Tag: Carole Cummings

Beloved Son by Carole Cummings (2nd edition)

Title: Beloved Son (2nd Edition)

Series: Aisling Trilogy 03

Author: Carole Cummings

Genre: Fantasy

Length: Novel (306 pages)

Publisher: DSP Publications (December 19, 2017)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Blurb: When a man’s identity is built on lies, can he find the true self buried beneath? For Wil and Dallin, newfound love might not be enough. To heal themselves and their world, they must learn to see things as they truly are and break free of what they have been tricked into believing.

Wil and Dallin stand at the center of an approaching convergence they’re not sure they’re strong enough to face. The power of the land and the Mother waits for Wil in the bowels of Lind, but it comes at a price: he must defeat the soul-eater and save the Father, Her Beloved, and manage to keep his soul in the process. He can’t do it alone. But where can he turn for aid when friends are not necessarily friends, trusted mentors are not necessarily to be trusted, and good intentions are sometimes the most dangerous kind?

Dallin and Wil must accept their roles as the Guardian and the Aisling and stand together against a ruthless god in a cataclysmic battle of dreams and wills, the fates of both of their souls and those of all mortals hanging in the balance. Trust, if they can finally embrace it, holds both the promise of salvation and the risk of damnation.

First Edition published by Torquere/Prizm Press, 2011.

ISBN-13: 978-1-63533-804-1

Product Link: DSP Publications | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Reviewer: Shorty

Review: In this installment Wil and Dallin’s story goes deeper. Wil feels the mother abandoned him for centuries and as a result he does not trust her. For his part Dallin has sacrificed much to help Wil grow along with everything else on Dallin’s plate.

Yes Wil grows stronger and his knowledge expands. I liked that Wil grew up with Dallin’s guidance. This leaves them to the mission of rescuing the father. I enjoyed how this book ties everything up nicely in this trilogy.

The entire series was a journey of growing, understanding, sacrifice and love. Well written and intriguing this story draws you in and does not let go until the end.

Great read.

Turning The Page… Anthology Release Blitz!

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Hi guys, we have the charity anthology Turning The Page stopping by today to celebrate it’s release, so check out the stories and authors who have donated to this great anthology! <3 ~Pixie~

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Turning The Page…

by

Tempeste O’Riley, Dianne Hartsock, Nikki Prince, Grace R. Duncan, Sue Brown, Aine P Massie, Carole Cummings, Hope Ryan, Mark Zubro, Antonia Aquilante, D. Zander Crane

Turn The Page…. began as a simple idea and grew from there. No matter how bad things seem to be, just turn the page, there’s more—better—things to come. This is only one chapter in your life. It’s not the whole story. With this simple idea, Novice Sister Eroti-Quill—whom most know better as Tempeste O’Riley—began their quest to help Suicide Prevention and Awareness programs in their area. They managed to con (excuse me, convince) other authors to donate their time and stories to the project, and now, many months later, Turn The Page is born!

The authors in this anthology donated their talent as a way to support Eroti-Quill’s hope for others, to help bring strength to programs that so desperately need funding. It will allow them show those that need support but may not have it, or that may be afraid to reach out, just how much love and understanding surrounds them. Turn The Page…. is a diverse range of stories about the journey of love, hope, and acceptance.

Individual Blurbs:

Happy Birthday to Me by Tempeste O’Riley

When Dave’s best friend drags him out for his birthday—nearly kicking and screaming, he finds more than he expected at Sovereign, the BDSM club he half owned but had refused to step foot in for two years other than for administrative things while it was closed. He didn’t go to clubs. He didn’t sub anymore. Period.

Well… until he sees Master Nicky. Then his plans for his birthday change and he decides that maybe giving himself a present, might not be quite such a bad idea after all.

Robin’s Confession by Dianne Hartsock

How can Robin find true love without accepting himself first?

Purr by Nikki Prince

Sasha’s love was in imminent danger. All she wanted was to keep Tori safe. Stay at the cabin wait for the verdict from the council. That’s all they had to do. One little dip in the lake couldn’t hurt could it?

Lockdown by Grace R. Duncan

Gylam’s never been that great at communication and this time he’s gone too far. His penchant for keeping his mouth shut resulted in a disastrous trip to the local dungeon. Jackson, his partner—both cop and at home—and Dom, is well familiar with Gylam’s tendencies. The punishment he gives Gylam is just shy of his limits, but Gylam knows he’s earned it. It remains to be seen if it teaches him anything, though.

Ducks in a Row by Sue Brown

David spends his afternoons feeding the ducks, a peaceful activity until the day Jeff and his Labrador dog burst into his life. David and Jeff get to know one another, punctuated by Bozo’s mishaps, but David is unwilling to share all his secrets. Will Jeff give him the time he needs?

Butterflies by Aine P Massie

Kyndra visits Jaiden’s shop for a little birthday shopping but is there for more than the pretty blown glass designs she makes—lovely though they are. What she really wants is a date with the beautiful craftswoman. But can she push her fears aside and ask, or will her past get in the way? With Jaiden’s help, can who Kyndra is inside finally shine?

Once Step Back by Carole Cummings

When Sahir is busy running for his life, it never occurs to him that the being in wrong place at the wrong time might turn into the right place at the right time. Not until he literally collides with Nicholas and salvation comes by way of magical intervention. But when Nicholas ends up being the one who really needs help, Sahir has to decide the best way to give it—and how to offer it to someone who can’t even figure out if he wants it.

Superheroes by Hope Ryan

Many people reach a point where they think life can’t get any worse. Rock bottom, where the future is so bleak, they begin to ask, “why bother?”

When homeless gay man Wayne Kent reaches that point, standing on a Pittsburgh bridge on a cold Tuesday in April, the last thing he expects is to get stopped—especially by a man named Bruce Clark.

But Bruce has been there, he’s seen that, he’s thought and felt the things Wayne is now and he refuses to see the beautiful, hurting man become another statistic. Coffee and a sandwich is a first step and Bruce hopes it’ll lead to a permanent step up for Wayne. And maybe even a step toward more together.

Unworthy by Mark Zubro

A love lost over half a century ago. Is there really redemption for all of our regrets, or at least perhaps for one regret? A chance to change the decision you made over half a century ago, or at least a chance to say what was unsaid, to say what could be said now? The love you missed so long ago, and if you could have one moment again, once last chance.

Love and Hope and Magic by Antonia Aquilante

Once each century, a ritual is performed, the magic of which sustains the land and protects it and its people for the century to come. But the person who performs the ritual never survives. This time Ailill is chosen. He is honored and content with his fate, but his best friend Lorcan is not. Lorcan can’t accept the loss of Ailill and can’t see a life without the man he thinks of as his other half. But Ailill knew Lorcan perhaps better than Lorcan knows himself, and he knew a life of love and magic is waiting for Lorcan after Ailill is gone, if only Lorcan can find the courage to reach for it.

Façade by D. Zander Crane

David struggles with his gender identity as he searches his city for a woman-murdering madman in his female alter-ego, Façade. Can he overcome his depression and confusion long enough to stop the Grinning Reaper?

M/M F/F Transgender Genderfluid

Contemporary Urban Fantasy Paranormal BDSM Romance

(Each story is unique and special, so the genre varies wildly. All are LGBTQ)

♥ ♥ Amazon ♥ Create Space ♥ Smashwords ♥ ♥

Continue reading “Turning The Page… Anthology Release Blitz!” →

Incendiary by Carole Cummings, 2nd edition

71EqVQhDVkL._SL1350_Title: Incendiary
Series: Wolf’s-own 04
Author: Carole Cummings
Genre: High Fantasy
Length: Novel Plus (310 pages)
Publisher: DSP Publications (21st April 2015)
Heat Rating: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Blurb: Incendiary. Catalyst. Once-Untouchable. Fen Jacin-rei has already changed worlds. So why can’t the gods just leave him alone? Why can’t everyone?

His sanity once more in question, Fen finds himself faced with the reality of what the gods wants from him this time. And with Malick suddenly unavailable, Fen will have to face it alone.

…Or maybe not.

Old enemies and new allies seek “Kamen’s Untouchable” and it’s going to take everything Fen’s got to figure out which ones are which. And it’s going to take perhaps more than Fen’s got to figure out which ones are even real.

ISBN: 978-1-63216-792-7

Purchase Link: http://www.dsppublications.com/books/wolfs-own-incendiary-by-carole-cummings-70-b

Reviewer: Pixie

Review: This is the 2nd edition and there are no changes from the 1st, but does have the short story Wolf’s-own Rapport as a bonus at the end.

This story picks up where Koan left off, so obviously you need to read the entire series, and yes I am being serious, this is not a series that can be picked up in the middle. Fen finds himself in the middle of the biggest fight for his life and sanity than anything that has come before (honestly everything before will look like a slight headache and a bit of an itch), Malick is still gone, people are after Fen either to recruit or to kill and his brothers are in danger.

Wow, an incredible end to the Wolfs-own saga. Everything we have seen before culminates to an incredible ending where we see a little happiness finally, at long last, for Fen. Fen is still running, but now he knows everything, and that everything might just push him that final inch into raging insanity, while Fen is finding the truth, his brothers and friends along with the Temshiel and maijin are fighting for their lives as those that have hidden in the shadows come out to play.

Fen begins to come into his own in this book, as he begins to realize that he truly does have choices that he can make, and no one, not even the Gods, can force him to do something he really doesn’t want to do. They may try to manipulate and coerce but unless Fen really wants it, it isn’t going to happen. When Malick reappears you can basically feel the complete relief poring off Fen, but he is a little bit more solid at his core.

Everything comes together beautifully and we have some fantastic battles and fights, some incredible malicious torture (go Malick go) and some of the most nasty, spiteful gods that we could ever see.
Nothing is missing in this story, everything we have learnt in the past and the hints we received are all made clear, there is nothing left to chance (although a short of Fen and Malick being happy would be cool), there are strings that are left dangling but not for our beloved Fen and Malick.

This story is well written and flows smoothly, the characters bring the story to life and the detail that we get feeds our imagination to a firestorm.

I have to recommend this to those who love high fantasy, danger, fights, magic, or have been there every step of the way through the rest of the series, this isn’t a story to miss and we catch a brief glimpse of happiness for Fen and Malick.

Ghost by Carole Cummings, 2nd edition

71JdXuhT7uL._SL1350_Title: Ghost 2nd Edition
Series: Wolf’s-Own 01
Author: Carole Cummings
Genre: High Fantasy
Length: Novel Plus (374 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-63216-324-0
Publisher: DSP Publications (4th November 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Untouchable. Ghost. Assassin. Mad. Fen Jacin-rei is all these and none.

His mind is host to the spirits of long-dead magicians, and Fen’s fate should be one of madness and ignoble death. So how is it Fen lives, carrying out shadowy vengeance for his subjugated people and protecting the family he loves?

Kamen Malick means to find out. When Malick and his own small band of assassins ambush Fen in an alley, Malick offers Fen a choice: Join us or die.

Determined to decode the intrigue that surrounds Fen, Malick sets to unravelling the mysteries of Fen’s past. As Fen’s secrets slowly unfold, Malick finds irony a bitter thing when he discovers the one he wants is already hopelessly entangled with the one he hunts.

Purchase Link: http://www.dsppublications.com/books/ghost-by-carole-cummings-14-b

Review: This is the second edition and there are no changes from the original edition. Oh my freaking God… put down whatever you are doing get this book and read your little hearts out. This type of book is the reason why I love fantasy so much, the pure joy of the imagination, the complete world building and the mysterious characters that all have their own stories.

Fen Jacin-rei is an Untouchable, a Ghost, a loner driven to distraction by the voices that plague him; it is only his training that saves him from complete madness. Kamen Malick is the leader of a small band of assassins who has been ordered to get Fen working with them at any cost. But as secrets come out about Fen, Malick has his own secrets that he is trying desperately to keep hidden.

Wow, just freaking wow, the world building in this book is world class, the characters are all incredible and the story line and plot are fantastic. The story begins with Malick looking for Fen and finding him, from then on the story and characters will intrigue and baffle you. Malick is just so full of awe about himself but he is completely loveable, Fen is a cold hardhearted bastard but as you get to know his story and background, you understand his need to be as cold as possible.

The story is from many POV not just Malick and Fen’s but also from Malick’s group of friends and Fen’s mentor, which means that we get a full-bodied story will lots of detail but we never lose focus of the story line. Malick spends most of the book trying to seduce Fen because he has a very cavalier attitude towards sex and it isn’t until he knows Fen a little better that he realises that he genuinely likes Fen. Fen spends a lot of time rebuffing Malick because of how he was treated in the past. We also have flashbacks to Fen’s life before; starting on the night, he was born.

I really can’t tell you more about the story line because really it would ruin it for you; this is a journey that you have to take yourself because you have to be immersed to absorb all the details that make it so good. The ending isn’t a happy ever after or a happy for now it’s a ‘we have to see what happens’, it is left in a place that will be picked up again in the next book (4 books altogether) and it will be a continuation of this story. Malick and Fen do get together in this and yes they have explosive, erotic and sensual sex but Malick has a long way to go to gain Fen’s complete trust and hopefully his love, while Fen will probably find it hard to believe Malick because of Malick’s own manipulation early on.

So in all honesty this is a fantasy whose characters just happen to be gay, if you are expecting sex and love on every page then don’t bother, this is a genuine Fantasy like Mercedes Lackey’s The Last Herald Mage. There’s a glossary at the end of the story if you find yourself lost with the various use of words and I’d recommend checking them out first.

So I recommend this to those who love fantasy, mystery, bloody fights, intrigue, scorching hot sex, great characters, awesome world building and the promise of another three books to come.