsessed with historical re-enactments. As a result there is A LOT of history in this story.

Billy’s depression also plays a major role in the story line and though Martin helps he is not the “cure”, which is awesome.

So… I have a hard time reviewing this book. On the one hand it’s quite good, but… I can’t say I “enjoyed” it. It’s very hard to get through at times, the subject matter is heavy and the history will either be fascinating to you or boring…

In either case – if you are in the mood for a more “meaty” romance I’d recommend this – if you’re looking for light and fluffy – keep looking.

3.5 of 5 hearts

3.5

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Iron Angel (Elemental Reapers #1) by SA Welsh

Extasy Books Presents http://www.extasybooks.com/Iron-Angel/

iron angelBlurb

Brett is a government scientist on the run because the people he works for want to use his research about realms and other worlds for their own gain. He escapes with the help of his uncle, only to find a man falling from the sky in a ball of flame and feathers after being shot down by the very people he himself is running from.

Iron is a warrior guardian to the rightful king of Angelum, but was forced to flee his home realm with his king after a coup for the throne. There is a bounty on his head and the last thing he needs is to be almost captured by the human military that want to cage and experiment on him.

Iron cannot resist the tempting human that saves him and, when they give in to the heat between them, they accidentally trigger the irrevocable mate bond. Both of them are running from something, but they may just discover that each of them is exactly what the other needs.

Review

Brett finds himself rescuing a “birdman” from the government he is also running from.

When Iron awakes, tied up, he initially panics – thinking he’s been caught by the government, but when he realizes Brett only tied him up to help him heal, he realizes there is more to Brett than good Samaritan.

Iron is a warrior guardian of the king of the Angelum, protecting the next ruler by having sex with humans on earth in the hopes of shielding the power held by the ruler in hiding. (It makes more sense when you read about it – trust me – it’s a bit of a stretch- but it works- and makes for some very, very hot smexy times!)

Brett and Iron find their attraction surpasses that of the norm, and inadvertently bind themselves together. This serves a greater purpose though, because when they have sex the energy created far surpasses that of anyone else’s mating, and it will help the king and his brother. (I do this a disservice in explaining – again – it makes sense in context.)

The next stumbling block is Brett’s uncle and Iron’s King – but they soon see how deeply attached the two are and what a good union it is.

**

I really loved the world building in this story and look forward to the next installment. The unique take on mating and other planes of existence as well as the way cool power of the wings and their role in the smexy times was awesome!

I enjoyed this thoroughly and highly recommend it to fans of paranormal romance. No – it’s not about angels, but more akin to a shifter romance than anything.

Plus huge kudos for the cover – YUM!

4.5 of 5 hearts

4.5

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Remy’s Painter (Werewolves of Manhattan book 2) by AC Katt

MLR Press Presents http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=ACKREMYS

ACK_Remys_PainterBlurb

Ian Sullivan is being chased by a mobster and has to come up with five thousand dollars he doesn’t have. His only hope is an estimate for a large house. Little does he know that the house belongs to a loup garou who just happens to be his mate.

Ian Sullivan is in trouble. His father and brother died because his brother gambled and owed money to a mobster. Now Sal Ferrara want to collect from him and if he doesn’t, he’ll take Ian as his boy toy instead. Ian’s only hope is getting a job from an estimate his father had outstanding for an seventy eight hundred square foot house. Little does Ian know that the house belongs to a Remy Clavier, a loup garou who meets Ian and knows he’s found his mate. Now all Remy has to do is take care of Sal Ferrara and convince Ian, a human, to accept both him and his wolf.

Review

Ian lost his father and brother to a gambling debt with a mob boss. Now he is doing his best to make the money needed to keep him from being essentially a sex slave for that same mob boss by continuing his father’s painting business.

Remy is the second most powerful werewolf in North America and finds his mate in the house painter whose come to do his newly purchased houses.

Remy is afraid to tell Ian his truths and Ian is afraid to trust someone so obviously out of his normal circle.

Eventually they must band together for Ian’s protection and slowly grow to love one another. They keep things chaste until Remy tells Ian of his true nature and claims him as his Mate.

**

I really liked the slow burn of this novel. The author does a lot to make the whole “insta-love” more palatable and sincere.

I liked the characters and found the story interesting.  I wish there was more about them being wolves, however.  Besides the rules and the mating bite there is absolutely nothing about being a werewolf in this story.

My main problem was the writing itself. It’s rather stiff and awkward, there are some grammatical mistakes and the dialog isn’t very believable. Everyone is entirely too self aware and they spend way too much time dissecting their feelings. There is a lot of telling and not much showing.

I think the creativity and storylines are great and with some improved editing future works could be outstanding.

3 of 5 hearts

3

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Binding Hearts by Cassandra Carr

GoodReads Presents http://www.mmromancegroup.com/?p=277154

binding heartsBlurb

Dear Author,
All three of us met on a study abroad trip to Spain, and the sparks flew pretty much immediately. To say we were enamored with each other would be an understatement.
Spain is one of the most tolerant countries of homosexuality in the world, as are the other countries we had the opportunity to visit during our stay, including Portugal and France. That’s not to say our threesome never got unwanted attention during our trip, but we were empowered by the freedom these countries offered us, and being so far from our “normal lives”, afforded us a nonchalant attitude about any strange looks or off-handed comments.
But now, we are back home in the U.S. with our families and friends, and an even less accepting society for unconventional relationships. As our sexual infatuation has developed into real love, we want to stay together. However, we’re each struggling with cultural reintegration in our own ways. Please tell me that we can make it work.

binding orign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Description:
Three young men sitting on a cobblestone street with their arms around each other and melancholy expressions. The man in the middle is kissing the cheek of the man on the right, while the man on the left is resting his chin on his knee.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

Review

This is a short story of three college guys who hook up while on a Study Abroad program in Spain. There, the gay isn’t such a big deal, and the threesome only a little more concerning. When they return they are back in Virginia and not only afraid to be a threesome, but not all of them are even “out”.

Their biggest fear is being gay bashed and to a certain extent it’s justified by their own experiences. They also fear their parents reactions to the gay and the triad.

There are a few – almost random- sex scenes and a lot of hand wringing.

I typically love this author’s work, but this didn’t do much for me. I found the “utopia” that the fictional UVB presented to be unrealistic in the extreme as well as the way the parents handled the big reveals.

I really liked the characters and would have loved to get to know them in a longer, more well developed novel, but I couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough to become engaged in this short story.

2.5 of 5 hearts

2.5

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