Tag: Riptide Publishing

Cruce De Caminos by Heidi Belleau and Violetta Vane

Title: Cruce De Caminos

Series: A Rent Boy Tale (Riptide Rentboys: The 2012 Collection)

Author: Heidi Belleau & Violetta Vane

Genre: Horror, Urban Fantasy/Paranormal

Length: Short (51pgs)

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (21st May 2011)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Addiction drives Sean O’Hara to a critical crossroads. Will he make the right decision, or will the floodwaters bound for New Orleans sweep him away?

Street kid Sean O’Hara never had it easy, but New Orleans has driven him to his knees. His girlfriend’s broken up with him for a sugar daddy, a gun-toting pimp has robbed him of everything but the clothes on his back, and he’s down to his last two OxyContin. Sean’s no seasoned streetwalker, but he’s not above it either, not when he’s already itching for his next fix.

A familiar-seeming stranger named Ángel may be his ticket to some quick cash, but only if Sean’s willing to help him indulge a high-class john’s weird fetish for the night. As Ángel tells him, in this city and this business, you have to get a little weird to survive.

When night falls on the French Quarter, Sean realizes Ángel and the john want more from him than he was expecting to give. What once seemed merely strange soon crosses the line into supernatural and sinister. And Ángel, the man Sean had viewed as a partner and protector, might also be his otherworldly judge and executioner.

Purchase Link: http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/cruce-de-caminos

Author note: “Cruce de Caminos” is erotic horror, not romance, and contains an HFN only by the furthest stretch of the imagination. However, it’s also a prequel to The Druid Stone, coming from Carina in August, which is very much a romance.

Review: Sean is basically living on the streets with his girlfriend and any money they get usually goes towards drugs, food and a bed for the night… in that order. But, then his girl goes off with a sugar daddy and Sean ends up turning tricks for some cash when he loses his belongings. Just when he is beginning to get desperate, Ángel turns up and makes him an offer.

I found this one to be a bit smoky/misty around the edges. As though, you can tell right from the start that this story is going to be different and will have a quality about it that is slightly mystical. Sean comes across as only seeming to do certain things to keep his girl happy. When he meets Ángel, he is given options to maybe turn his life around. But, Sean seems to be on a destruction course, but finally he begins to recognize the signs of his impending doom.

I have to say that I found one or two aspects of this book to be disturbing.  Like how Sean was drugged and then he can’t remember anything the next day and then later his girl finds flecks of wax on him… yeah strange. Ángel does pop up a few times seeming to steer Sean, or rather trying to steer Sean in the right direction, but it takes Sean facing his mortality before he takes the first steps.

This isn’t a romance, although there is some m/m aspects in it and some m/m foreplay, there is no sex. This story is actually a prologue for another story for Sean. So, we just get the bit where events change is life and he decides to get clean and do something with his life and obviously it has to do with Ángel and his mystical qualities.

So, I would recommend this to those who like horror, urban fantasy, mystical, the breaking point in a young man’s life and the promise of more in the future.

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.

 

 

 

First Watch by Peter Hansen

Title: First Watch

Author: Peter Hansen

Genre: Action, Alternate History (1926), Horror, Romance, Dark Fantasy

Length: Novella (56pgs)

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (30th October 2011)

Heat: Explicit

Heart: 4

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Do you want to live? In the darkness of a WWI battlefield, young Legionnaire Edouard Montreuil lies dying. As teeth nibble his flesh, a voice whispers, Do you want to live? Frightened and desperate, Edouard bargains his freedom for a second chance.

Aboard the Flèche, a grim submarine captained by the nightmare who granted Edouard new life, Edouard pays the price for his survival. Each night, he gives his body to his captain as the bells sound first watch. But surviving is not living, and as the days stretch into months beneath the waves, Edouard grows desperate for escape.

Can Edouard’s old comrade Farid Ruiz help him break this devil’s bargain, or will Ruiz fall to the same fate, trapped beneath the waves at the mercy of a monster whose hunger knows no bounds? Edouard and Ruiz served together once before, and slept together too, but courage and passion failed to save them from the eldritch beasts who roamed the night. This time, the cost of failure is nothing so clean or simple as death, and the spoils of victory are not just life, but love.

Purchase Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/first-watch

Review: Edouard is desperate to escape from the clutches of the monster that saved his life.   He begs his friend to help him out of his situation. Farid agrees to help his old friend and lover out of the mess he is in without knowing the full facts and he just might live to regret it.

Whoo hoo…dark fantasy, come to momma. This book is very good and will give you a myriad of emotions to ponder. Edouard wants out of the bargain he made during WWI as his payment is too much to take any longer.  He’s tried to run in the past but he is always found. Farid agrees to help him but it backfires and now… well, let’s just say, it wasn’t the best plan in the world.

The story-line was good and was really well written but I must admit the cover mislead me slightly.   Okay, it mislead me a lot because I was expecting it to be a science-fiction inter-species romance and then I read the blurb and I was a bit disappointed.   but I said to myself “hey it’s fantasy paranormal type so chin up”.

Now we have dubious consent sex scenes between the Captain and Edouard although it’s mainly foreplay that we witness between them and the scenes are quite erotic for those of us who are twisted like that.  For others it might be quite horrific. The scenes between Farid and Edouard were erotic and hot and I also felt sorry for Edouard because he kept having flash backs. I also felt very sorry for the Captain because although he was a monster he genuinely seemed to love Edouard and I wanted to cry a little as he lost Edouard.

So I recommend this to those who love alternative history, paranormal, dark fantasy, kinky tentacle sex, hot man sex and a happy for now ending.

 

 

 

Grown Men by Damon Suede

Title: Grown Men

Series: HardCell Universe: First transmission

Author: Damon Suede

Genre: Science-Fiction

Length: Novella (101pgs)

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (30th October 2011)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Every future has dirty roots.

Marooned in the galactic backwaters of the HardCell Company, colonist Runt struggles to eke out an existence on a newly terra-formed tropical planetoid. Since his clone-wife died on entry, he’s been doing the work of two on his failing protein farm. Overworked and undersized, Runt’s dwindling hope of earning corporate citizenship has turned to fear of violent “retirement.”

When an overdue crate of provisions crashes on his beach, Runt searches frantically for a replacement wife among the tools and food. Instead he gets Ox, a mute hulk who seems more like a corporate assassin than a simple offworld farmer.

Shackwacky and near-starving, Runt has no choice but to work with his silent partner despite his mounting paranoia and the unsettling appeal of Ox’s genetically altered pheromones. Ox plays the part of the gentle giant well, but Runt’s still not convinced he hasn’t arrived with murder in mind.

Between brutal desire and the seeds of a relationship, Runt’s fears and Ox’s inhuman past collide on a fertile world where hope and love just might have room to grow

Purchase Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/grown-men

“Seedy Business”

HardCell Universe: second transmission

Free novelette written for the M/M Romance group’s “Hot Summer Days” event.

Revenge can get sticky.

This prequel to Grown Men* is a crazy sci-fi short about sperm piracy and sibling rivalry gone seriously wrong.

When corporate mercenary Beirn agrees to a sleazy organ harvest job, he walks straight into his worst nightmare, a trap set by the twin brother he betrayed. Against his better judgment, Beirn teams up with a semen smuggler to save his own skin and hopefully make amends to the only family he has left.

Loathing turns to lust as the two men grapple with their violent impulses and their growing desire. In one terrible night, impossible feelings will force Beirn to understand the brother he betrayed and the mistakes he’s made.

Warning: double-crosses, dirty sex, and designer testicles

* These stories can be read in any order.

You can get the Grown Men prequel Seedy Business for free here: www.allromanceebooks.com/product-seedybusiness-612751-143.html

Review: Runt is contracted as a terra-former and trying to eke out an existence on a backwater planet.   He’s doing the best he can; trying to do the work of two.   When the supplies arrive he thinks the worse when he spots Ox. Ox is starting anew and the pair gets along well but when Runt finds his kill-kit he thinks the worse.

This is a great story line with a good plot and some fantastic world-building. Ox is a gentle giant who wouldn’t hurt a fly.  He’s running from something in his past and he is quite happy to be on the newly terra-formed planet with Runt.  Runt really wanted a new clone-wife but got Ox, he admits that Ox makes life easier and the two start to become good friends. The progression of the relationship was good.   I liked that they were friends before they became something more and that there was no pressure on either side.

I thought that the way that this book was written was brilliant.   It was paced well.   It’s told from Runt’s POV.   We got to know what Runt wanted, what he hoped for, but we also got to know his personality as well.  Then Ox is introduced and we get a whole range of different emotions and fears from Runt. We then follow the progression of their friendship and Runt’s revelation about Ox.

Now, I have to admit I had read Seedy Business a while ago so I already knew what Ox was running from but I must admit Damon Suede knows how to tell a story because even though I knew that I didn’t know why Ox was there.  I mean was he sent there to kill Runt or not? Was this some sort of bargain that Ox had made with HardCell?

So I recommend this to all those who love science-fiction, erotic sex scenes, a slight mystery and a friends to lovers, gay for you, happy ever after. I really can’t wait for the next transmission.

Master Class by Rachel Haimowitz

Title: Master Class

Series: Master Class 01

Author: Rachel Haimowitz

Genre: BDSM

Length: Short (57pgs)

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (30th October 2011)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts 

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Performing before a crowd of thousands? No problem. Baring his heart before a crowd of one? Better tie him down first.

Broadway darling Nicky Avery is a shooting star by night, but by day he bounces from one heartless one-night stand to the next. A quick flogging, a rough lay, a new whip-hand to manipulate—yet still he yearns for something he cannot even name.

He finds his first true hint of satisfaction in Devon Turner, a self-possessed film star and expert Dom. Devon knows what he wants the moment he sees it, and what he wants is Nicky Avery. Nicky’s never learned to trust and has a nasty habit of topping from the bottom, but he learns fast that in the bedroom, Devon won’t tolerate his actor’s masks.

Nicky’s a broken boy, but Devon knows exactly how to put his new sub back together. With patience, care, and all the punishments his little pain slut can handle, Devon breaks Nicky down one scene at a time, revealing a mind that yearns to trust and a heart that hungers for the ecstasy of true submission at last. 

Purchase Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/master-class-master-class-1

Warning: Some readers may find some scenes offensive. E.g. bondage, breath play, CBT, humiliation, rape fantasy (consensual), sadomasochism 

Review: Nicky is a messed up boy; everything has come easy to him and he thinks he should be punished for it… he is not just a sub, he is a true masochist. Devon is an experienced Dom; he recognizes the need in Nicky and decides to take him under his hand.

Okay, I have always been honest in all my reviews so I am not going to stop now. Before the end of the first chapter I wanted to stop reading but I was reading to review so I gritted my teeth before continuing, by the end of chapter two I wished it was a paperback so I could tear it up, stomp on it and then burn it, by the end of chapter three I couldn’t stop reading.

These characters confused the hell out of me because at first I thought that Devon was a nasty b*****d and my view didn’t change until chapter 3.  Nicky on the other hand came across as a pain freak who didn’t care how he was treated or abused and that view lasted until near the end.

Nicky is in the scene for the wrong reasons.   Although he enjoys the pain and submission he doesn’t want any tender feelings that go with it; he just wants the pain and abuse. Devon sees through Nicky’s masks and then strips them away until Nicky shatters.  Only then can Devon begin to rebuild him. I actually started to feel sorry for Devon when it began to feel like he wouldn’t get through to Nicky because he wants more than just rough sex from Nicky. For Nicky I could have cried as he was stripped down to his soul and forced to face his needs.

This story will have your feelings confused and not sure how to think, it has very heavy BDSM… okay fine sadomasochism, bearing of souls and the beginning to a relationship that has a lot to build on… So if you are into any of that then you will love this book.

SUBlime: Collected Shorts by Rachel Haimowitz

Title: SUBlime: Collected Shorts

Series: Master Class 02

Author: Rachel Haimowitz

Genre: BDSM

Length: Short (47pgs)

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (14th November 2011) re-release

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Broadway darling Nicky Avery gives commanding performances on stage, but when he comes home at night, it’s Devon Turner who commands him. Devon—that’s “Sir” to Nicky, of course—owns Nicky heart and soul, and neither of them could possibly be happier with that.

This collection of vignettes explores the gifts of submission and domination—Nicky and Devon’s ultimate expression of love and trust. The ten short stories range from sweet and sensual to hot and hardcore, from cross-dressing to knife play, and so much more.

Dom or sub, curious beginner or 24/7 lifestyler, the stories in Sublime will tease and tantalize, arouse and thrill. And don’t mind Devon and Nicky . . . they like to be watched anyway.

(Stories include “All-Nighter,” “Down in the Woodshop,” “Stainless Steel,” “Pretty,” “Milk Run,” “Too Much,” “A Hairy Situation,” “Wrapped Up,” “One for the Road,” and “Pony Up.”)

Note: This second edition is a revised re-release of the same title first published in 2010.

Purchase Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/sublime-collected-shorts-master-class-2

Warning: Some readers may find some scenes offensive. E.g. bare-backing, biting, bondage, breath play, CBT, chastity, cross-dressing, flying, impact play, insertion, knife play, marking, masturbation, mummification, pony play, power exchange, public play, sadomasochism, sensory deprivation, shaving/plucking, size, slavery (consensual), spanking

Review: Short snippets of Devon and Nicky’s life and scenes together.

These are all very good snippets, I can’t do individual reviews as they are too short but they are all quite powerful. In some, Nicky pushes Devon to get what he wants.  In others, Nicky shows us just how far he has come with his submission as he waits patiently for his Master.  And he also shows us what he will endure and how far his limits can be pushed just to please his master.

Each story is erotic and as most are from Nicky’s POV.   You get a clear feeling of what is going on inside his head and why he is doing things to annoy, coerce or please his Master. There is one from Devon’s POV, which I think pushes even his limits as he tries to battle for control with Nicky,  in the only way he knows to win; leaving Nicky alone, tied and ignored without risking Nicky’s safety.

I recommend this book for those who love BDSM, pushing the limits, hot erotic scenes, stories that are sweet, hard-edged or dark and a love between a sub and his Master.