Author: Kassa

Among the Living by Jordan Castillo Price

2 Comments

 JCP was offering a free download of one her books and I wandered over since I’ve wanted to read some of her series anyway. For such a pretty site, it’s almost impossible to understand her backlist, which was disappointing. I don’t know why authors don’t make it crystal clear the order of their series but I assume the majority of people visiting already know the books. I don’t and am always frustrated trying to figure out where to start and how the series link together, especially with the short stories and freebies. But this isn’t a review of a website. So that aside, I eventually downloaded “Among the Living” from her main author site, which is much better than the actual Psycop site – avoid that newbies like me. I think this is the first book of the Psycop series. I’ve no clue how it links to the other series she writes so here we go.

*Edit to add : JCP has graciously clarified her series order over on her site. So easy even I can figure it out now. Thank you muchly!

Among the Living by Jordan Castillo Price

Blurb:

Victor Bayne, the psychic half a PsyCop team, is a gay medium who’s more concerned with flying under the radar than in making waves.

He hooks up with handsome Jacob Marks, a non-psychic (or “Stiff”) from an adjacent precinct at his ex-partner’s retirement party and it seems like his dubious luck has taken a turn for the better. But then a serial killer surfaces who can change his appearance to match any witness’ idea of the world’s hottest guy.

Solving murders is a snap when you can ask the victims whodunit, but this killer’s not leaving any spirits behind.

 

Surprisingly good story…

War Torn by JM Snyder

Leave a comment

War Torn by JM Snyder

Blurb:

In a not too distant future, the island of Manhattan has been commandeered by rebels aided by terrorists who have set themselves against the U.S. government. The Brooklyn Bridge, now fallen into disuse, stands as a sort of "no-man’s land" between the island and the military that patrol the Hudson River. When the rebels bomb the Bridge, the nation is plunged into what might become a second Civil War.

Captain Jace Rickert is a grounded pilot whose Army lover, Second Lieutenant Tomas Tait, is sent on a routine reconnaissance mission. When Tait disappears and the military can’t stop the impending war to find one missing soldier, Rickert takes matters into his own hands.

 

My boy…

Tangled Web by Terry O’Reilly

3 Comments

Tangled Web by Terry O’Reilly

Blurb:

Fifty-eight year old reticent banker, Kevin Baker works out regularly hoping to spot the man he’s become infatuated with, hunky Jake Whittiker. Kevin and Jake both have secrets. Secrets capable of destroying even a remote chance at happiness for the two men as they attempt to escape the meaninglessness of one night stands and brief encounters. Passion and testosterone, lies and omissions, tangled webs brought about by deceit. Untangling the myriad threads and revealing the truth is their only chance, but what will it truly cost?

 

Interesting take…

Tech Support by Jet Mykles

3 Comments

Jet Mykles’s Tech Support

Blurb:


Aaron is a whiz with computers but horrible with people. Painfully shy, it’s sometimes all he can do to communicate when he’s face to face with anyone. The fact that he has unusually red hair and gorgeous green eyes only makes it worse because people don’t want him to hide.

But then he’s called upon to troubleshoot a problem with the laptop of Yoshiki Fukui, a big shot executive with his company. Ki is brash, outgoing and painfully handsome and just being in his presence makes Aaron all jittery.

When Ki asks Aaron to help him set up a state-of-the-art entertainment system in his new house, Aaron can’t resist the lure. Little does he suspect that Ki’s got more than just technical help in mind.

Continuing Mykles backlist..

New Rainbow Reviews and Amazon Rank Fail

6 Comments

 Amidst Amazon Rank Fail, Twitter Outcry Mania of #amazonfail, and #glitchmyass – another busy week with reviews and the new ones are out over on Rainbow Reviews. I had a mixture of longer and shorter stories with some of my M/M challenge stories thrown in and even a collection of poetry. What I know about poetry is sad so I feel for the authors.

M/M Challenge Stories:

Stealing Life by T.A. Chase

Child’s Prey 1: Orange Moon by Anne Cain & Barbara Sheridan

Child’s Prey 2: Winter Song by Anne Cain & Barbara Sheridan 

Personal Demons by Jay Lygon

The Elegant Corpse by A.M. Riley *

*best book of the week 

Playing The Field: Tee’d Off by J.M. Snyder

Sutcliffe Cove by Ariel Tachna and Madeleine Urban 

A Fostered Love by Cameron Dane

Phoberia by H.B. Kurtzwilde

 

Surprisingly good poetry:

Gaytude by Albert Russo & Adam Donaldson Powell

Short Stories:

An Evening With The Rush Hour Hero by J.M. Snyder

Restraint by Teresa Noelle Roberts

Favor by Alex Draven

 

M/M Challenge Update!

16/40 stories read. I’ve actually read/reviewed 32 m/m romance stories since I signed up but only 16 were on my official “list” – which I still reserve the right to change. One or two on my current list may change and be filled in with a new story. 

var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”);
document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”));

try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-9211734-1”);
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}

Year of the Cat by Selah March

7 Comments

I should preface this by saying I won this book free (yay!) from excerpt day over on 

[info]elisa_rolle

  blog. It’s taken me a bit to read it, which I apologize, due to the high volume of books to review these past two weeks. (Look at how many I’ve reviewed for RR and gah). Anyway, I apologize for how long this took but alas I finally got to read it and late at night too, the perfect setting for this tale.

 


Year of the Cat by Selah March

Blurb:

Sweet-natured Etienne LeFevre must give up his birthright and flee into the snow-covered forest to save himself from the murderous greed of his brutish elder brothers. When Etienne ends up alone and hungry, with a ramshackle cottage his only shelter and a feral cat his only friend, he believes himself doomed to a sad, cold death.

But out of the shadows of the night arrives a visitor who brings comfort. He presents himself as a servant, but the man called “Jacques” spends the long hours instructing Etienne in the cruel delights of a disciplined passion.

Jacques is gone with the morning light, but Etienne thinks he knows the stranger’s secret. Will Etienne tame the beast that lurks within his lover? Or will he find himself a victim of the bitter rage that rules Jacques’ heart?

Based on the classic French fairy tale, “Puss In Boots,” this story explores what happens when the servant becomes the master, and the master lives to serve…

 

Not your animated classic…

Adder by Ally Blue

5 Comments

Adder by Ally Blue

Blurb:

Music. Sex. Fame. What’s missing? Surely not the “L” word…

Adder has a plan for his life: play his music for millions of adoring fans, who will reward him with money, fame and as much sex as he can handle. It’s a goal he’s been working toward since his teens and is on the cusp of achieving. The idea of a relationship never entered his mind—until a new drummer joins his band. One taste of Kalil, and all he wants is more.

For Kalil, playing drums for Adder is a dream come true, the creative connection he’s always wanted. What he never reckoned on is the deeper connection he finds with Adder. Kalil would rather avoid sexual involvement with a bandmate, but Adder seems just as determined to break through his resistance.

Attraction aside, music and sex are about the only things the hedonistic Adder and the increasingly jealous Kalil can agree on. Still, before they know it they’re on the brink of something deeper, something lasting.

And it scares the hell out of both of them.

 

More angsty rock stars

The White Knight by Josh Lanyon

2 Comments

The White Knight by Josh Lanyon

Blurb:

Actor Sean Fairchild has a not-so-secret admirer: a psycho stalker who thinks taking out the sexy, shy young actor will leave the world a better place. His manager insists Sean needs protection, and Sean’s beginning to think he’s right.

It’s a Hollywood cliché: the hot and handsome bodyguard. But in the case of LAPD Detective Daniel Moran, it’s all true. Dan is everything Sean ever wanted in a leading man, but Dan’s kind of an old-fashioned guy. It’s his job to keep Sean safe and in one piece — happy is someone else’s problem.

As tension mounts, Sean can’t help turning to Dan, while Dan is finding it harder and harder to say no. Their only chance of a happy ending is if Dan can keep Sean alive — but what happens when he uncovers the secrets Sean is trying hard to conceal?

 

Sex as therapy – sign me up!

Destiny Goes Spare by TC Blue

2 Comments

Destiny Goes Spare by TC Blue

Blurb:

Andrew and Raj have had a beautiful relationship since the night they met by chance and knew they were meant to be together. To celebrate Raj’s twenty-first birthday, Andrew throws him a magnificent party and invites everyone on Raj’s email contact list. Raj is thrilled, and so is Andrew, until a pair of unexpected — but very much invited — guests arrive. In one fell swoop, everything goes to pieces. Raj and Andrew are sleeping apart for the first time since they met. Are they really going to end it, or does destiny have something even better in store?

 

Sexy May/December couple…

Like Magnets, We Attract Anthology

2 Comments

The very awesome

[info]jaye_valentine

sent me an ARC for review about a week ago, and not only was this a first for me (yay!) but I really enjoyed the anthology. I had no little trepidation over what would I do if I thought it sucked. I’d be honest, but I’d feel bad. Considering this is the first author ever to send me a book specifically for little me to review, I was scared I’d hate it and have to break the bad news. Thankfully, it was a pretty solid anthology with a lot of highlights. It comes out a week from now on April 13 and you can go HERE for some great excerpts. The last story especially is really great and has some of the best lines in it.

 


Review:

This is a ten-story anthology all catering to the delicious theme of opposites attract. Ranging from fantasy to contemporary, each story glimpses into fascinating characters and the opposite worlds that collide when two hot men can’t stay away from each other. Whether it’s a happy ever after ending, an isolated interlude, or lovers denied, this collection offers something for every reader. The lineup of strong writing, tight storylines and smoking hot characters (sometimes literally) combine to create a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining selection of stories.

Most anthologies offer a range of stories with an equally diverse level of writing. Pleasantly surprising, almost all of the offerings in “Like Magnets, We Attract” ranged from solid and fun to highly entertaining and wonderful. Included in this are a variety of steaming, explicit sex scenes from sweet and charming, to tender and all the way to rough and raunchy. Although these are sure to titillate, they all read much better than simply erotica for the sake of porn, with the exception of one scene. For the breadth of stories and number of offerings, one miss scene is nothing that will detract or even stay as memorable.

Among the stories, it was difficult to choose a favorite as several stood out for many reasons. Although I was going to summarize the entire anthology, more than half of the stories were notable for one reason or another and truly deserve special mention. The level of creativity, innovation and pure enjoyment made this anthology one that was easy and fun to read. One story stood out among the rest and was the worth reading the entire anthology for, although several characters made me glad I had the opportunity to read their stories. Even as this is an erotica anthology, there is a high level of romance with happy ever after endings that are sure to please followers of the genre.

Makau/Makai, by Shea Meier
This is a rather cute story with a logical scientist that finds a sexy local while roaming the beach at high tide. Between the scientist’s fear of water and the local’s belief in volcano gods, these two have to work to find common ground but their acceptance of each other as they are with a little Hawaiian flavor adds to a fun and lovely story.

King Kong vs. The Skinny Pirate, by Addison Albright
This has a laugh out loud hilarious introduction with great characters of a fussy corporate lawyer and a bear-like mechanic. The opening scene at the bar sets the fun and light tone that is carried through effortlessly. Their story was delightful and highly entertaining with a heavily romantic ending that is sure to please new and die hard fans alike.

Fairy Tail, by Rob Rosen
Aptly named as a fairy and an imprisoned prince step out of time to enjoy a heated and inventive erotic interlude. These opposites spice up the story from the start and add in a devilish happy ending. Amusing, entertaining and sizzling with heat, be sure to read with a fan nearby.

Lucky, by A. Steele
I hate to play favorites in a solid group of stories but this offering about a janitor and a senator’s son gripped me from the start and had me re-reading the story more than once. Fun, flirty and scorching hot, Carl and Josh spark with instant great chemistry and witty dialogue. Add in a bit of family pressure with electrifying sex and this is a sure win addition. The characters will no doubt appeal with a satisfying ending.

Forever, by William Holden
The lone vampire with his human lover turns the tone to dramatic, intense and dark with underlying rage and star-crossed lovers. This may not be a typical story but the elements of romance, erotica, and death combine to create a gripping and haunting tale. This definitely appeals to anyone wanting more edge to their sex scenes.

Common Ground, by Cassidy Ryan & Tyler McKenzie
This delightful and light offering turns the tables on typical stereotypes with a popular computer geek and a shy jock. It takes the duo months to work up the nerve to finally speak about their ongoing connection but they come together with sexy sparks. Great characters and entertaining dialogue carry this tale, even if it ends slightly sweet for those romantic lovers.

The Taming of the Bull, by Taylor Lochland
A solidly written story about a skeptic and an astrologer that find something in common in bed despite widely different views out of it. The bashful and stubborn skeptic is adorable as is the charming confidence of his opposite. Together they might edge on too lovely but the blindfold keeps their encounter fresh and hot.

The Hideaway, by David Wesley
For a new bar owner stuck in his hometown after a turn of events, Zach certainly finds something worth holding onto with alcohol inspector. Initiating Jake into the joys of sex between men begins a raunchy and vivid encounter sure to surprise and boggle the mind at times. Although the sex scene was corny and porno like, the writing before and after was engaging.

Against the Current, by Heidi Champa
This animated hook up between a surfing expert and an off balance klutz is delightful and fun from start to finish. This memorable vacation encounter is sure to stay in the minds of both men and readers for a while, highlighting the solid writing and enticing sex scenes. Without the need for a romantic ending, this story typifies the hopeful dreams of horny vacationers. If only we were all so lucky when washed up on the beach.

Fire and Water, by V. Greene
Taking scorching hot to a new level, these two opposites define the word with smoking sex (literally) and fascinating characters. The fantasy is easy to slip into with an aptly named story and great characters. Be sure to have something cool nearby as the author kicks up the heat level considerably with a fabulous sex scene in this short story. Who knew dragons were so delicious?

Get it HERE!

var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”);
document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”));

try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-9211734-1”);
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}