Fragile Bond by Rhi Etzweiler

1510135Title: Fragile Bond

Series: N/A

Author: Rhi Etzweiler

Genre: MM / Military / Sci-Fi

Length: Novel (48.4K words)

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (February 18th, 2013)

Reviewer: Thommie

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts

Blurb: Sniper Sergeant Marc Staille and his trusty rifle, Mat, are on bodyguard duty at a mining operation on a backwater planet. The resource-rich valley is crawling with tawnies, the native dirt-colored predators. Huge things that hunt in packs and kill as well with tooth and claw as Marc ever has with Mat.

The rules change when a tawny uses an unexpected weapon: pheromones.

Commander Hamm Orsonna, leader of the fefa clan, is determined to chase off the invading aliens. The one he sets out to capture for intel is scrawny and hairless, not very intimidating—until it takes out his entire squad. Seasoned warriors, felled from halfway down the valley by its metal death stick.

Their sacrifice may be worth it, though. The alien male smells like he’s interested in making things right. He smells of other things too, but nobody else seems to notice. Before long, Hamm finds himself fighting off his own kind to defend the alien, who might be his people’s only hope for peace, and Hamm’s only chance for happiness.

Product Link: http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/fragile-bond

Review: Brilliant isn’t nearly strong enough a word to describe this book.

Human race travels space in search of inhabited planets that will provide resources for their survival. Caught up in a difficult position, with their resources dropping low fast, they reach planet Horace Deuce-Niner. A superficial glance of the terrain shows no sign of any intelligent species on the planet and the scouts are dropped, in order to provide safe path for the battalion and the scientists that would take the much-needed resources. Things however are not always like they seem.

Sniper Sergeant Marc Staille is good in one thing and one thing only. Along with his trusted rifle he’s an excellent hunter. The scary predators that live on this planet never had a chance against him and his trusted “Mat”. One by one they fell under his scope. Until one of them managed to locate and approach him in total silence. The only indication that something was wrong was the rich scent of soil that had Marc in complete surrender. Under the influence of the scent Marc manages to understand that is in fact pheromones, huge amounts that are deliberately thrown his way. As if the sharp claws and fangs the beasts had were not enough, he was reduced to mush by a vicious wave of arousal. As much as it didn’t made sense that their pheromones would be compatible, truth was they were, but what had Marc paling and going completely limp was the fact that the tawny predators were sapient indigenes. The horrible truth hitting him like a sledgehammer that he was “murdering” intelligent beings.

Commander Hamm Orsonna is beyond rage when he finally manages to capture the scrawny alien. Who would have thought that this little vulnerable being would succeed in taking out his entire squad? He should be killing him in sight if there wasn’t valuable intel he needed to extract from the alien. As it was, it took him by surprise when the need to dominate him emerged and the air around reeked of pheromones. What was even more shocking was the fact that the little alien responded and exuded his own very potent scent, a scent that hit him like a drug making it almost impossible to resist.

In the process of gaining intel and reaching a way toward peace Hamm and Marc find themselves in the middle of the strangest things of all. The forming of a bond where there should be none. A bond that could forever forge peace or doom them all.

There is no easy way to express myself as to how this story will truly affect you. It had a strong impact on me. I loved every aspect of it. The way the author wrote this book is simply brilliant. The focus on the natural instinct of each species, the aggressiveness, the attraction and the forging of the Human/Furr bond was simply perfect. You don’t simply read this book; you experience it as if you were in this strange planet, side by side with these strange creatures.

This story is not a romance in the stereotypical sense of it. It’s a beautiful combination of war, survival, grief, evolution and well… love. Never mind the word “love” is not mentioned. It didn’t need to and that’s the sheer beauty of it. Emotions are so palpable that words are not needed. It’s one of those books you wish made it to Hollywood and on the big screens just so you could see it in 3-D, hoping what you’ve “seen” in your head while reading it will match the screen.

Bottom end, if you have even the slight inclination toward the sci-fi genre you will absolutely LOVE this book. Highly recommended.

 

Blacker than Black by Rhi Etzweiler

Title: Blacker than Black

Author: Rhi Etzweiler

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Vampire (non-traditional)

Length: Novel (327pgs)

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (23rd January 2012)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Apparently, my twin and I are two of York’s most notorious criminals. We’ve been Nightwalkers in the blue-light district since the vamps took over the world. Don’t know how many years it’s been. Long enough that a stream of fellow ’walkers have come and gone. Most don’t last long selling their chi.  End up face-down in the gutter, or worse.

For us, one night and one sale change everything.

Monsieur Garthelle is the first john to hunt me down. He calls me a chi thief in one breath and offers absolution—servitude—in the next. Maybe I’m a sucker, but I like living and breathing. Strange that such a powerful vamp would show leniency to a mere human. And something’s not right with the chi I took from him. It won’t go away.

Neither will he, and he’s forcing us to spy on his peers. Then a vamp turns up dead, and we go from playing eyes and ears to investigating a murder. This isn’t what I signed up for. All I ever wanted was to sell a little chi, maybe steal some in return. I should’ve kept my damn hands to myself.

This is my story. Look through my eyes.

Purchase Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/blacker-black

Review: Black and his twin Jhez are Nightwalkers.  Selling their chi to survive in a world where vampires (lyche) rule; humans are nothing and they have no rights. But Black has been caught stealing chi he now has a choice… do what Garthelle wants or die, well really not much of a choice is it.

A well written novel that takes vampires into an interesting and unique new direction. Black and his sister Jhez have been on the streets since they were about twelve years old.  the old world is gone and the new world is ruled by Lyche’s (humans call them vampires). Black and Jhez survive by selling their chi to the lyche’s and stealing a little bit of chi off the lyche’s, but Black has been caught out by Monsieur of York (Garthelle the main Lyche of the area).  He now has a choice, do as Garthelle wants or else.  But, Black realizes that this time something went wrong, he can’t dispel the chi he took and he now has a connection to Garthelle.

Okay , I am not going to say any more than that because you really need to read the book yourself as there is so much more going on that it would take me ages to write about it. Black and his sister have secrets that nobody can know about; Garthelle has secrets that he won’t let get out. There are quite a few things going on that keep you reading but they all come back to the same thing… Black and Jhez.

Black and Garthelle have a complex bond and neither of them knows how it happened, as the book progresses we see the deepening of the bond and the effects it has on both of them. The progression of their relationship is moderate and it is far from easy. The story-line is strong and the plot very good, the characters are well-developed and I really liked the twists as the story progressed. I must admit that there is a lot of information to take in and I got completely lost on the lyche circles and how they worked.

The mystery surrounding Black’s background intrigues me and I hope there will be a sequel to clear it up. The interaction between Black and Garthelle is very good and the sex is scorching hot, but mistrust comes between them and it takes a lot to straighten it out.

This book I will recommend to those who love complex and dark stories, mystery, intrigue, twists, complex relationships, really hot sex and something a little different about your vampires.