Short Review: The Fairy Pond by Jason Black

Title:  The Fairy Pond

Series: ---

Author: Jason Black

Publisher: self-published

Release Date: December 17, 2018

Length: 29 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fantasy

Tags: Dark, Fantasy, Historical, Period, Fae, Faeries

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43280397-the-fairy-pond

Synopsis:

Nevan lives a simple life. He works hard in the fields with his brothers and his grandpa and adores his mother wholeheartedly. He's a good boy who usually stays out of trouble, but even when Grandpa warns him to stay away from the pond, he can't help feeling curious about it...and the creatures that watch him whenever he's near.

My Review:

Black has captured the true feeling of dealing with faeries in this short but heartwarming, if not a little unsettling tale, of a family farm and its fae populated pond.

The main character is a young boy who is the only one (other than his Grandpa) who can see the faeries that inhabit the farmyard water feature. Nevan is charming, hardworking and a most well-behaved youngster.  His character is in direct opposition to the creatures that live in the water - they are definitely not kind, although perhaps as charming - but those who would venture too close quickly discover how deadly the fae are.

The author has also done an outstanding job in creating vivid descriptions of 'life on the farm, back in the day', and creating a short tale with various layers that will have each reader walking away taking something different with them.

The last paragraph will send shivers down your spine.

A perfect fairy tale.

Rating:

Available At:

Amazon 

Meet The Author:

Jason Black lives in Texas with his partner and two roommates. He cooks. He writes. He's an okay guy.

Goodreads

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.

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Book Review: Undertow by Brooklyn Ray

Title:  Undertow

Series: Port Lewis Witches, #2

Author: Brooklyn Ray

Publisher:  NineStar Press

Release Date: September 10, 2018

Heat Level: 4- A good amount of sex

Pairing: M/M

Length: 58000
Genre: Paranormal

Tags: Witches, Dark, Paranormal, Transgender

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38102484-undertow

Synopsis:

Port Lewis, a coastal town perched on the Washington cliffs, is home to Crescent Cafe, a slew of micro-breweries, a downtown packed with antique boutiques, and violent, ancient sotrms.  Thunder shakes roogtops and lightning cuts through dark skies, but Liam Montgomery has never been afraid.

Until now.

One night, Liam hears the scream of a kelpie, a Water horse whose cry foretells the beginning of a prophecy. Kelpies have not set foot on shore for decades, but as Liam digs into his magic and his family's history, he uncovers a mysterious secret that could ripple into the lives of everyone around him.

Liam's tea-leaves spell out murder. The life of someone he loves is on the line. An unwelcome kelpie speaks in riddles. The Queen of Water demands a sacrifice.

The Montgomery name is soaked in blood and secrets. Liam's fate is sealed, but he'll do whatever it takes to change it - even if it risks his circle, his magic, and his life.

My Review:

Hold on kids, this is darkness at it's best.

I HAVE to APOLOGIZE - this review was supposed to go out in September - but you know what life is like sometimes. So...yeah, there it is. My deepest apologies to Brooklyn Ray.

Now, no secret - I have a twisted dark side. I suspect Brooklyn Ray has a similar shadowy self that they dwell within while writing the Port Lewis witch series.  Unbroken, the third in the series, and Predatory, the fourth, are both set to be released in 2019 - AND I WILL BE BUYING THEM.

Holy Hot Damn on a Cracker Batman. 

Fair warning, these short novels are intense, hot, steamy, and dark. If you have any issues with blood-letting or questionable gray magic, these stories are not for you. But, if you desire to experience some intense sex scenes, dive deep into the wetness of water magic, to search your shadow side and siphon energy from others, get this book. Get it now.

In the first novel, Darkling (see my review here), we were introduced to Ryder, who is an elemental fire witch, but also a necromancer - a powerful combination. Ryder is also transgender. In this novel, we get to see Liam, Ryder's boyfriend, as he grapples with looming, and grim prophecies of a catastrophic event that is about to unfurl - like the tentacles of an angry octopus.

One of the biggest draws for me in this story is the take on the Kelpie, a water fae that is a shapeshifter, a trickster, dangerous (like most fae), and usually takes the form of a horse with a fishtail.

(Kelpie by Krizdole was taken from the website: https://wendyjargonncom.blogspot.com/2013/03/kelpie-celtic-water-horse.html)

I think most of us have read tales about werewolves, vampires, unicorns - you know, the usual urban fantasy fare. But here, Ray takes us into the lesser known realm of the fae, and I loved it.

Ray is able to weave words together in such a way...it envelopes the reader. I feel as if the spells cast in the book are happening besides me, and I can see the wispy trails of magic swirling around my feet, spiraling up, wrapping and gripping a stranglehold on me. Her stories are like that too. Unapologetically, the sentences act just like the magic spell. They grab you, and drag you through the story, experiencing the tale through comparisons and clever wordplay that I've not seen done by any other author.

I ate this book in a couple of sittings, and the entire time I read it, I felt damp, and cold, and could smell the salt breeze, and hear the ocean waves as they roared with ferocity. So far, this is a brilliant series and one I will always suggest to those who enjoy wallowing in the not-so-light-and-fairy-twinkle-lights of most paranormal/urban fantasy books.

This is gloomy and dark. Unsettling and morally gray.

Get it. Read it.

You will not be disappointed.

Rating:

Available At:

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Meet The Author:

Brooklyn Ray is a tea connoisseur and an occult junkie. She writes queer speculative fiction layered with magic, rituals and found families.

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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

Book Review: The Calling by M.D. Neu

Title:  The Calling

Author: M.D. Neu

Publisher:  NineStar Press

Release Date: January 1, 2018

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 108300

Genre: Paranormal, paranormal, gay, dark, immortal, magic users, psychic ability, vampires

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36990715-the-calling

Blurb:

Being a nobody isn’t Duncan Alexander’s life goal, but it’s worked for him. He has a nondescript job, a few good friends, and overall he’s content. That’s until one fateful trip to San Jose, California, where he is “Called” to meet the mysterious Juliet de Exter. Juliet is a beautiful, wealthy, powerful Immortal who is undertaking The Calling—a search for a human to join her world of Immortals. Inexplicably, Duncan’s calling is more dangerous than any of the Immortals, even Juliet, ever thought it would be.

There is more to this nobody, this only child of long-deceased parents, than anyone thought. When Duncan experiences uncontrollable dreams of people he doesn’t know and places he hasn’t been, Juliet and the other Immortals worry. Soon, his visions point to a coven of long-dead witches. The dreams also lead Duncan to his one true love. How will Duncan navigate a forbidden romance with an outcast Immortal? How will he and the others keep the balance between the Light and Dark, survive vicious attacks, and keep the humans from learning who they truly are? More importantly, who is this implacable foe Duncan keeps seeing in his dreams?

The Review:

The Calling by MD Neu is an interesting romp through a new version of the Vampire mythos. Neu has created (for me) a version of the legendary creature that is reminiscent of the Fae, featuring both Light and Dark sides to this tribe of predators. As the story unfolds and the vampire lore is discovered I was reminded (fondly) of The Hunger (1983 film with Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon), Lost Girl (TV series 2010-2015 with Anna Silk) and the infamous Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers.

The writing is unapologetically casual, and easy going. The blurb states “Being a nobody isn’t Duncan Alexander’s goal, but it’s worked for him.” And as Duncan is the narrator of the story, you quickly get a sense that his character is uncomplicated, honest, and simple.

Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. 

Without spoiling any fun, let’s just say that Duncan is anything but ‘a nobody’ and as he becomes enveloped into the world of immortals we find out how truly unique and special he is.
I suppose the one downside for me was the oddly lighthearted, and at times glamorous lifestyles of the Light side of the vampire clan where Duncan starts his journey. I had a hard time relating to Juliet, Duncan’s maker, and leader of the Light as she was more like a fairy godmother than a vampire. 

I’ve always had a penchant for dark and creepy, and it wasn’t until the introduction and more grotesque scenes of the Dark side of the immortal world, and the brilliant descriptions of Duncan’s visions where I was treated to the dank underbelly of the magical realm I so enjoy. I instantly fell for the charms of Victor, the leader of the Dark clan. He was quick to anger, prone to whim and fancy, and decidedly nefarious in his dealings – just the kind of creature I enjoy – he was charismatic, handsome, spellbinding and completely untrustworthy. I loved him, and his motley crew of dark companions.

Neu captured my attention with his main character’s coupling – a love interest from the Dark tribe. The history of Kirtus was most inventive. A vampire who through strange circumstance ended up on the wrong side and who shall remain there forevermore. Neu adds a special element to vampiric lore as each one has a special gift. Kirtus has the ability to control the elements, and is a redhead, so what’s not to love? I’m excited to see where this relationship goes.
There are little shots of humor scattered throughout this story as well, including a small dig at the current political climate – well done – that gave me a good giggle.
I was disappointed to discover that true magic with its infinite possibility and unchecked potential is not something humans can handle. I’d love nothing more than to see a clumsy witch attempt spells with this type of magic. The carnage would be spectacular.
The last few pages of the novel set this story up for a sequel and I’m already chomping at the bit to read how the next great battle between good and evil (or perceived good and evil) comes to pass.
So, if you’re interested in a new spin around the block in the Vampire-mobile, one where high fashion meets creative blood infused cuisine, masquerade parties, magic, pomp, and circumstance, tradition and ritual, then you’re in for a treat.

Rating:

Purchase Links:

NineStar Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/the-calling/

Amazon: http: http://hyperurl.co/uhvg88

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/769919

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1127687304

Kobo: https: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-calling-80

Meet the Author:

M.D. Neu is a LGBTQA Fiction Writer with a love for writing and travel. Living in the heart of Silicon Valley (San Jose, California) and growing up around technology, he’s always been fascinated with what could be. Specifically drawn to Science Fiction and Paranormal television and novels, M.D. Neu was inspired by the great Gene Roddenberry, George Lucas, Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock and Kim Stanley Robinson. An odd combination, but one that has influenced his writing.

Growing up in an accepting family as a gay man, he always wondered why there were never stories reflecting who he was. Constantly surrounded by characters that only reflected heterosexual society, M.D. Neu decided he wanted to change that. So, he took to writing, wanting to tell good stories that reflected our diverse world.

                                         

When M.D. Neu isn’t writing, he works for a non-profit and travels with his biggest supporter and his harshest critic, Eric, his husband of eighteen plus years.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.mdneu.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mdneuauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Writer_MDNeu