Hey guys, today we have John Amory, one of the authors from the Dreamspinner Press Charity Anthology One Pulse, visiting with an incredible guest post, so check out the post and then I want you to check out the blogs that the other One Pulse authors will be visiting during the next two weeks. <3 ~Pixie~
One Pulse
by
Jon Keys, Alicia Nordwell, Mickie B. Ashling, M.T. Aspen, M.A. Church, Caitlin Ricci, George Seaton, Jayce Ellis, Bree Cariad, Chrissy Munder, Ellis Carrington, Felicitas Ivey, John Amory, Grace R. Duncan, John Goode, J. C. Long, Elizabeth Noble, Renee Stevens, Troy Storm, Connie Bailey, Dev Bentham, Andrea Speed, Laura Lascarso, Lila Leigh Hunter, Emery C. Walters, C.C. Dado, Sera Kane, KC Burn, Vicktor Alexander, Edmond Manning
Stories drive life. Sometimes life is good; sometimes life is bad. But it’s the nature of our community that in the aftermath of an act of hatred, we respond with love. Because darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. Cruelty cannot stand against compassion. Negativity will never overcome hope.
To show our support for those affected by the Orlando shooting, our authors, editors, artists, and staff have volunteered their talents to create this anthology. All proceeds will be donated to LGBT organizations in central Florida. Join us as we celebrate the triumph of love over every obstacle.
Title: King John Series: The Lost and Founds #4 Author: Edmond Manning Genre: Contemporary / Spiritual / Fantasy Length: Novel (245 pages) Publisher: Pickwick Ink Publishing (10 Sept 2015) Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5 (but so close to giving it a 4) Hearts Blurb: English attorney Alistair Robertson can’t quite believe an astonishing tale of kingship and transformation he hears at Burning Man, the annual counter-culture art festival in the Black Rock desert. Who are the Found Kings? Is “being kinged” as magical as it sounds?
Determined to find the mysterious garage mechanic named Vin who helps men “remember who they were always meant to be,” Alistair catches his quarry amid the extravagant sculptures, fire worshipers, mutant cars, and lavish costumes. After searching for three years, he’ll finally get to ask the question burning inside him: “Will you king me?”
Wandering together through the desert, Vin Vanbly and Alistair explore Burning Man’s gifting culture and exotic traditions, where they meet the best and worst of their fellow burners. Alistair’s overconfidence in Vin’s manipulative power collides with Vin’s obsessive need to save a sixteen-year-old runaway from a nightmarish fate, and the two men spiral into uncontrollable, explosive directions.
In this fourth adventure of The Lost and Founds, beneath the sweltering summer sun and the six billion midnight stars, one truth emerges, searing itself on their hearts: in the desert, everything burns.
Review:The world that Edmond Manning is a complex fantastical one which has to be read to be believed. The world which the series the Lost and Founds is set in is either some grand mythical thing or it is an entirely psychological trip. Either way, King John is a great albeit intense book to read. It is book 4 of the Lost and Found series and honestly I think it would be difficult to grasp without reading at least the first book.
The narrator of King John, like the previous books in the series, is Vin – a mechanic and goes by numerous names. He has the ability to “king” people, which more often than not involves having sex. Now, I’m entirely sure the exact deal – Edmond Manning is great at giving us more questions than answers, it seems – but Vin is something of a godlike figure to many people.
He takes people on a “journey” and “guides” them before he kings them (which happens over a weekend). This whole “kinging” business involves fantastical adventures that are nothing less than psychedelic. It’s the only way I can explain it.
In fact, I sum it up as the psychedelic adventures of a lonely god. It’s not a conventional love story, but involves something along the lines of (to borrow the song title) sexual healing.
The other main player is Alistair. He has been seeking Vin out for a couple of years now. He had heard about Vin and wanted more than anything to be “kinged” by Vin. With the scars of his past forever haunting him, Alistair has quite a mental journey to go on. I wasn’t quite sure about Alistair at first and I don’t think I am even now. He is forceful and just the total opposite to who I could see Vin willingly spending time with and choosing to “king” him.
Now, the reason why I gave this 3.5 hearts instead of 4 and it’s really simply. The first half of the book was long. Not much seemed to happen other than back and forth and the odd argument between Vin and Alistair as they started on Alistair’s journey.
There was a lot of telling, though there was not a lot of explanation (but to be fair the latter is something that I expect from this series anyway).
It’s a long and intense read, but it is enjoyable. If you are looking for pure romance with a HEA, you will not get it. This is a totally physical book.
As I said, the psychedelic adventures of a lonely god. I really want to shut myself off to the world and listen to The Doors now – it’s that type of thing.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Hi peeps, we have Edmond Manning popping in today with his newest release King John, the fourth book in his The Lost and Found series. Edmond has wrote a fantastic guest post about mutant vehicles and there’s a great giveaway, we also have Prime’s review so enjoy the post and click that rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~
King John
The Lost and Found 04
by
Edmond Manning
English attorney Alistair Robertson can’t quite believe an astonishing tale of kingship and transformation he hears at Burning Man, the annual counter-culture art festival in the Black Rock desert. Who are the Found Kings? Is “being kinged” as magical as it sounds?
Determined to find the mysterious garage mechanic named Vin who helps men “remember who they were always meant to be,” Alistair catches his quarry amid the extravagant sculptures, fire worshipers, mutant cars, and lavish costumes. After searching for three years, he’ll finally get to ask the question burning inside him: “Will you king me?”
Wandering together through the desert, Vin Vanbly and Alistair explore Burning Man’s gifting culture and exotic traditions, where they meet the best and worst of their fellow burners. Alistair’s overconfidence in Vin’s manipulative power collides with Vin’s obsessive need to save a sixteen-year-old runaway from a nightmarish fate, and the two men spiral in uncontrollable, explosive directions.
In this fourth adventure of The Lost and Founds, beneath the sweltering summer sun and the six billion midnight stars, one truth emerges, searing itself on their hearts: in the desert, everything burns.
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (27th February 2012)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: In a trendy San Francisco art gallery, out-of-towner Vin Vanbly witnesses an act of compassion that compels him to make investment banker Perry Mangin a mysterious offer: in exchange for a weekend of complete submission, Vin will restore Perry’s “kingship” and transform him into the man he was always meant to be.
Despite intense reservations, Perry agrees, setting in motion a chain of events that will test the limits of his body, seduce his senses, and fray his every nerve, (perhaps occasionally breaking the law) while Vin guides him toward his destiny as ”the one true king.”
Even as Perry rediscovers old grief and new joys within himself, Vin and his shadowy motivations remain enigmas: who is this offbeat stranger guiding them from danger to hilarity to danger? To emerge triumphant, Perry must overcome the greatest challenge alone: embracing his devastating past. But can he succeed by Sunday’s sunrise deadline? How can he possibly evolve from an ordinary man into King Perry?
A Bittersweet Dreams title: It’s an unfortunate truth: love doesn’t always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.
Review: Perry is at an art gallery where he meets Vin who makes him an offer. Perry is about to go on a journey that will scare, invigorate, strip him bare and frustrate him.
This story is extremely well written and the concept intrigued me, but reading the book I found that it just wasn’t for me. This story is from Vin’s POV. Vin is a strange man who seems to go around finding men and Kinging them, Perry is one such man. After meeting in an art gallery and talking for a while, Vin decides that Perry was meant to be a King and sets about making it so. Perry is wary of Vin, but for some strange reason agrees to go to Alcatraz for the day, which is just the beginning of his journey.
I really am finding it difficult to process this book because the concept of being stripped bare, accepting your emotions and finding peace within ones’ self was a good one, but the execution threw me. Vin, we find out little about, he is shrouded in mystery. He had a traumatic childhood, which we catch glimpses of and to be perfectly honest I found him decidedly odd. He has story sex and a word fetish. he is manipulative and sneaky. Perry, I thought at first that he was a strong character and in a way he was, but he was forever giving into and forgiving Vin which I found unrealistic.
Perry’s journey has him hiding in Alcatraz after dark, eating breakfast with the homeless and babysitting a duckling (which may or may not be stolen) all of which he has been manipulated into. I really want to say that the sex was hot and erotic, because it was, but the fact that Vin would always be telling a story during these times ruined it for me. I also couldn’t relate that much to the characters. All we know of Perry is what he tells Vin and all we learn about Vin is from his own thoughts, which he cuts off all the time.
So while I admit this book wasn’t for me, I do think that many people will enjoy this because it is so different from everything else that is out on the market right now. So, I will recommend this if you want to read something new and unique, with a slightly off the wall character, a character who has to find himself and where love is present.
Title: King John
