Powder by Alina Ray

81U9dRBQr4L._SL1500_Title: Powder

Series: Written In Flesh

Author: Alina Ray

Genre: 1980’s/Rock Star

Length: Short Story (30 pages)

Publisher: Storm Moon Press (September 27th, 2013)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating:
♥♥♥♥3.5

Blurb: The price of fame is high as Ian, the manager of a small night club in 1985 New York, is all but forgotten when the band—and the hot lead singer—that he discovered rises to stardom. Faced with continued exposure to the band through the media, it is up to Ian to put together the pieces of his broken heart and work toward his dream of owning the best club in the city.

Product Link: http://www.stormmoonpress.com/books/Powder.aspx

Reviewer:   GiGi

Review: Another interesting read from the Written in Flesh series. Powder is about a club owner with a crush on an up and coming rock star. He falls for the singer, makes regular powder doughnut and coffee dates with him, helps promote his band in his night club, and after the friendship finally escalates to a romantic one, poof!, the rock start gets a record deal (because Ian brings in a producer to help them) and seems to forget all about Ian.

I’m not much for anyone who lets themselves become a doormat, but Ian pulls himself up by the bootstraps, opens a new club, and runs into trouble on opening night. Will Apollo make amends? Did he really forget such a wonderful, supportive man such as Ian?

You’ll just have to read and find out. I enjoyed some of the 80’s musical references, such as that young upstart Madonna touring the nightclub circuit in NYC. Ha! Blast from the past.

Hell Bound by Alina Ray

hell-bound_bs131025_0708Title: Hell Bound

Author: Alina Ray

Genre: Paranormal Erotica

ISBN: 9781627570664

Length: Short Story (11K)

Publisher: Storm Moon Press (October 22nd, 2013)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3 Hearts

Reviewer: Thommie

Blurb: Craig Peters finds himself destined for an eternity of torture at the hands of the demon Karawan, despite having no memory of the sin that condemned him to this existence. Over time, though, those memories return, along with an unnatural attraction to Karawan, which leads them both down a path neither of them could have possibly imagined.

Product Link: http://www.stormmoonpress.com/books/Hell-Bound.aspx

Review: This was an interesting short story challenging the view of the Devil and his demons quite a bit. I liked its approach and it made for a refreshing read.

According to the theme of this story, people who have committed sins are sent to Hell with a memory loss. All they know are their names and generic information about life, but nothing about their life and how or why they find themselves to Hell. The idea is that they are there to be punished for their sins while they slowly recollect each memory of their life and they should strive to repent in order to ascend Heavenward. The demons are there to dish punishment while the remorse is an individual’s inner work and solely depended by their inclinations.

The idea was intriguing and the story more so because Craig, our main character, finds quickly that his life up until his death was perfect and there was no reason for him to be in Hell. The final moment of his death, though remain elusive making him wonder what might have happened to cause him his descend. Meanwhile he causes one heck of a confusion to Karawan, the demon responsible for his punishment, when every session leads to arousal. Be it a whipping to the point of breaking or a flesh carving with razors, the result is the same, a very turned on Craig. Karawan is a young demon and having never before encountered such reaction from any of his charges is troubled, even more so when he finds himself developing emotions for the human.

There is a great passage of time there that goes by as if mere seconds, giving the illusion of time having no significance in Hell. At first read it seems as if this is an instant-love story, but one must keep in mind that possibly years go by, while Craig tries to find and cope with his death.

The story has quite a sweet ending and overall I enjoyed it a lot.