Hi peeps! We have Andrew J. Peters stopping by today with his new release Slashed and Mashed, we have a great excerpt and a brilliant $10 NineStar GC giveaway so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Pixie~
Slashed and Mashed: Seven Gayly Subverted Stories
by
Andrew J. Peters
What really happened when Theseus met the Minotaur? How did demon-slaying Momotarō come to be raised by two daddies? Will Scheherazade’s hapless Ma’aruf ever find love and prosperity after his freeloading boyfriend kicks him out on the street? Classic lore gets a bold remodeling with stories from light-hearted and absurd, earnestly romantic, daring and adventurous, to darkly surreal.
The collection includes: Theseus and the Minotaur, Károly, Who Kept a Secret, The Peach Boy, The Vain Prince, The Jaguar of the Backward Glance, Ma’aruf the Street Vendor, and A Rabbit Grows in Brooklyn.
Award-winning fantasy author Andrew J. Peters (The City of Seven Gods) takes on classical mythology, Hungarian folklore, Japanese legend, The Arabian Nights, and more, in a collection of gayly subverted stories from around the world.
Warning: scenes of graphic violence, unprotected sex, racist language by a minor character, reference to alcohol/drug use, reference to suicidal ideation.
Blurb:Police officer Jordan and dragon shifter Edra might have to work together, but they don’t trust each other—even if sparks do fly between them.
If anyone finds out Jordan’s a mytho sympathizer, it could kill his career. No one can know that he frequents the satyr dens and uses the drug Bliss. Another satyr overdose might not get much attention, but two dead humans? That shouldn’t be possible.
And it might not be an accident.
Edra, Mythological Services Liaison, has been covering up mytho crimes to protect the community’s reputation. With a mayoral election looming, the last thing his people need is a scandal.
To get a murderer off the streets, Jordan and Edra will be spending a lot of time together, and it won’t be easy to keep up with their deceptions… or to keep resisting each other
Review: A scientific experiment gone awry send the earth into chaos. New inhabitants are stranded on earth because of what happened. Edra, a dragon shifter knight, is the new liaison for the SFPD. Jordan Kells is a recently promoted homicide detective with a few secrets of his own. When murders begin happen and the blame is a drug called bliss the two men begin working together to discover what is going on. The Mythos claim it’s impossible to overdose on the drug so an investigation begins.
With it being an election year the current major is no help to the Mythos as he tries to stir up trouble against them. Edra and Jordan have a fight on their hands as the news keeps up fake news regarding the murders as well as the mayors bad publicity.
I really liked these two men and their determination to find out what happened. The attraction between them is hot even though they try to deny it. It’ simply a wonderful story with many twists and turns that lead the reader deeper into the story.
Genre: Historical Americas, Western, Mythology, Other Paranormal
Length: Short Story (57 Pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (1st December 2018)
Heat level: Low
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖 4 Hearts
Blurb: Lord protector of whores, thieves, sorcerers, and deviants.
Owning a parcel of land the railroad needs to cross means Edward gets to run the border town around the station as he sees fit. What starts as a place to indulge his varied appetites becomes a haven to society’s castoffs, and if Edward encourages legends about its founder to flourish, well, he’s not so much a liar as a man who wants to protect all the cultures living in peace. Being mayor means folks might ignore his vices, but they also expect him to fix what goes wrong.
When a crushing heat wave and drought threaten not only the town’s diverse holiday celebrations but its very existence, Edward must turn to the one man he’d rather french kiss a timber rattler than face—the icily elegant Cantonese mage Edward walked out on but never stopped loving.
Review:Edward is in need of some big help and he turns to the one man who would be willing to do it, his ex. A heatwave is on them and it is natural. A beautiful town created for those that most would not except and they need to fix it.
Magical and mysterious this story gives you that. It was just a taste though and I do hope that this author turns it into a pretty cool story. The story flowed just like one would like and the characters were quite a hit with me.
I enjoyed it quite a bit. Lets just say that it was not what I expected.
In this day and age, that’s not an earth-shattering headline. We want headlines that scream of life-altering events.
Terrorists Nuke Peace Conference!
That’s what we want to read, or we would if we hadn’t lived it in hours before the beginning of the Great Upheaval. The current world was born in nuclear fire and electromagnetic disruption. Most of the superpowers I knew in the early and mid 21st century were washed away.
Cain Slays Abel!
The truth behind that simple story is vastly more complicated than anyone could imagine. It is a life-altering headline, at least for me it was. Twice a simple tale of murder turned my life upside down. I am Richard St. Martin, Lord of all Vampires, but before my story can be told, you need to learn the story of the first Lord of all Vampires, Cain. My stepchildren call him Father Cain because he was the first. To ferret out the truth behind the tale, I had to recruit two talented mortals: Dr. Jeremiah Banks, Archaeologist, and Professor Juan Di Vargas, Theologian and Religious Scholar. Together they found the secret origin of the vampires:
This is a story filled with many wonderful characters that brought the details of this story to life in startling clarity. Dr. Jeremiah Banks, is an esteemed archaelogist who attends a conference where he meets esteemed Professor Juan Di Vargas, Theologian and Religious Scholar who then begin a passionate night together. With the way the world is in the story they must be careful of being caught as times are certainly different that what the reader will be used to. It seemed that certain things went backwards instead of advancing forward and nations were divided.
Times are different in this tale. The religious aspects and journal entries regarding Richard St. Martin and Cain are fascinating. Though I’m not overly religious myself I was enthralled with the story as it progressed. This story takes us on a wild adventure to discover the truth of El-Abel and Enoch’s whereabouts and the vampires that either protect the knowledge or want it for themselves.
Cain’s tale is fascinating along with his brothers. But, the actual shocking part was the end as I never saw it coming. Twists and turns, mages, witches, vampires danger and traveling the globe on a quest are all in abundance in this intriguing story yet at times difficult to read for me. But overall awesome.
Pixie’s Review ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts:
Well this was a story and a half! The world building was incredible, pulling us into a world where technology is a thing from the past, religion has it’s hold on the world and in some areas slavery is legal.
I will be honest and say it took me a while to get used to the writing style, and if it wasn’t for the story being so interesting then I would have stopped reading it early on. I finally got the hang of the writing style about 25% in, and from then on it was a brilliant read that kept me turning each page to discover more.
The storyline itself was intriguing, the way that most of humanity turns back to religion in the face of disaster and the way that attitudes and behaviour seem to reverse to the early 1800’s, with bigotry rife and slavery enforced. Don’t even get me started on sexuality! Damn if disaster ever does strike like this I hope humanity is better than returning to a time that oppressed so many.
We are treated to the developing relationship of Jeremiah and Juan, a May/December love story that has some D/s qualities, their relationship is stretched over time from their first meeting to the archaeology dig where they discover so much that had been hidden.
Then we have the vampires and the story of Cain, Richard St. Martin certainly shines through these moments as entries are littered throughout the story leading us to an ending that is shocking as the truth emerges about the true story of Cain and Able.
At times this story is edge of the seat as Jeremiah and Juan clash with the people & vampires who are trying to keep them from discovering the truth about El-Abel and Enoch. We are treated to danger and adventure that has us excited for the next chapter, and as we approach the end of the book we are thrilled with what must be a showstopping ending. Well, don’t hold your breath, because while the anticipation is built for a big blockbuster ending what we get is a lackluster fizz as the confrontation seems to collapse in on itself in such a way that we sit there gobsmacked and shaking your head thinking “over four hundred pages for that!”.
But while I had a deep sense of betrayal over the ending battle I have to admit that this is an excellent story that has many intriguing and exciting moments, it draws you in with the tasty tidbits from the Vampire Interludes, with the interesting world building and an ending that makes you want to stomp the book into oblivion and leaves you panting for the next book.
So I recommend this story for those who love a great futuristic paranormal story that has a lot going on, with characters that pull you in, with danger and adventure and a happy ending for the MC’s but which is just the beginning for the Vampires!
Hi guys! We have Kethric Wilcox stopping by today with the tour for The Curse, we have a brilliant interview with Kethric, a great excerpt, a fantastic $10 Amazon GC giveaway and reviews from Shorty and myself, so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤ ~Pixie~
The Curse
(Origin of the Vampires 01)
by
Kethric Wilcox
Cain Slays Abel!
In this day and age, that’s not an earth-shattering headline. We want headlines that scream of life-altering events.
Terrorists Nuke Peace Conference!
Wow! What a gripping headline. This is something to change the world. Oh, wait! The world did transform. This ran as the lead story a few hours before the beginning of The Upheaval. The current world birthed in nuclear fire and electromagnetic disruption. Gone are the nations I grew up with. My life altered again.
Cain Slays Abel!
The truth behind such a classic story is far more complicated than anyone could imagine. The brothers’ tale is a life-altering event, at least for me. Twice a report of murder transformed my life in an unpredictable way. I am Richard St. Martin, Master of Darkness. Before my story can be told, you need to learn the story of the first dark monster, Cain. My stepchildren call him Father Cain because he was the first. To find the actuality behind the myth, I recruited two talented mortals – Dr. Jeremiah Banks, Archaeologist, and Professor Juan Di Vargas, Theologian and Religious Scholar. Together they found the secret origin of the vampires:
Genre: Science Fiction, Other Paranormal, Mythology, Paranormal, Fantasy
Length: Novel (350 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (June 30, 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Blurb: The treachery of an ancient and sinister evil is on the rise again. The races that live in the universe known as the Expanse have been deceived by the MST, their so-called guardians, and the truth has finally emerged. Change is inevitable, but not without a fight.
As Keeper of the Citadel and endowed with supernatural abilities beyond imagination, David will shine as a beacon of hope to those in need, to those who have succumbed to what is known as the weakening agenda—for their so-called guardians fear losing control above all else. Worlds will perish. That much is certain. But from loss often comes a greater strength, a greater understanding of right and wrong, of duty and devotion.
Aided by his boyfriend Doug and his beloved companions, David will stand against both old threats and new. His newly acquired powers of spirit calling and shifting will serve as impressive fronts, and he will draw strength from his passionate love for Doug. The time nears when they will learn if that will be enough, if the races of the Expanse will be consumed by the coming shadows or if they will bathe in David’s light.
Review: Let me start out by saying this book was well written, the plot riveting and intriguing the characters throughout interesting. However I had a huge problem with the fact that there was so much needless interactions between the characters that it took forever to get to the actual plot in blurb. Once there each scene was short and to the point.
This book is long and drawn out in places where it did not need to be. For instance David traveling all over talking to friends and acquaintances about nothing in particular. I thought they were looking for MST? Instead they are having parties?
I don’t know but it seemed needless to me. The plotting of what to do about the MST was short to say the least. I found myself losing interest after the first one hundred and fifty pages and wanted to quit but I did finish the book and was still disappointed with the overall story myself.