Hiya peeps! We have Angel Martinez stopping by today with the tour for her new release A Fine Mess, we have a brilliant interview with Shax, a great excerpt, a fantastic $25 Mischief Corner Books GC giveaway and we also have Shorty’s review, so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Mel~
A Fine Mess
Angel Martinez
Beware the demon prince who’s sick and tired of running.
Federico Duomo is dead, to begin with. But this is only the first bit of Shax’s problems resolved. Powerful crime lords and an obscenely wealthy oligarch are still determined to destroy him and his crew, and Fluffy’s original owner may be coming after the Brimstone now, too. It would be splendid to be able to take on one thing at a time.
Adding to the external conflicts, life on board the Brimstone has only grown increasingly stranger. Shax has no idea what to do with the seven partly human children that Heckle rescued from slavers. Heckle himself has grown short-tempered, even with Mac. Someone from Julian’s past catches up to them on Barbary. It’s enough to put a demon off his cinnamon buns.
Shax isn’t panicking, though. In fact he’s had it up to his handsome royal nose with the people he loves having to live in constant fear. The fox has turned at bay and the Brimstone’s enemies are in for a shock. The demon prince of thieves is coming for them.
Shax Interview!
The readers had some questions specifically for Shax, the Demon Prince of Thieves and captain of the Brimstone. We’re going to see if we can’t get some answers.
Shax?
Shax: Oh. It’s you. Haven’t you caused enough damage over the years?
Probably. But readers have questions for you.
Shax: Do they? That’s different, of course. I like the readers, even if I have issues with you.
Good. I think. First question—who’s been your favorite designer through the ages?
Shax: I so mourn the loss of bespoke tailoring still and would kill for a Thomas Hawkes suit. Something with a touch of military flare. Though…I do love a good Gianni Versace, too. That man understood fabulous so thoroughly.
Did you ever pirate on the big seas?
Shax: I did try it for a lark in the seventeenth century. Certainly a lot of pretties to be had that way. But it’s difficult to have a good bath and the salt simply gets everywhere. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty in the execution of business, but I prefer to be able to go home and have a proper wash when it’s done.
Do you have any favorite foods from around the galaxy?
Shax: The cuisine on Opal is to die for, though it has certain other unpleasant memories attached, so I’m not keen to return. Ms. Cleo’s Bakery on Elistrus is lovely. Truly scrummy petit fours and Éclairs, though even her cinnamon buns aren’t anywhere near as good as Ms. Ivana’s. And there’s a little café in New Bangkok, nearly within sight of Madame Phoenix’s residence, which serve the loveliest, lightest crepes.
What’s been the most unusual animal to follow you around?
Shax: There was the sweetest elephant…though that’s not terribly unusual. A sand crane once…no, that can’t be the most unusual either. Hmm. Oh! Near the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, a white-bellied pangolin had managed to get out of her enclosure. Don’t ask me how. She wasn’t clear on details. I walked her back to the zoo, of course. A human city is no place for a pangolin.
Have any other plants tried to eat you?
Shax: What a vastly impertinent question. Certainly not. The experimental giant Venus flytrap that got hold of my foot once does not count.
What was your favorite hunt with your kitties prior to Fluffy?
Shax: I did have a beautiful hunting pride at one time. Mum has them now, thank pits. But I didn’t often use them to hunt human souls as certain uncles and cousins of mine did. Never seemed quite sporting. We hunted lava scorpions and rock dragons, in season, of course. Sometimes Ver would ride beside me and sometimes he’d run with the cats. He really does like them, no matter what he tells you.
Favorite spaceport when they are not on a job?
Shax: That’s a harder question than perhaps it should be. I like different spaceports for different things. Thinis for the fabulous high society. New Bangkok for the nightlife. Triton for the, ah, business opportunities. I suppose if I had to pick one that it would have to be Amnesia Spaceport. The place is just so wonderfully amoral, so nonjudgmental, and you can find nearly anything you’re looking for.
Favorite stolen pretty?
Shax: First, they’re acquired. Second, what a perfectly awful question. I love all my pretties. Ah, well. I suppose my favorite is still the emerald ring stolen for me by my human lover at the time. The memories attached to it are, shall we say, softened these days and it did initiate my first serious discussion with my darling Ness.
Finally, a question for Captain Shax. What about your crew would you say you’re most proud of?
Shax: I have the most wonderful crew a captain could wish for, even if they nearly drive me spare some days. I’m proud of their ability to recognize their own talents and each other’s, and their astounding adaptability in working together. The Brimstone has a crew which, on paper, shouldn’t work—fallen angel, human, nephilim, demon, imp—and yet they do, and I dare say they’ve grown fond of each other even if some of them would never admit it. Now I’m a very busy demon, and must bid you good day.
Thank you, Prince Shax, for taking the time – come see what he’s up to in the next Brimstone story, A Fine Mess!
Excerpt!
“Captain Cream Puff, Glkix is on the line for you.” Ms. Ivana kept her voice to a throaty purr, probably in deference to the early hour.
While Shax had been expecting the call, he would’ve preferred at least one more cup of coffee beforehand. “Thank you, my dear. Put her through to my comm, please.”
He arranged himself in his desk chair to appear calm and unaffected, coffee mug in one hand for any necessary sardonic or thoughtful sipping. A brief flicker through the relays, and Glkix’s image hovered above the holo plate on his desk. Her blue-black hair swept up and pinned with obsidian, her gray-green face smooth and serene, his mother’s personal assistant was as elegant as ever. Few people would have picked up the tightness around her eyes, and only if they’d known her as long as Shax had. Not good news, then.
“Good morning, highness. Your royal mother sends greetings.”
“Thank you, Glkix. Please convey my filial greetings in return.” Shax’s nerves got the better of him. He sipped. “You have something for me?”
Incomprehensible data flowed across the screen as Glkix typed. “We were able to track her genetic material through registered bloodlines and make discreet inquiries regarding missing stock. Her lineage is well-documented and highly prized among certain demon lords, highness.”
Is this flattery or an explanation of methodology? Sometimes it’s so hard to tell. “Yes? Do you have an answer, or is this just an update on progress?”
Glkix cleared her throat, eyes glued to the data stream. “An answer, highness. Your hellcat belongs to Baphomet, Lord of Beasts.”
Hell’s shiny, pointy gates. Inside, Shax ran in little circles screaming. Outwardly, he sipped. “I see. Does he know I have her?”
“Abject apologies, highness. I’ve little data on that.” Glkix ducked in a strange sort of seated bow. “We know that Lord Baphomet was visiting a forested moon near Opal when the hellcat in question—”
“Fluffy.”
“Pardon, highness?”
Though he knew she’d never approved of his names for his pets, he persisted. “My hellcat’s name is Fluffy.”
Glkix cringed. “Er. Yes. When Fluffy was stolen from her pride.”
“Do we know by whom?”
“No, highness. Not yet.”
Shax drummed his fingers on his mug and forced himself not to sip. Control. Control. “And m’lord of beasts? Where is he now?”
“Hunting, highness. In his ship, Cornuta.” Glkix shook her head. “We are trying to redirect wherever possible, Prince Shax.”
“Understood.” All too well. “Thank you for the information. Mother can’t possibly be paying you enough.”
“I live to serve, highness.” She executed her seated bow again, and Shax cut the connection.
Carefully, he placed his mug on the desk. Pushed back his chair. Bent over his knees and screamed into his hands for a solid forty-five seconds.
Of course, he should have known better. Boots pounded down the corridor almost before he’d stopped, and his door whooshed open. Through his fingers, he spotted Ness in the doorway with his wings mantled in a fierce defensive position and his plasma pistol drawn. Julian, knives out, slid in under Ness’s wing and dove behind the trunk Shax had pulled from the closet earlier.
“Shax? Everything all right?” Ness ventured after a stunned and puzzled silence.
Julian vaulted the trunk to sit on its lid. “We thought something was murdering you.”
“No murders.” Shax sat up and forced himself to draw in a slow breath. “Not yet, at any rate.”
Instead of acknowledging him, Ness turned to Julian. “I don’t think it was an angry scream.”
“Right.” Julian nodded. “No prince-in-a-snit smoke. I’d say frustration, except there was definitely a squeaky note to it.”
“You’re both vastly entertaining and should consider taking this on the road.” Shax scowled at each in turn. “But this is serious.”
Ness flipped and reflipped his wings as he folded them before sitting on the bunk. “Perhaps you could enlighten us, love.”
“Fluffy…” Shax paused as the hellcat in question trotted through the open door to butt her head against him almost hard enough to knock him from his chair. “Yes, you’re a good girl. Who’s the best Fluffums? Ahem. Fluffy was stolen from Baphomet.”
“I’m gathering that’s not good.” Ness let her waving tail run through his hand, careful of the sickle blade on the end, his expression unreadable.
“ISE lists Lord Baphomet as a class IV demon lord. Not of the highest rank, so he’s able to leave Sol system,” Julian offered softly. “Unpredictable, motivations unclear; do not, under any circumstances, engage.”
“While Enforcement and I disagree on many things, that’s a frighteningly apt assessment.” Mug back in hand, Shax took a fortifying sip. “He may be hunting us and, I’ll be honest, this is definitely cause for alarm. Mum and Glkix have apparently been sending him off in various directions, but he will find us at some point.”
The crinkle in Ness’s forehead showed the first sign of real concern. “Is he family? Do you know him well?”
Shax waved a hand at the universe. “All demon lords are family in a sense. I don’t believe we’re directly related, mind you. And Mum would never allow association with the more, ah, nature-oriented demons. Mud and dust and sticks in your hair…”
“That’s a no, then,” Julian drawled. “This may sound absurd to you, our lovely prince, but could you contact him? Let him know what happened?”
A cold iron weight lodged in Shax’s stomach and the backs of his eyes burned as he choked out, “But he’ll want Fluffy back.”
Everyone lunged toward him with huffs and other distressed sounds, and he found himself surrounded by arms and wings, with a huge hellcat head in his lap.
“Shax. I’m so sorry,” Julian whispered. “Please don’t cry.”
“I most certainly am not.” Of course, a hot teardrop chose that moment to splash onto Julian’s hand.
Ness stroked his hair. “We know you love her. But she had a pride once, didn’t she? Maybe a family?”
“Of course.” Shax shook himself and swiped at his eyes. Part of him wanted to collapse against them and howl like a six-year-old demon, but he was the captain, and there was such a thing as dignity. “Of course. And better to inform him than to have him come after us in a rage. I’ll… send the message.”
About Angel!
Angel Martinez is the pen name of a writer of several genres who writes both kinds of queer fiction – Science Fiction and Fantasy. (What? There are others?) Currently living part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware, (and full time inside the author’s head) Angel has one husband, one son, at least one cat at any given time, a changing variety of other furred and scaled companions, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.
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Giveaway!
Win a $25 Mischief Corner Books GC!
Review
Title: A Fine Mess
Series: Brimstone 07
Author: Angel Martinez
Genre: Science Fiction, Gay & Transgender
Length: Novel (291pgs)
Publisher: Mischief Corner Books (July 28, 2020)
Heat Level: Low – Moderate
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖 4 1/2 Hearts
Blurb: Beware the Demon Prince who is sick and tired of running…
Federico Duomo is dead, to begin with. But this is only the first bit of Shax’s problems resolved. Powerful crime lords and an obscenely wealthy oligarch are still determined to destroy him and his crew, and Fluffy’s original owner may be coming after the Brimstone now, too. It would be splendid to be able to take on one thing at a time.
Adding to the external conflicts, life on board the Brimstone has only grown increasingly stranger. Shax has no idea what to do with the seven partly human children that Heckle rescued from slavers. Heckle himself has grown short-tempered, even with Mac. Someone from Julian’s past catches up to them on Barbary. It’s enough to put a demon off his cinnamon buns.
Shax isn’t panicking, though. In fact he’s had it up to his handsome royal nose with the people he loves having to live in constant fear. The fox has turned at bay and the Brimstone’s enemies are in for a shock. The demon prince of thieves is coming for them..
ISBN: MSCRBK0000137
Product Link: MC Books | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Apple | B&N
Reviewer: Shorty
Review: Shax has many enemies coming for his crew and him in this fast paced, action packed, adventurous story. It seemed the crew could not catch a break and jumped from one enemy to the next as they stared down problems and eliminated them. The kids they rescued revealed what their powers were and helped when they could as well as a pleasant surprise at the end for them and the crew.
Shax finally is told who his father is which was a surprise. A lot happens throughout this book as Shax decides to go after those that want to take them out instead of waiting around. Several battles take place, someone is kidnapped and rescues their own self, the children are told about their families and Shax gets help from his father which leaves the crew rattled.
Secrets are revealed and plans are made that have dire consequences at times.
Adrenaline pumping addition to the series that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.
Great read.
