Short Review: Paint by E.M. Hamill

Title:  Paint

Series: ---

Author: E.M. Hamill

Publisher:  Star Bard Books

Release Date: November 04, 2018

Heat Level: 2 - just a quick taste

Pairing: M/M

Length: 7 pages
Genre: Paranormal

Tags: Dark, Paranormal, Gay, Urban Fantasy

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42953523-paint

Synopsis:

A broken heart leads to sensual, dark magic. A fantasy short

My Review:

I love E.M. Hamill's writing. She's one of the few authors I've come across in the last couple of years that captures me with her tales effortlessly. So, it's no surprise that I love everything she pens. This quick little tale is no different.

Paint, is a short yarn, something that could easily be read on a ten-minute coffee break. But don't let that deter you. Once again Hamill has managed to weave a beautiful tapestry, twisted, dark and most assuredly a walk into the deepest shadow.

Imagine a lover who's jealousy is so profound they take the "If I can't have you, neither can anyone else," to its extreme.

Immerse yourself in the feeling of being trapped forever, and surrounded by others who were also once lovers of a supernaturally talented artist. Confined and locked in a permanent state of bloody, exquisite torment.

Honestly, this is short to the extreme. But if you let your mind wander deep into a state of empathy for the lovers who once were, the full ramifications of this heinous tale linger with you for a long time.

Well done, Hamill. 

Rating:

Available At:

Amazon 

Meet The Author:

E.M. (Elisabeth) Hamill writes adult science fiction and fantasy somewhere in the wilds of eastern suburban Kansas. A nurse by day, wordsmith by night, she is happy to give her geeky imagination free reign and has sworn never to grow up and get boring.

Frequently under the influence of caffeinated beverages, she also writes as Elisabeth Hamill for young adult readers in fantasy with the award-winning Songmaker series.

She lives in eastern Kansas with her family, where they fend off flying monkey attacks and prep for the zombie apocalypse.

  Facebook

Book Review: Nectar and Ambrosia by E.M. Hamil

Title:  Nectar and Ambrosia

Series: Amaranthine Inheritance #1

Author: E.M. Hamill

Publisher:  Star Bard Books

Release Date: June 30, 2018

Heat Level: 1 - No Sex

Pairing: Male/Female, Male/Male

Length: 81576

Genre: Fantasy, urban/mythical

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40548935-nectar-and-ambrosia

Synopsis:

Callie, a Classics major, flees home to protect her family from a monster straight out of mythology.  Visions lead her to Nectar and Ambrosia: the weirdest pub on Earth, where inter-dimensional travelers with attention seeking issues get drunk in between the A-list celebrity lives they create. They can't pretend to be gods anymore—not since a treaty with the current Supreme Deity promising they won't intervene in human affairs.

The Doorkeeper of this threshold, Florian, rides herd on the rowdy Amaranthine and offers her shelter and a job. Callie likes the lonely, mysterious bartender more than she should. For Florian, her presence is a ray of light in the gray monotony of his sentence behind the bar, but he keeps a cautious distance—the truth of how he became Doorkeeper could change Callie's perception of him forever.

When angels show up for a war council over Zeus's irrational mutters about a comeback, Callie has uncontrolled visions of an apocalypse.  Ex-gods realize she’s the first Oracle Priestess in generations. All Callie wanted was keep her parents safe, and now it seems she must sacrifice her future to keep the rest of humanity safe, too. Ambrosia could be the key to harnessing her visions— or it could cost her life.

War is coming. The threshold between worlds has never been more fragile. Callie must discover who is pulling Zeus's strings and avert the final battle—before the immortal vying to become the next Supreme Deity kills her first.

My Review:

It's no secret, I'm a huge fan of E.M. Hamil's writing, and if you haven't read Dali you need to check it out (Here). But this book is a bit of a different beast. Where Dali was Sci-Fi, this story is more Urban Fantasy, but clever fantasy and I've always said: "I'll read anything as long as it's a clever story."

Our heroine is Callie, short for Calliope - a name which should ring bells. In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of eloquence and epic poetry, an apt name for our character if you ask me. The very beginning of our tale starts off with Calliope, as she stumbles into a bar while being chased by a banshee, seeking refuge, and she finds that and so much more.

I can't possibly tell you anything more than that, otherwise, it would be a spoiler and I really want you to read this.

What I will tell you, is that every pantheon of gods shows up throughout this book, and the dynamics of who they are, what they've been doing and why they haven't been around are discussed and explained. Brilliant. Utter brilliance. I've read a few similar stories but Hamil has finally come up with a concept that works, is exceptionally told and kept me flipping the pages. And by the way - I might know a thing or two about several pantheons of god (being the pagan sort of lad I am - and having read a good chunk of many myths). The research and knowledge shown in this book regarding the various diety was nothing short of masterful!

I devoured this book in a few quick reading sessions.

But then, how could you not with gleaming passages like these:

"The scarlet cape swirled about him like blood in water as he jumped to his feet."

and

"I may be a few biscuits short of a tin, but I can shoulder my part of the burden."

and my favorite

"A twitch distorted the side of her mouth as the goddess picked up her daiquiri and drained the glass of icy slush in an impressive show of brain-freeze immunity."

Clearly, the muse herself was sitting elbow to elbow with the author when she wrote these lines.

Now for those of you who read my reviews, you've already noted that the books I read have lead characters who are LGBT, and this book drives in the opposite direction, but here's why I made the exception: The secondary main character, Florian, the bartender is Bisexual, and the host of gods and demigods that show up have no qualms about who they select as potential partners.

Seriously? You mean I could have had sex with Ares, God of War? Sigh <fans self>.

Oh, and a quick "Wow, that's gorgeous!" to whoever did the cover, because it couldn't have been more perfect.

Hamil's book Dali was bloody brilliant, and Nectar and Ambrosia, I dare say, was as good, if not better. Guaranteed from this moment on, I'll be picking up and reading anything E.M. Hamil decides to put words to.

I suggest you do the same!

Rating:

Available at:

Star Bard Books | Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback |Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes

Meet the Author:

Elisabeth "E.M." Hamill is a nurse by day, unabashed geek, chocoholic, sci fi and fantasy novelist by nights, weekends, and wherever she can steal quality time with her laptop. She lives with her family, a dog, and a cat in the wilds of eastern suburban Kansas, where they fend off flying monkey attacks and prep for the zombie apocalypse.

Catch up with E.M Hamil here...

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | eMail

Book Review: Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves

Title: Bones and Bourbon
Author: Dorian Graves
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: April 23, 2018
Heat Level: 1 - no sex
Pairing: No Romance
Length: 102000
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Ace, bisexual, trans, faeries, dark, immortals

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39803020-bones-and-bourbon

Synopsis:

Half-huldra Retz Gallows is having an awful day. First, he wakes up in the middle of driving to who-knows-where with an angry unicorn head in his passenger seat. This is almost normal, thanks to a lifetime of sharing a body with Nalem, a bone-controlling spirit with a penchant for wicked schemes and body-stealing joyrides. It’s probably a bad idea to ask what else could go wrong.

Jarrod Gallows left home with plans to rescue his little brother from possession. Instead, he got saddled with a dead-end job as a paranormal investigator, a Faerie curse, and a daredevil boyfriend who might be from another world. At least he’s got a new job—except why is his brother Retz here and why does this sudden reunion feel more like a bane than a blessing?

This day’s going to get worse for the Gallows brothers before it gets better. To survive, they’ll have to escape the forces controlling them, as well as the wrath of carnivorous unicorns, otherworldly realms, and even their own parents. Only time will tell if they’ll make it out alive…or sober.

My Review:

This is one tasty tale. Very dark, smeared with blood, riddled with violence and a portrayal of the Fae exactly as they should be; sinister and deadly - occasionally kind, but usually with an asking price. Of note - if you're a unicorn fan - buyer beware. These one horned wonders are deadly beasts, and our main characters dispose of them with deadly accuracy.

So what's it all about? 

The story sways back and forth between two brothers, Jarrod and Retz. Both are Fae born, being half human and half Huldra.

STOP. 

Wait... 

What? 

What the hell is a Huldra? Here, read this: http://spangenhelm.com/huldra-folklore-lady-forest/

Exactly. Extra credit points to Graves. Whenever I pick up a book promising tales of Fae creatures we are usually treated to the normal fare: Elves, Faeries, Gnomes, and Trolls - the creatures we have come to be familiar with. We are also quite often treated to werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and witches. And there's nothing wrong with that - but that's not this book. This is all new kids. This takes Fae creatures from vastly different cultures than ours and plants them squarely into our world. My ignorance of such beings gave this novel a surprising amount of 'newness'.

Ever heard of Furaribi? Well, I hadn't either! Turns out, they are Japanese in origin. Have a look: http://yokai.wikia.com/wiki/Furaribi 

I was completely smitten with this aspect of the book. Finally, something completely different. And so clever!  As Hulderkind these two brothers have genetic traits that mark them as not being human, but also not entirely Fae either. For instance, Jarrod - well, he's got brute strength, a tail, and heals remarkably fast, but he retained all of his inner organs - oh, and he's Transgender too. His brother, on the other hand, Retz is hollow, like his mother - although he does have a skeleton - but doesn't have the tail. He is even more remarkable in that he plays host to another creature. That's right, Retz is possessed. And what makes it even more interesting, is that Nalem, the King of Bones, can take over Retz's body and that's where the whole tale starts. 

Retz wakes up after his possessor releases him, only to find himself driving a car, with a Unicorn head (that's still alive) bouncing around in the passenger seat.  Never mind the Unicorn is trying to kill him. That's beside the point.

The whole book is like this. Steeped with twisted creatures, attempting to do the impossible tasks - like taking down a lamia and her menagerie of Fae captives - all while trying to satisfy the brother's father, Alexander, who sometime in the past, gave up his humanity and became Fae - a plant-based creature.

The novel is written with gorgeous visuals, bizarre twists, and at times is as gruesome as the original Grimm's Fairy Tales. Imagine a train created out of flesh and blood, lacking a brain, and regularly spraying blood from a split vein? After all, it's creator is Nalem's sister, Vairi, who is Bloody Mary.

If you're on the prowl for different, check this out! And it looks like Graves is making a cluster out of this as Bones and Bourbon is book number one in the Deadly Drinks series.

Well done!

My Rating:

Purchase Links:

NineStar Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/bones-and-bourbon/

Amazon: http://hyperurl.co/fm87hg

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/817760

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bones-and-bourbon-dorian-graves/1128527060

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bones-and-bourbon

Meet the Author:

Much like Sasquatch and other local cryptids, Dorian Graves can supposedly be found in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. Few have ever seen Dorian, but investigators have found trails of plot notes scribbled on receipt paper if they followed the distant sounds of old Blue Öyster Cult albums long enough. There have also been reports of Dorian lurking around the Mills College campus in Oakland, CA, where Dorian was last seen scurrying away with a B.A. in English/Creative Writing. Dorian occasionally crawls out of the woodworks with offerings of fiction, strange and fantastical stories with equal parts humor and horror, but often retreats quickly unless bribed with coffee and bad puns.

When not writing or working “the other day job,” Dorian lives with a romantic partner and a mischievous cat. Dorian Graves can be convinced to sit still if given art supplies, games of all sorts, or a selection from the ever-growing TBR pile. Dorian can be more reliably found on www.doriangraves.com, where one can find artwork, fiction, and whatever inane topic Dorian feels like rambling about this week.

Author Links:

Website: https://doriangraves.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DorianGravesFTW