Review for Love Rising by Piper Vaughn

Review for 

Love Rising

by Piper Vaughn

Blurb:

In the 1700s on the island of Sagrario, men who love other men find safe haven. For Francis Holland, an escaped indentured servant, Sagrario offers nothing but loneliness. His life begins to change when he finds Wick, a merman, washed ashore.

When Wick awakens under Francis’s care, Francis returns him to the sea at his request. Soon after, they begin to meet in secret, and gradually, Francis blossoms under this new companionship. However, a merman is a difficult creature to entrust one’s heart to. With one trapped on land and the other at sea, the differences in their species threaten to keep them apart forever. It may not be long before Wick is gone, taking Francis’s reason to smile with him



My review:

I do love fairy tale style, and mermen stories <3 This story from Piper came to life after a prompt from me, and the outcome was just so wonderful I adored it from start to finish. The cover is the cherry on the cake.

ebook, 42 pages.

bookshelves: elements-of-mythology, fairy-tale-style, fantasy, fantasy-romance, gave-me-warm-fuzzies, historical, i-demand-a-sequel, know-ill-read-again, loved-it, m-m, mermaids-mermen, set-at-sea, sexy-times, shifters

Read in January, 2014

Review for Jurassic Heart by Anna Martin

Review for

Jurassic Heart

by Anna Martin

Blurb:

When paleontologist Nick Eisenberg learns that someone thinks they have found velociraptor bones in Alberta, his curiosity overrides his desire to stay in London. After all, he’s one of the world’s leading experts on prehistoric predators and has always wanted to look for the velociraptor’s North American cousins. 

There’s only one problem: eco-conservationist Hunter Joseph. While Nick supervises the dig, Hunter rallies support from the locals to oppose the way the team is destroying the landscape in their search for dinosaur bones.

Nick and Hunter just cannot get along. Hunter is self-righteous and pouty. Nick is narrow-minded and geeky. But they have to figure out how to work on the same site without killing each other, especially since someone else out there seems determined to cause Nick more problems than he could have ever imagined.

~
 



My review:

I may not be a massive dino fan, or even know much about science or any of the 'ologies', so perhaps i was worried there'd be lots of technical talk that would go over my head... I needn't have worried, the writing is clear and fast paced enough that i didnt get bored with any of the talk on digs or bones (and yes there is enough cheek and wit to keep my dry sense of humour satisfied!).

Overall this is a wonderful read, a light hearted mystery/whodunnit, sweet and charming, but also packed with action and EEK OMG moments, because i cared about the characters and their bones. (Ahem.)

Great visuals as well, i could really see the characters, the whole cast, and it gelled well for me. Recommended! 

 

 

bookshelves: action, contempory-romance, contemporary, crime, cute, gave-me-warm-fuzzies, gay-lead-characters, humour, m-m, mystery, realism, set-in-america, sexy-times, stalking, whodunnit

Read in January, 2014

 

Review for Special Needs (book 1) by KA Merikan

Review for:

Special Needs (Special Needs #1)

by K.A. Merikan 

Blurb:

--- Caretaking. You're doing it wrong. ---

Liam slept with his boss. Again. And lost his job because of it. Again. Set on changing his ways and tired of sleeping in his car, he applies for a job as a live-in caretaker, even though he has no experience in it whatsoever. He has a lot of practice in lying his way out of any situation though. Only problem is, his new boss - wheelchair bound owner of a sex hotel - is gay, cute, funny and oh, so fuckable! There is only one logical solution to Liam’s dilemma - pretending he’s straight. Brilliant!

When Ryan inherited his aunt’s B&B, he thought he’d hit the jackpot by changing it into a fetish sex hotel. Things didn’t go as planned though, all of his marketing efforts seem to fail, and the debt is mounting up. Being a wheelchair user doesn’t help in actively promoting his hotel, but his luck starts to change when he hires a new caretaker. Liam is open-minded, helpful and caring. All that Ryan needs from a caretaker to kickstart his business, but things would all be a lot simpler if he didn’t start crushing on his new employee. And even if, in some other dimension, Liam did return his feelings, how long can Ryan keep his fetish a secret?

The web of lies they weave around each other is more bondage than any of them enjoy.

 


 My review:


This book (series) is a wonderful idea, addressing the 'other side' of fetishes that don't get discussed much, when someone is perhaps shy about admitting what they want. Really well done.

It's novel length, and there's plenty to sink your teeth into. I think the cover (gorgeous as it is) gives a perfect example of how the book is; bright, colourful, unique, sweet and romantic.

Not perhaps what one might be expecting from the blurb. But definitely give it a go, recommended to those who like contemporaries, with a bit of spice/individuality.







Info:

“Special Needs” is book one of a two part series.


Genre: contemporary erotic m/m romance, dramedy

Length: ~113,000 words


***SPOILERS AHEAD!***


Themes: disability, deception, alternative lifestyles, stalking, fetishism, tattoos, self-image issues, financial trouble, boss/employee

Erotic content: explicit m/m sexual scenes (including fetishism and medical role play)


 

Review for Destroyer of Worlds Spectr 5 by Jordan L Hawk

Review for

Destroyer of Worlds (Spectr #5)

by Jordan L. Hawk

Blurb:

After becoming possessed by the vampire spirit Gray, telekinetic Caleb Jansen thought his situation couldn’t get any worse. But that was before Graham Forsyth, head of SPECTR’s sinister Research Division, took him into custody.

Forsyth claims he can exorcise Gray before the forty-day time limit runs out. But once at RD, Caleb and Gray find themselves ensnared in a web of lies. What is the truth behind the tests Forsyth is performing on them? What does the agency really plan to do with Gray? And most worrisome of all, why does Gray sense demons within the walls of RD’s compound?

Caleb’s boyfriend, SPECTR agent John Starkweather, has suspicions of his own. With the help of his friend Sean and a shadowy organization known only by their symbol of a moth, John intends to save Caleb and Gray at any cost.

But when divided loyalties threaten his last chance at exorcism, Caleb discovers love may come at a price higher than he’d ever imagined.

~


My review:


Wow! I devoured this book in one sitting, i couldn't put it down, and at times it was so dramatic i forgot to breathe!

Yeah, really. I'd get to the end of the sentence and take a big gasp.

Ok, so the series is really reaching a head now. There is i believe one more book after this one, then it's the end (for now?!) of Spectr! Zomg.

It left on a pretty dire cliff hanger last time, with Caleb bring escorted off by another division of Spectr, and this time things really heat up and the movers come out of the peripheral and into main play. Lots of things started to make sense, and it was action packed from the word GO.

And i must admit, 'escape' themed stories will always make me short of breath and have me at the edge of my seat. How will Caleb escape Spectr? Should he trust them or trust his instincts to run? And what about this secret Moth organisation offering to help him exorcise his demon, and should he even take it?

And what about poor John! What is he going to do after watching his boyfriend being carted off by the very company he works for?

Aiyeeee! So many questions! Thankfully it all unfolds before your eyes in this book, to the point where i was clutching my shirt/throat while reading.

Fans of Gray (me included!!) will be happy that he gets much more of a spotlight in this story, and i can't even say how much i'm looking forward to the next installment. *flails*

One final point: what i love about this series is the demon-power/ ooh i'm attracted to that, kink. As this story was so full of action i wasnt even sure if the author would have *room* to bring the sexy, but it was there, and it was wonderful! I'm going to have to read it again now :3

#MusicMonday ~ ZOD

Music Monday!

Band: 

Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction

aka 'ZOD'

aka The Psychotronic Love Commandos!

Zod are a British sleaze rock band who popped up in mid '80s and pounded their way through the rock charts until the early '90s. After a break, and some line up changes, they tour and release new records even now (last record We Are Volsung released in 2010).

Probably best known overall for this song: Prime Mover

This video was directed by Adrian 'Vyvyan from The Young Ones' Eadmondson.

This fun rock song has such wonderful lyrics. I.e. ~

I came from the sky like a 747
I'm a bad boy, baby, I fell outta heaven.

Sex Fuhrer, baby, I'm a love dictator
Blitzkreig romance, I'm your leather detonator
<3

Plus, the singer sheds his jacket and grinds like a stripper on top of a tank, while shooting laser beams from his hands to corrupt the 'innocent' girls in the Catholic boarding school. What's not to like?!



This next picture is dedicated to my rocker-writing buddy, Z. Allora <3

Singer Zodiac Mindwarp, aka Mark Manning, is also an author. He writes mainly from his own experiences, accounts of being in a rock band, touring, and political musings.


May I recommend starting with his best known work, Bad Wisdom, co-authored with Bill Drummond from The KLF.

Quote from Bad Wisdom:

“This was the plan: we would take a holy and sacred picture of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley, to the very summit of the earth; once there, we would place it with sincere reverence amongst the chimerical shimmering palaces of ice and snow and then (accompanied by some weird Zen magic) we would light joss sticks, dance about making screechy kung-fu noises, get off our faces, and that would be it: Planet Earth saved. Simple.”

― Mark Manning, Bill Drummond, Bad Wisdom 


And for those who don't know who The KLF are, this is for you...

Featuring Tammy Whynnette. You may recognise the tune.

Back to Zod.

If you think you can handle the ramblings of a certified rock oddity, then by all means go ahead and try...

Put some Zod on your speakers while you read.

You wanna know about love, baby?
Let me teach ya
Come to church, I'm the preacher!

Enjoy!

Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction