Hiya guys, Grace R. Duncan stops by with the blog tour for her newest release Patience, the second book in her fantastic Forbes Mate series, we have a quick guest post from Grace, we also have a great excerpt for you to have a peek at, there’s also a fantastic giveaway and Tams review so check out the post and click that giveaway link! <3 ~Pixie~
Patience
(Forbes Mate 02)
by
Grace R. Duncan
Jamie Ryan was almost ready to accept he’d never find his destined mate. They’re uncommon to begin with and same-sex versions downright rare. Since his gay best friend found a destined mate, Jamie figured he was out of luck. Until end of semester stress forces him to go through the full-moon shift early. Stuck in wolf form, he runs into none other than his destined mate. Who’s human.
Chad Sutton has always had good instincts. They served him well as a detective and continued on when he went private. Those instincts tell him there’s something about the dog that comes up to him while running away from animal control that isn’t quite right. He works to put the pieces together, but is unsuccessful until his dog turns into a human before his eyes.
Jamie has no idea what a shifter mate bite will do to a human. He’s terrified to try—and possibly kill his mate. They hunt together for answers while working together on a case for Chad. It’s easy to see they belong together, but Jamie fears the gods gave him someone he can’t keep.
Title: Patience Series: Forbes Mates, #2 Author: Grace R Duncan Genre: Paranormal/Shifter Romance Length: 230 pages Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (March 7th 2016) Heat Level: Moderate Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4.5 Hearts Blurb: Jamie Ryan was almost ready to accept he’d never find his destined mate. They’re uncommon to begin with and same-sex versions downright rare. Since his gay best friend found a destined mate, Jamie figured he was out of luck. Until end of semester stress forces him to go through the full-moon shift early. Stuck in wolf form, he runs into none other than his destined mate. Who’s human.
Chad Sutton has always had good instincts. They served him well as a detective and continued on when he went private. Those instincts tell him there’s something about the dog that comes up to him while running away from animal control that isn’t quite right. He works to put the pieces together, but is unsuccessful until his dog turns into a human before his eyes.
Jamie has no idea what a shifter mate bite will do to a human. He’s terrified to try—and possibly kill his mate. They hunt together for answers while working together on a case for Chad. It’s easy to see they belong together, but Jamie fears the gods gave him someone he can’t keep.
Review: Jamie Ryan is out for a night of fun and drinks with some of his college buddies when his wolf decides he wants to come out a play. He barely makes it to a dark alley before the shift takes hold.
Not only does he have to leave his phone, wallet and keys in the dumpster and pray they are still there when he can return as a human; but now he’s being chased down by animal control. It comes as quite a shock to Jamie when the person he runs into that helps him evade being caught by animal control is his mate, and he is human.
Jamie never thought he would find a mate; they are rare among same sex couples. Even more so is a destined mate, but that is what Chad is, Jamie can feel it.
Chad Sutton is a former cop turned Private Eye. He has seen a lot of things in his line of work that some people would question. He realizes from the start that there is something about the dog that ran to him for safety that doesn’t add up. The animal is too smart, and Chad could swear that Murray, this is what he names his pup, is answering his questions with head nods, gestures and huffing and puffing.
After Murray spends a couple of days with Chad, then shifts into Jamie right in front of him, Chad is more curious than shocked.
Everything happens fast, but it’s a steady progression. That, and the fact that this is a shifter story where mates are most times decided by the fates, so my usual disdain for insta-love stories never questioned this book.
As I said, there is a steady progression in a short amount of time. Chad learns Murray is actually Jamie and a shifter and they are destined mates. The attraction is mutual and the chemistry is evident from the start.
The problem these two will have to face is not attraction or chemistry, its physiology. There are no known cases of human mates. Furthermore, the wolves of Forbes pack are of the belief that Jamie’s bite could actually kill Chad.
Jamie and Chad travel across the globe to a more ancient group of wolves to try to learn more about their mating and if it is even possible for Jamie to claim his lover.
I am a lover of paranormal romance, especially when the author can take the story and add enough reality to it to make me think it’s plausible.
Jamie as Murray almost had me in stitches with the way he would nod for yes, shakes his head for no, the tail wag thing and licking Chad’s face when he was excited.
Then there was the bond they shared and how they could sense each other. There were some questions they wanted answered and limits they wanted to push that weren’t elaborated on in this book, I’m hoping that is explained more in the next book.
There was a bit of angst that was borderline too much for me, but it was also somewhat understandable with the fast progression of their relationship, so I’ll overlook it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read. There was just a bit of drama and uncertainty, with a whole lot of passion and even some romance. If you like shifter stories, paranormal romance, intense connections between your MC’s and a well written story with visible world building, then you should definitely consider this series.
Start at the beginning though, my opinion is they should be read in order.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Hiya guys, Grace R. Duncan stops for a quick visit today to show us the stunning cover to her upcoming release Patience, the second book in her fantastic Forbes Mate series, we also have a great excerpt for you to have a peek at, so check out the cover and enjoy the excerpt! <3 ~Pixie~
Patience
(Forbes Mate 02)
by
Grace R. Duncan
Jamie Ryan was almost ready to accept he’d never find his destined mate. They’re uncommon to begin with and same-sex versions downright rare. Since his gay best friend found a destined mate, Jamie figured he was out of luck. Until end of semester stress forces him to go through the full-moon shift early. Stuck in wolf form, he runs into none other than his destined mate. Who’s human.
Chad Sutton has always had good instincts. They served him well as a detective and continued on when he went private. Those instincts tell him there’s something about the dog that comes up to him while running away from animal control that isn’t quite right. He works to put the pieces together, but is unsuccessful until his dog turns into a human before his eyes.
Jamie has no idea what a shifter mate bite will do to a human. He’s terrified to try—and possibly kill his mate. They hunt together for answers while working together on a case for Chad. It’s easy to see they belong together, but Jamie fears the gods gave him someone he can’t keep.
Hiya guys, we now have Grace R. Duncan visiting with the blog tour for her newest release Devotion, Grace has brought along a fantastic post and there’s also some awesome giveaways so you need to pay attention to what Grace has to say 😉 we also have Tams review so enjoy the post and do as Grace commands! <3 ~Pixie~
Devotion
(Forbes Mates 01)
by
Grace R. Duncan
Will Tanner realize he’s wrong and claim his mate before Finley’s devotion is gone?
Finley Cooper is tired of waiting for his destined mate to be ready to claim him. In deference to human laws, he’s already agreed to wait until he’s eighteen. But now his birthday has come and gone—and his mate has a new set of excuses. Finley doesn’t understand it any more than his wolf does, and he’s beginning to wonder if fate made a mistake.
Tanner Pearce wants nothing more than to claim his mate, but he worries that Finley is too young. Tanner will never forget what happened when his best friend mated at Finley’s age, only to have that mate end up feeling trapped and breaking their bond. While rare, it can happen, and the fallout Tanner witnessed as his best friend tried to deal with the break has haunted him for years.
When Finley finally has enough, he threatens to find someone who will claim him if Tanner doesn’t, and Tanner realizes he needs to come to terms with his fears or risk losing his mate forever.
Title: Devotion Series: Forbes Mates, #1 Author: Grace R Duncan Genre: Paranormal Length: Novel (220 pages) Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (September 11th 2015) Heat Level: Moderate to Explicit Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5 Hearts Blurb: Will Tanner realize he’s wrong and claim his mate before Finley’s devotion is gone?
Finley Cooper is tired of waiting for his destined mate to be ready to claim him. In deference to human laws, he’s already agreed to wait until he’s eighteen. But now his birthday has come and gone—and his mate has a new set of excuses. Finley doesn’t understand it any more than his wolf does, and he’s beginning to wonder if fate made a mistake.
Tanner Pearce wants nothing more than to claim his mate, but he worries that Finley is too young. Tanner will never forget what happened when his best friend mated at Finley’s age, only to have that mate end up feeling trapped and breaking their bond. While rare, it can happen, and the fallout Tanner witnessed as his best friend tried to deal with the break has haunted him for years.
When Finley finally has enough, he threatens to find someone who will claim him if Tanner doesn’t, and Tanner realizes he needs to come to terms with his fears or risk losing his mate forever.
Review: Tanner Pearce is the son of the Alpha wolf, heir apparent and future Alpha. Finding his destined mate should be a cause for celebration. But Tanner is in his twenties and his mate is only sixteen. Tanner never considers not mating with Finley, he just wants his mate to at least be of age and have lived enough life not to have any regrets once they do mate. But young Finley is growing tired of waiting and being pushed away at every turn.
Finley finally reaches a breaking point and flees to his grandparent’s home which is thousands of miles away. Tanner wants to give Finley his space, it’s the reason he has refused to actually mate with his mate these last few years, so Finley could enjoy his youth and be truly ready when they did mate. But now Tanner fears he has driven away his heart, and he’s not quite sure how to get him back.
Fantastic start to a new series! I thoroughly enjoyed the traditional Shifter aspects Duncan included in her story, while bringing a few unique ones of her own to the mix, keeping it fresh. There was the right amount of drama and angst in the story without being immature or awkward.
Tanner has his reasons for wanting to wait to complete the mate bond, but he’s not entirely honest with Finley and it could cost him everything. The story flowed well from beginning to end with crests and valleys along the way to keep the reader interested and entertained.
Shifter fans are going to flock to this one of course, but there is so much more to the story. Coming of age, figuring out who you are and your place in life, learning to bend and give, especially when the decisions you make not only affect you, but your partner too.
There’s some sexy time as well, these two wolves are pretty passionate about each other.
And even, dare I say, a bit of romance… Le Sigh.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Blurb: With the world’s population down to almost nothing and his husband dead, Daniel is sure he’ll spend Christmas alone with his dog, cats, and goats. Jake has been wandering aimlessly since the world went to hell and he lost his partner. As far as he’s concerned, there’s nothing to celebrate. But he finds himself helping Daniel with his Christmas tree and listening to him describes all the things to be thankful for.
Through tree decoration, dinner, and a chess game, Daniel and Jake discover a connection between them that hints at a possibility both had long declared impossible. When the chess game is over and they’re in each other’s arms, they realize how good it feels… and how right. But after having lost everything, are they willing to believe in the possibility of something beyond basic survival?
Review: They feel the “zing” when they first meet, but both have lost someone they loved.
I enjoyed this story very much. The connection they had right off the bat. The love that quickly grew, whether they wanted it to or not was great to read. Having these two, their menagerie of animals and their wonderful Christmas that led to a future was wonderful. I strongly suggest you read this.
Cyrus and Nadir first met as hungry orphans on Behekam’s streets at twelve years old. They became friends, then partners in the thievery that enabled them to survive, and as they passed their days together, they fell in love. When they are both taken as pleasure slaves in the opulent palace of the Malik of Neyem, love becomes more complicated.
Rumors of an attempt on Malik Bathasar’s life put Cyrus and Nadir’s relationship to the test—they must pose convincingly as intimate slaves to the young Malik as part of a plan to lure the assassin into the open. Teman—Malik Bathasar’s real personal pleasure slave and true lover—was once trained by Cyrus for the same duties, and the attraction and care Cyrus developed for him then still remains. The Malik of Neyem proves an easy man to love and Nadir’s feelings for him grow while they’re pretending to love each other.
Cyrus and Nadir care deeply for each other but they’ve forgotten the first rule of love: communicate in honesty. Their love remains strong enough to weather the changes—if they have the courage not only to face the coming dangers, but also to put aside deception and find their truth.
A Timeless Dreams title: While reaction to same-sex relationships throughout time and across cultures has not always been positive, these stories celebrate M/M love in a manner that may address, minimize, or ignore historical stigma.
Review: I’m afraid I’ve been anticipating this book a bit too much a got somewhat disappointed from the delivery. Deception is a spin-off of Choices; the leading characters are the duo we met on the first book, Cyrus and Nadir. We get to flash back with either one of them, as the story is written from both character’s point of view, at the point when they met each other, bits and pieces of events that led them to their imprisoning and life as sex slaves.
We get to revisit Mukesh through their memories and his brutal treatment, we get to see how the fell in love and how they made it stick even though they had no control of their bodies and over who they had sex with, and most importantly we got to see their bond survive everything until Bathasar and Teman came along to swipe them with their fairytale.
Because Teman became a legend among the sex slaves, he became the only one to have managed one master, one steady master for the rest of his life, and that is coveted by all slaves who find their bodies in a different bed every night, most of all Nadir.
Confession time: I really disliked the way this story went. I had such trouble dealing with this book because never once in a million years did I saw Bathasar getting another slave around beside Teman. Not once did I get the feeling that Teman would be all right with another one in their bed, let alone two. Yes, they have played with Nadir and Cyrus on the first book some times, but that was it, they played, they had fun, and everybody went to their corner of the world, Bathasar with Teman happily ever after.
In this book, Bathasar has an assassin hot on his heels so Teman comes up with the idea to employ Nadir and Cyrus. As former thieves, their abilities to defend are ingrained and no matter how many years of slavery they’ve gone, their instincts won’t fail them. The royal couple makes this decision based on the idea that the assassin will be fooled thinking that the Malik doesn’t have a good enough protection and thus they’ll be able to capture him. In order to make them believe that the new two slaves are not protection though, they have to make people believe that Bathasar is quite taken with them the same way he is with Teman, thus all four of them share one bed and are constantly showing of their lust.
Now if you read the first book Bathasar is adamant that Teman wears clothes at all times when not in their room. He is very possessive and dislikes the dinner showing of the slaves terribly. He dislikes the public display and he didn’t use to show Teman, or play with him when obligated to attend dinner. Enter new Bathasar; everything you knew about him drops it in the dumpster because a new version is reborn. One I frankly couldn’t care the least bit about. Pretending to be debauched and sex driven? Nah, he was all the way there in this book. He takes quite a liking on Nadir too (he’s the submissive of the two of them) and even has his fun with Cyrus. Teman is always there but damn it if he’s not just wallpaper. Weird thing is, our Gipsy is not as jealous as we got to think on the first book, and he has no problem sharing Bathasar. He doesn’t mind the growing feelings between Bathasar and Nadir either, and of course, it is common knowledge now that he still harbors feeling for Cyrus as well… If not for Cyrus, who surprised the heck out of me with his steadiness and always being possessive of Nadir and not wanting to share, this would have been a very boring orgy-themed book with completely non-interesting characters. I got so thrown with this spin-off I can’t begin to tell you how betrayed I felt. My favorite characters are gone.
Moving on with the plot there were huge holes there that didn’t make sense at all for me. We have the slaves trying to teach Bathasar how to be quick on his feet, not walk like a Malik but more like a thief, be silent and parry throwing knives. They kept going out of the palace at night to do this. Meanwhile, the assassin has been keeping an eye on the Malik, trying to see the patterns of his behavior, the goings in and out. Yet he never once took advantage of their outings even as he saw for himself that the malik did this often and with no guards around. He instead waited for the entire book, and trust me it was frustrating not only for the characters that wait, but for me as well, and attacked his mark when he was guarded… As for the lessons and training Bathasar endured, it never became necessary in this book making me wonder what the point was for all that.
Another thing that had me wondering was the fact that in the end, the only one confronting the assassin was one, just one, of the three slaves that were protecting Bathasar… I had this huge question slamming my brain over and over, “Where on Earth were the other two all that time it took the first to fight and finally kill the assassin.” That was a bad planned plot for me.
And finally the romance of the story. The book spend a good two-thirds of it with similar to each other sex scenes that of course revolved around edging and denial, and feelings. Both Nadir and Cyrus spend the best part of the book wonder what the heck is going one – I along with them – Cyrus wondering if Nadir is falling for Bathasar, Nadir wondering if Cyrus is falling for Teman, Bathasar actually falling for Nadir and trying to make him reciprocating and Teman a bit aloof and in his own merry world. The sex scenes were too much. As much as I like denial and edging, they are among my favorite kinks after all, the amount of them here and the similarity between them just about made me hit my head on my desk. It was over and over the same thing that made the entire read a big frustration for me. The emotional play between all four parties was at best confusing, even more so in the end. The way they all parted and found happiness practically begged for you to question the point of all the confusion and frustration we had to endure throughout the read.
Bottom end, I was highly disappointed with this book and expected much, much more for it than I actually got.
Blurb: When a country crowns a new ruler, the people rejoice. For most, it’s a time to put away old fears and look to a future of peace and prosperity. But for Teman, a pleasure slave in the land of Neyem, the coronation of his love and master Bathasar fills him with new fears.
Assassination rumors roll through the country—and Bathasar is the target. And Teman knows a malik has many duties. Bathasar may not have room in his life for devotion to a slave—a lover he can’t publicly claim. The love they have might shine brighter than the crown’s jewels, but only if they can keep it alive against all odds.
A Timeless Dreams title: While reaction to same-sex relationships throughout time and across cultures has not always been positive, these stories celebrate M/M love in a manner that may address, minimize, or ignore historical stigma.
Review: And this short story comes back with my favorite slave Teman and his Master and Malik of Neyem, Bathasar. If you haven’t read the first book, Choices, then this story might come a bit as a shock or ludicrous to you, especially some of the scenes that have the slaves displayed naked and wanting in court. You might also have a bit of trouble truly understanding Teman’s conditioning – and I must admit that in the first book Teman’s training was perhaps my favorite – and his ability to be available at all times. So if you’re new to this series I strongly recommend you read the novel first.
Now, back to this story, the theme here revolves mostly at Teman’s fears and how his and Bathasar’s life might change after the coronation. We’ve already read in Choices how Bathasar was more than willing to refuse his throne for Teman’s sake, but having the worrisome brain that he has and constantly over thinking things, Teman cannot help but doubt that their life together is truly going to be as easy as it’s promised.
Honestly, I expected a bit more from this read. Knowing Teman, his abilities, his conditioning, his instincts, and the easy way of this author in writing a truly intense sexual scene, I was a bit let down. While the plot made you worry about a possible attempt to murder Bathasar, all that simmering tension was left unexploited. I am assuming it was left like that only to be picked up in the next book, Deception, that is well on its way, still though I had so missed Teman’s incredible acrobatics and was frustrated that I didn’t really get to see them.
Another thing that I loved reading in the first book was the edging scenes and the final “award.” As I said, this author can write some wicked smut, but while the edging took part here, it was lightly described and the best part of it was simply skimmed and left to the imagination. Yes, I suppose the purpose of this story was to highlight how well in love Malik and pleasure slave were with each other. I suppose the real focus had been on making everything about the coronation a pledge from Bathasar’s part to always love Teman, and the sentimental side was more important. Very good and sweet if you’re in to that, but damn it if I didn’t want this to be more on the aggressive side of the things.
I any way, if you’ve read and enjoyed Choices you ought to pick this one up and have yet another glimpse at this romantic couple.
Blurb: Born and raised a gypsy in the late eleventh century, Teman values freedom over everything. He and his best friend, Jasim, are thieves for hire—until one night they’re caught and their precious freedom is revoked. Given the choice between the dungeons or palace pleasure slavery, they become slaves, but Teman vows to escape someday.
Bathasar doesn’t want the throne. He supports his brother instead, which suits their sadistic father, Mukesh. When Teman, the handsome slave Bathasar has secretly been watching, saves his life, Bathasar requests a slave for the first time. Before long, Bathasar and Teman fall in love. But all is not well. One day Mukesh brutalizes Teman before the court, angering the empress of a neighboring nation. To appease her, he then offers her Jasim as a gift, and Teman decides to stay with Bathasar for now—despite the abuse he may suffer.
The peace doesn’t last. Mukesh plans to invade Jasim’s new country, and Bathasar must find a way to stop the destruction. But if he succeeds, he’ll ascend to the throne and have the power to grant Teman his liberty. Then Teman will surely leave him. What other choice could a gypsy make?
A Timeless Dreams title: While reaction to same-sex relationships throughout time and across cultures has not always been positive, these stories celebrate M/M love in a manner that may address, minimize, or ignore historical stigma.
Review: It is always your choice. You choose between an iron collar and a gold one, or between a gold one and a unique labeled one, or between a unique labeled one or none at all. It’s always your choice.
Teman had no difficulty choosing the gold collar that would make him a pleasure slave. Yes, his body no longer belonged to him or his life, but that choice held the best possibility for an escape. if only his brain would stop thinking about sex long enough to form a plan.
Then there came Bathasar and when he offered the choice for Teman to be only his slave, his love, his man, the choice was even easier than the first time for Teman. So he traded his plain gold collar, for a better one that held his masters name. A tag that clearly labeled his as Bathasar’s property. And while they were so much more than that, his gypsy soul always craved freedom. But, freedom soon became just a dream when his best friend Jasim was gifted to an Empress and Teman was left alone with only his love to contain him.
But when time came that his one and only love could offer him a life with no collar at all the choice was not so easy anymore. The freedom Teman so much longed for came at a price; choose it and lose your love, chose your love and forget freedom forever.
This was quite a lovely book, one that in my opinion had the potential of being exceptional. This is the tale of a slave that his spirit fed in freedom. The tale of a crown prince that had no love for his crown. The story of a cruel and malicious malik (equal to king), who had no compassion for human life. The malik, Bathasar’s father had a strong sadistic side that cost him the hatred of many people, his own and foreign. Teman’s ability to endure and Bathasar’s infatuation with the slave only fed the malik’s cruelty more, and it caused him to lose control in front of a court dinner when many foreign royalties were present. This in turn caused many treaties downfall. The malik’s insanity though goes further when he tries to assassinate the Empress of Tiantang and assault her country, something Bathasar eagerly tries to prevent. They have one chance to get rid of the cruel ruler and that involves Teman and his ability to endure whatever the malik has in store for him in order to provide distraction. A choice hard to make that might cause him his life.
While this book was very entertaining it had strong weaknesses in the plot both in how the characters reacted and responded, and the incredibly fast way they fell “in love”. In such circumstances as monarchy to be able to display such weakness in front of the court as the Malik did is simply not realistic, even more so to have a guest challenge your authority in your own palace, or get in a position that would draw that such response.
As for the pair’s fast escalating emotions and those of the Empress with Jasim, let just say that I’m not fond in declarations of love the first night a pair gets together. This passage is precisely what I mean:
Bathasar didn’t care that Teman had been a thief, didn’t care that he was now a slave, didn’t care about any of that. He liked Teman’s personality, liked Teman’s humor, liked all of that.
However Bathasar simply never had the chance to get to know Teman and fall in love for Teman himself. While Bathasar might have gathered information and was fascinated with the slave, strong emotions such as love are too much for me to swallow when they came the very first night of their “lovemaking”. I simply wish there was given some time to the pair to bond, it would have made the read much more believable and intense.
Furthermore the balance between the intimate scenes and the story itself was very poor. The sex scenes were numerous and managed to draw focus from the story at the point where you felt the story was only 100 pages in a near 400 pages novel. While steamy-hot is perhaps a huge understatement for the scenes and the intensity they had, it still became tiresome and made you wish they were less. They also gave me a bad taste when it came to Teman’s character. The book starts with a very strong, mysterious Teman, one who was always the level-headed and the one to keep things in control while Jasim was the fly with the wind guy. That person however is lost in the haze of lust and love, making one slight appearance and then lost again. I often felt that it was such a shame for that wonderful personality to be deduced in a mindless pleasure thing.
And as for the action itself, too many lost opportunities in my opinion to create a tension like no other. The fear the malik could cause was a bit lost and sometimes it made no sense as in why he would act the way he did.
So at this point you might very well wonder why give 3.5 hearts at all to this story. As I said, while not exceptional, I enjoyed the read. It was too long, yes but still it did keep me in its hooks and I got completely lost in the story. The fact that the intimate scenes revolve around orgasm denial and frustration are a plus cause I’m just a sucker for mind games and this book is all about that. Kinky, hot, sensual and mind-blowing the erotic scenes were extremely powerful in too many ways. In addition the story is located in eleventh century Arabia, one of my favorite areas, in a time when the harems were in full bloom and indeed human life was nothing more than the ruler’s property.
What can I say, I was fascinated by this story and if you are even remotely interested in all the above I recommend take the dive. Aladdin and Jazmin have nothing on Teman and Bathasar. 😉
Title: Patience
Title: Devotion
