Hiya guys! We have J. Scott Coatsworth popping in today with his newest release Lander, we have a fantastic exclusive excerpt, a shared excerpt, a brilliant giveaway with a $25 Amazon GC and three copies of The Stark Divide up for grabs, we also have Shorty’s review so check out the post and enter the giveaway!  ❤ ~Pixie~

Lander

J. Scott Coatsworth

Sometimes the world needs saving twice.

In the sequel to the Rainbow-Award-winning Skythane, Xander and Jameson thought they’d fulfilled their destiny when they brought the worlds of Oberon and Titania back together, but their short-lived moment of triumph is over.

Reunification has thrown the world into chaos. A great storm ravaged Xander’s kingdom of Gaelan, leaving the winged skythane people struggling to survive. Their old enemy, Obercorp, is biding its time, waiting to strike. And to the north, a dangerous new adversary gathers strength, while an unexpected ally awaits them.

In the midst of it all, Xander’s ex Alix returns, and Xander and Jameson discover that their love for each other may have been drug-induced.

Are they truly destined for each other, or is what they feel concocted? And can they face an even greater challenge when their world needs them most?

Exclusive Excerpt!

Xander stared at Jameson, alarmed.

Jameson was frozen in place, his eyes twitching as if he were in REM sleep, but they were wide-open, jerking back and forth as if Jameson were watching a tridimensional. It was one of the creepiest things Xander had ever seen.

“Jameson, you okay?”

Jameson didn’t respond. He seemed to be locked away inside himself.

Xander grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Jameson! Talk to me.” This was wrong. Jameson was wrong. “Tell me what’s happening to you.”

Jameson’s eyes turned to look at him, but there was no recognition there. His mouth moved soundlessly.

Xander’s gut twisted. “By the Split, Jameson, snap out of it!”

Jameson’s eyes remained blank, but Xander read the fear in them. Jameson stood there, arms slack at his side, his mouth open and drooling.

Xander slapped Jameson hard across the cheek. “Come on, man, wake up!” It had no effect. There had to be a way to shock him out of this, whatever this was.

Shock. He had to find a way to give Jameson a shock. Xander knelt and rummaged through his carry sack, coming up with his pulse rifle. That should do it.

He turned down the intensity of the pulse as low as it would go, so it would send a good jolt through Jameson’s system. Then he took Jameson’s hand. “Hang on there, my prince.”

Maybe he should test it first. If he caused Jameson any harm, it would kill him. He turned the weapon and fired it into the pool. The water bubbled but didn’t boil. “Looks about right.” Xander put the barrel against Jameson’s palm and closed his eyes, one arm holding Jameson’s, the other tucked behind his back.

He hesitated. What if the pulse hurt Jameson? It was set to stun, so it should be fine, but sometimes, if your heart was bad….

Xander had been pulsed as a kid, when his master Rogan had wanted some amusement. It hadn’t killed him, though it had left his nerves jangling for days.

He had to do something, though. This couldn’t be good for Jameson. “Here goes.” He squeezed the trigger and the pulse passed through him, a not-unpleasant vibration, up and down his spine as he took the pulse second-hand.

Jameson collapsed, and Xander caught him, lowering him gently to the ground. He set the rifle down next to them. “Jameson, are you okay?”

Jameson’s body was limp as a rag doll. Xander’s heart thumped against his chest. Oh God, I’ve killed my prince.

Xander knelt next to Jameson and lifted his eyelid. His eye looked… normal? Whatever that was, under the circumstances. At least he was still breathing.

Xander relaxed a little. It frightened him how much he’d come to care for this man who’d been a stranger just a few weeks before. It wasn’t like him. Not since Alix. “You probably need to sleep it off,” he said softly, and pulled Jameson’s sleep sack from his carry sack and laid it out. With a bit of effort, he managed to get Jameson moved onto it. He didn’t try to get Jameson undressed.

His eyes… like he’d been in the grip of a dream. Memories?

These memories were going to be a problem if they couldn’t find a way to get them under control. He hated seeing Jameson helpless like this.

Xander finished dressing himself, took a deep draught of water from his canteen, and refilled it from the torrent still pouring down at the cave entrance. Then he lay down next to Jameson and put his head on his shoulder.

“You scared me there, little robin.”

Jameson wasn’t the only one who remembered things.

“Sorry, sparrow.”

He sat up. “You’re awake?”

Jameson was looking at him through slitted eyes. “Tired. Very tired.”

“That’s okay. You sleep. Time enough for talking tomorrow.” Xander felt a huge sense of relief.

He needed to be in Gaelan. Things were surely happening out there, and he was their king. He should be with his people, but Jameson was clearly in no condition to travel, even if the storm let up. Tomorrow would come soon enough.

They needed Morgan here to heal poor Jameson. The thought flashed through his head, and Xander closed his eyes, feeling the familiar pain in his gut. The boy was gone. He’d given himself up to save their worlds. Xander still didn’t know what that meant.

He leaned over and hugged Jameson. “Rest.”

“Okay.” Jameson snuggled into his sleep sack.

They fell asleep as the rain continued to pour down outside.

Excerpt!

Jameson kissed Xander again, his passion fading, but his ardor for the man still in full bloom. It was good to find time for the two of them in the middle of madness.

Xander was at rest, peaceful as he floated on the surface of the water, his eyes closed and his muscles slack. His black wings trailed off below into the glow of the pond. He looked more like an angel to Jameson than he had since the first time they’d met.

Images flashed in his head—this place, other people, other times. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing them to go away.

Reluctantly they subsided. Jameson stood to get out of the water, shaking his head as if to dry his hair.

Xander pulled him back down for one more kiss. “What’s the hurry? I can still hear the storm roaring outside.”

Jameson growled. “I’m hungry. Don’t you ever get your fill?” He should have told Xander about the memories. He knew Xander saw them too, sometimes, but Jameson didn’t want to ruin the moment.

“Apparently not.” Xander let him go. “But I like to watch your backside, so I guess this is some kind of compensation.”

“Pervert.” Jameson smiled to himself. He was still sore from their exertions, but it was a good kind of sore.

He climbed up to the rock floor next to the pool, using one of the columns to steady himself. Something skittered across the edge of his vision. A bat? Or something like it? He looked after it, but it had vanished.

He went to pull his pants back on and wrinkled his nose. His clothes were filthy.

He opened his pack and grabbed a fresh set. He pulled on his underwear first, then laced up his shirt while Xander watched appreciatively. Getting dressed had been a hell of a lot easier before he’d gotten his wings. To compensate for his lack of skythane clothing, they’d raided the king’s closet, and it had been a challenge to find anything without a fur lining or silver buttons. King Theron had been a big man too—thick in the middle, if his clothes were any indication. Frowning, Jameson cinched his belt tight to hold up his pants.

“It suits you.” Xander smirked, getting out of the water and giving Jameson a full-on view of his beautiful body. He was muscled, but not overly so, his stomach firm and his body sleek. He was perfect.

Jameson felt a surge of love for Xander. He took full advantage of the unguarded moment, enjoying the show. Xander’s well-defined abs and his lopsided grin were almost enough to entice Jameson to give it another go, but the memories were messing with his head, and he really was hungry.

“Let’s eat.” Xander pulled out his own change of clothes and sniffed them.

“A little damp?”

“Yeah. Mildew from all the rain. Still, it’s better than the alternative.”

He grinned. It was a shame Xander needed to wear anything at all. “Um, food. Yeah. Sounds good.”

“We need to be ready to leave as soon as the storm lets up.” Xander pulled on his pants. “That means keeping up our strength. Getting fed, getting some sleep…. I want to look for Quince and the others, and my people need me back home. Things will be confused in Gaelan after the shift.”

My people. Jameson had his own people too, somewhere across the continent. “Things will be crazy in Oberon City too, I’d imagine.”

Xander nodded. As he finished dressing, Jameson took a look around the cavern. It was maybe fifty meters across, and half that deep, and there were dark shadows at several places near the back, leading off to other caves or rooms.

He wondered how far this cavern system went. His new gift—or curse?—wasn’t specific on details like that, though sometimes memories sprang wholly formed in his head.

Back home on Beta Tau, caverns could stretch on for hundreds of kilometers. The Great Rift system went on for at least three hundred and fifty, meaning it was theoretically possible to get from New Davos to Arctus without ever going aboveground.

He closed his eyes, trying to remember this place. The ability seemed to come and go randomly, but there had to be a way to summon it up at will. It had come to him when he needed it, but not of his own volition.

Again, there was a flickering, like something fluttering past in his peripheral vision. This time it slipped past on both sides. He looked around wildly, but there was nothing there. Not bats, then. He was losing his mind.

“What are you thinking about?” Xander asked. “You seem a little… distracted.”

“You didn’t see that?”

“What?”

“Never mind.” He sighed. “It’s probably just this place. I… remember it, but I don’t.”

“I know. Since that kiss, it’s been hit and miss for me too.”

Jameson nodded. That kiss. The one at the House of the Moon, when memories had flooded through him, through Xander, like a torrent. It had been the second time for him, but for Xander….

“Do you ever… see things that aren’t there?”

“Sometimes. Quick images. Like brief overlays of the past on the present.”

“Do you see them now?”

Xander looked around. “No, nothing now. You?”

“No. I….” He stopped. Something was moving at the edge of his vision. He looked around. The cavern seemed to shift, becoming brighter. There was a weird fluttering, as if a hundred dark wings were flapping just out of sight.

“Jameson, you okay?”

Everything went fuzzy for a moment, and his stomach clenched in protest. When he could see again, golden light flickered from candles placed all around the room. Where had they come from?

He turned back to Xander, but Elyra stood there instead, grinning at him, leaning forward, her breasts like two perfect moons under her vest. “You came. I’ve been waiting for hours.” She pulled him close. He could smell her musky perfume, feel her long raven-black hair brush against his cheeks as their lips met….

The world shifted again.

The cavern was dark, lit by only the smallest blue illumination from the pool, and he was all alone. The deep, keening sadness of loss cut him with a sharp physical pain. In his left hand was a bloody dagger, and his right cupped his torn intestines.

Shift.

A massive furry creature with eight arms and long teeth like a saber-toothed tiger rose up with a growl, and six eyes stared at him over its wrinkled snout. It swiped at him with a hairy paw tipped with sharp claws and he danced away….

Shift.

He was out of breath, gasping for air, and covered in sweat. He held on to one of the rock columns for support, staring over his shoulder. Surely they hadn’t followed him all the way back here.

There were shouts behind him, in the main cavern, and he took a desperate gulp of air and pushed himself onward, toward the darkness at the back of the cavern….

Shift.

He/They/We were joined, feeling a sense of peace and harmony at their union. He/They/We fed on the nutrients in the water, joined body and mind, and mused about the world outside and the events of the last few days. Each part of He/They/We shared its experiences out in the world, the others they had encountered before returning with their knowledge to enrich the whole. The time of the Great Move was coming….

Shift.

About J. Scott!

Scott spends his time between the here and now and the what could be. Enticed into fantasy and sci fi by his mom at the tender age of nine, he devoured her Science Fiction Book Club library. But as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were in the books he was reading.

He decided that it was time to create the kinds of stories he couldn’t find at his local bookstore. If there weren’t gay characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.

His friends say Scott’s mind works a little differently – he sees relationships between things that others miss, and gets more done in a day than most folks manage in a week. He loves to transform traditional sci fi, fantasy, and contemporary worlds into something unexpected.

He runs both Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink with his husband Mark, sites that bring queer people together to promote and celebrate fiction that reflects their own lives.

Website | Facebook | Facebook Author Page | Twitter | QueeRomance Ink | Amazon

Giveaway!

Scott is giving away a $25 Amazon gift certificate and three copies of his queer sci fi eBook “The Stark Divide.”

Review

Title: Lander

Series: The Oberon Cycle 02

Author: J. Scott Coatsworth

Genre: Science Fiction

Length: Novel (294 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (February 13, 2018)

Heat Level: Low – Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts

Blurb: Sometimes the world needs saving twice.

In the sequel to the Rainbow-Award-winning Skythane, Xander and Jameson thought they’d fulfilled their destiny when they brought the worlds of Oberon and Titania back together, but their short-lived moment of triumph is over.

Reunification has thrown the world into chaos. A great storm ravaged Xander’s kingdom of Gaelan, leaving the winged skythane people struggling to survive. Their old enemy, Obercorp, is biding its time, waiting to strike. And to the north, a dangerous new adversary gathers strength, while an unexpected ally awaits them.

In the midst of it all, Xander’s ex Alix returns, and Xander and Jameson discover that their love for each other may have been drug-induced.

Are they truly destined for each other, or is what they feel concocted? And can they face an even greater challenge when their world needs them most?

ISBN-13: 978-1-64080-476-0

Product Link: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Reviewer: Shorty

Review: This is the exciting sequel to Skythane. A lot happens in this story as the characters go on separate missions to find this or that to help stop the obercorp from taking over. At the same time James and Xander try to help their people recover from the shift and obercorp.

Morgan is back and we learn what he is as Quinn goes to his rescue. James and Xander are forced apart due to a revelation that has Xander questioning his own feelings.

A wonderful, exciting, adventurous story leads the reader in a heart stopping journey of answers and danger with the need to protect. I loved the entire story and was on the edge of my seat awaiting the outcome. I was not disappointed in the least. Brilliantly written with amazing details and battles left me breathless.

Fantastic series that I highly recommend to all. I cannot wait for the next book to see what other surprises are in store.