Title: Sky Hunter (Skybound #3)
Author: Fae Sutherland
Publisher: Carina
Length: 53k words
Genre: m/m Sci Fi Romance
Heat: 4 – Spicy & Smutty
Sex Frequency: 3 – Average Sex to Story
Keywords/Tags: Series, Series Finale, Netgalley, Space Opera, Royalty, Second Chances, Secrets & Lies, Unrequited Love, Bounty Hunter, Coup d’état, X-Dress
Rating: Pretty Good
BLURB
Jeret hasn’t looked back since running away from life as a crown prince and joining the Crux Ansata’s crew, but when the Ansata returns to his home system, he finds his father ill and a traitor maneuvering for control. Now that he’s a full-grown man, he can’t just walk away again.
Letting Jeret escape was the biggest black mark on bounty hunter Dagan Nu’aim’s otherwise distinguished years as a royal guard. When he catches Jeret back in-system, Dagan seizes the chance to regain his lost honor and bring the wayward prince home.
Jeret’s not so sure he wants to go, but the reignition of his old crush on Dagan complicates the issue. As the two unravel a tangled plot against the crown, their old friendship lights up with a fiery new desire. And when the traitor strikes and the two men must choose between duty and freedom, neither is certain which to pick.
REVIEW
I’ve been looking forward to this Skybound series finale ever since the first book when I knew I wanted to read Jeret’s story most. I think that a lot of other readers have felt that way too, at least from what I’ve seen. Of all the crew of the Annie, Jeret is the one who seems to have the most secrets. He’s secretive himself, but enigmatic and funny at times, always with a smart quip in response to the others and always wanting to prove himself since he’s the youngest and in many ways considered the baby on board by Torrin. Whether it was intended by the author for Jeret to become such a favorite, I’m not sure. But it does mean that a lot of people who read this series were eagerly awaiting his story, which gives this third book in the series a lot of pressure to stand up to.
Of all the secrets that Jeret could have had… I never expected that he’s a runaway prince! That in itself was a surprise, that I wish that I had found out in the book and not the blurb. But, it’s a good hook to bring people to the story, even if they haven’t been reading the series up till now. The runaway prince is a solid character that always seems to draw in readers. Torrin, Rain and Jeret are the only ones left on the Annie after Cookie left in Sky Runners to live with his new love Neith, who the crew rescued from an intergalactic brothel where Neith had been sold and kept against his will as a whore. Now, with the crew reduced to three and two of those — Torrin and Rain — in a relationship themselves, Jeret feels a bit like the third wheel. Add in the fact that he was always seen as the baby of the crew anyway, and it had Jeret thinking about his past.
When Torrin announces that they’re headed to a planet near the one that Jeret escaped from, he does everything he can to convince Torrin and Rain that heading for a job there is a bad idea, especially when he learns that Torrin has agreed to ferry a shipment that must have come from his home planet. Jeret knows that something is wrong if those on his planet are smuggling off the expensive ore, underneath the nose of the COP, but his caution is ignored by the others.
When they land on the nearby planet, Jeret has no idea that Dagan — once the man who was his guard, his best friend, and the man who held his unrequited love as a 15 year old crown prince — has resumed the search for the heir to the empire under the name of his king. When Jadakira (Jeret’s real name) escaped as he always wanted to do at 15, Dagan lost everything. His failure to protect the prince led to the loss of his whole world and his ultimate banishment from the planet. But Dagan knows Jadi well and it only takes him six months to track his whereabouts and learn about his tenure as part of the Crux Ansata’s crew.
But Jeret, no matter his remaining feelings for the man he once loved as a kid, will not allow anyone to return him to his home planet. He has never had a desire to be king and what he loves most is the mechanics of the Annie, his crew and their adventures in space. His birthright is a cage he escaped years ago. But when he learns that his father, the King, is dying and a traitor planetside is angling to steal the throne, Jeret knows that he has to find the culprit. But he’ll fight Dagan and his “duty” to the King the whole way, and hopefully in the end be able to return to the life he wants to lead.
There are parts of this book that I really enjoyed. There is quite a bit of history between Jeret and Dagan and I thought that their relationship played out beautifully. Both are stubborn and refuse to budge from their ultimate goal: Jeret to return his home planet to the way it should be and then return to the crew of the Annie; and Dagan wants to help Jadi, still not quite understanding his true desires. The fact that Dagan failed in his duty all those years ago is a mark against his pride and he will do everything to return Jadi to his father before his death. The reconciliation of their desires takes most of the book and we really get to see their stubbornness play out against each other over and over, though not too far as to be frustrating. The push and pull between them gave the story the most enjoyment for me, because as the story evolves and they learn to work together for a common goal their true feelings come to matter more than their pride.
On the other hand, I was pretty disappointed in the external plot. The plot to overthrow the king and Jeret and Dagan’s plan to ferret out the traitor. For most of the book the tension mounted and they moved closer and closer but the ending really fizzled for me. First, the traitor was not who I expected, but that was because I never felt as if they were introduced into the plot to even become a suspect. I’m not a big fan of when authors do that. The culprit should have been introduced much earlier. And second because the final confrontation, while a bit satisfying for the characters, seemed a bit… anticlimactic.
So the real interest for me in this story was Jeret, and his love interest Dagan. I enjoyed their back and forth courtship, and I will admit that the tension created by the external plot was more of a device to play into their feelings for one another than the other way around. I think that if you read this story alone, without reading the first two then you might not have the prior interest in the characters to make this a very satisfactory read. I read this because I’d read the first two, and I had an interest in learning more about Jeret. And while I did find what I wanted, this book as a complete story was a little bit disappointing.
So, I recommend this for those of you who, like me, have read both Sky Riders and Sky Runners. For all the books, I found the romances in them the best part of the books. Looking back at this as a series, I would have probably enjoyed more of a central story arc over the whole series that drew them together. But, they are the way they are 😉 And I did find enjoyment from them.
On (Not) Coming Out as a Gay Romance Writer
One author’s perspective
Anyta Sunday
So, here’s the thing: I’m a female writer of gay romance novels, and I love it. Paint me all colors of the rainbow, because I’m proud of it too. I love being able to give two guys in love the happily ever after they’re searching for; love being able to make things right in the little way I can.
And yet, while I’m proud of it, sometimes it’s tough to be out and proud of it. Ninety percent of the time, it’s all fine, but that ten percent . . .
Here’s an example I had recently on my travels around Minnesota. We’re up north, in a small town. I’m staying with my husband and son at a bed & breakfast, and one morning all guests are around this beautiful oak table, covered in doilies, eating blueberry stuffed crepes, and drinking black coffee with a side of awkward silence. Someone had to say something, but what do you talk about that’s not a strained, beaten-to-death discussion of the weather?
Thank God someone else ice-picked the way to conversation (I was still blanking, ‘weather’ on an endless circuit in my head). And then, suddenly, everyone’s talking about where it is they’re from and what they do—
Then it’s my turn. I’m bouncing on my seat, because I love talking about anything to do with writing and reading, and I swear I almost chirp—“I’m a writer.”
I’m asked if I have a business card, and I do, but it’s in my room. The conversation wanes and waxes, the only thing constant is the coffee in our mugs. And at some point I learn that one of the other couples met each other in church.
Well, church isn’t my favorite topic, but I didn’t think anything of it until they came to my room asking for my business card. Now, I know just because someone goes to church, doesn’t mean they can’t be open-minded and respectful of other people’s life decisions, but I didn’t know these people at all, and suddenly I felt uneasy telling them I wrote (mostly) gay romances. My palms got all sweaty, and my breath kept catching. I gave them my card, smiled as they read it, and very swiftly the couple shuffled off.
It was a small inner battle to stand up for what I write. And it made me think back to a conversation I had a year earlier at a writing workshop.
In a group of twenty writers from various parts of the States, a discussion was brought up about how other people in the author’s circle perceive their work. One author felt that he couldn’t show his work to his colleagues because they wouldn’t accept some of the themes dealt with in the book. Somehow this morphed into my situation, where I told them I wrote gay romances, but also felt I couldn’t show or tell everyone in my close family what I did.
And boy, did that divide the group!
On the one side, I was told it was hypocritical of me to write gay romances where characters come out of the closet, when I couldn’t even come out about what I write to my family. I was, in nice words, told that I should suck it up, grow some balls, and stand up for what I do and what I believe in.
On the other side, I had half of the group understand how difficult it could be to tell the (very religious) part of my family what I do if they would not accept me for it.
Oh, but if they don’t accept who you are and what you believe in, then maybe they aren’t the family you want.
And here’s the heart of it; why it’s so difficult for me to come out as a gay romance writer: I still love that side of my family. They have their beliefs, and I have mine, but they have been a big part of my life. I spent weekends with them, we traveled together, I climbed into their bed as a kid to be cuddled when I got scared, they forced me to wash my hair when I avoided doing it (weird phase, don’t ask), they practiced lines with me for drama auditions, we walked the dog, we laughed, we cried, we ate apple crumble and watched Pride and Prejudice.
I love them.
So I never tell them what I do.
But ever since my Minnesota trip, over many a coffee, I’ve been thinking about this more and more, wondering what the possible solutions are to being more confident in standing up to strangers about what I do; wondering if I am being hypocritical in a bad way; wondering if I will grow those balls and stand up for the men I love giving HEAs to, for my readers who may look up to the example of those stories, for myself.
Unfortunately, I don’t have all the answers. I wonder if other authors or readers of gay romance have similar situations where they feel uncomfortable telling others about the books they write/read? I wonder what solutions they might have.
But I wanted to highlight one possible silver lining to the difficulties of coming out as a gay romance writer. This inner struggle may not be half or even remotely as difficult as it is for gay men to come out of the closet, but I can in small measure understand how hard it must be, and I like to think that gives me some perspective into the characters I write about.
Anyta Sunday
(www.anytasunday.com)
Taboo For You
Anyta Sunday
Sam’s freaking out. He’s 30 in three weeks. And what has he done in his twenties? It’s pretty simple math: nothing exciting at all. But hey, he has three weeks right? Maybe that’s just enough time to tick his way through a 20s Must Do List . . .
Luke’s freaking screwed. He’s come out to his family, and his friends. Except there’s a certain someone who doesn’t know yet: his neighbor of 7 years. Who also happens to be his best friend. Who Luke needs to tell the truth, but he just . . . can’t . . . seem to . . .
Jeremy’s freaking over-the-moon. It’s the countdown to his 15th birthday, and his goal is simple. No matter what, he’s going to spend heaps of time with saucy Suzy. But first he needs to get his over-protective, no-girlfriend-’cause-you’ll-get-her-pregnant parents off his back. And what better way than pretending he’s gay?
Sam, Luke, and Jeremy. Three guys who have a lot of history together, and a lot of future too— —well, if they can sort out their issues, that is.
GIVEAWAY RULES
Please leave a comment below to win an ebook copy of Taboo For You. The giveaway will last until Midnight CDT on Friday, July 26. I will choose the winner using Random.org and email the winner who will then have 48 hours from the time of the drawing to reply to my email. I will then forward the winner’s information to the author so the winner can receive their book.
Please enter the email you’d wish me to contact you at in the comment form, or if you prefer, leave it in the message.
Thank you and good luck!
GIVEAWAY CLOSED
Congrats to these winners for:
Shadows in the Night by MA Church: Gigi
Blood Bathory: Like the Night by Ari McKay: PaParanormalFan (Renee)
Thick as Thieves by Tali Spencer: Ann
I’ve already emailed Gigi, Renee & Ann, so they should already have gotten the news 😉 but if not, please email me at armchairreader[dot]coleriann[at]gmail[dot]com so you can get your book. Thanks for playing everyone and thank you all for stopping by and commenting on these wonderful authors’ guest posts and my review of Blood Bathory:
MA Church introduces Shadows in the Night + Excerpt + Giveaway!
My Review: Blood Bathory: Like the Night by Ari McKay + Giveaway!
“My Blurb Has Balls”, a guest post by Tali Spencer + Giveaway!
Buy Links:
Shadows in the Night by MA Church: http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-in-the-Night-ebook/dp/B00DW0GTGE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374340374&sr=1-1&keywords=shadows+in+the+night+church
Blood Bathory by Ari McKay: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Bathory-Like-Night-ebook/dp/B00DRL9640/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374340443&sr=1-1&keywords=blood+bathory+mckay
Thick as Thieves by Tali Spencer: http://www.amazon.com/Thick-as-Thieves-ebook/dp/B00DTNALTK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374340478&sr=1-1&keywords=thick+as+thieves+spencer+tali
Title: Sweet Young Thang (Theta Alpha Gamma #3)
Author: Anne Tenino
Publisher: Riptide
Length: 108,400 words
Genre: m/m Contemporary Romance
Heat: 5 – Off the Charts!
Sex Frequency: 4 – Very Often
Keywords/Tags: Series, College, Fraternities/Frat Boys, May/December, Firefighter Paramedic, Family Issues, Closeted, Coming Out, Sexy to the 9999999s!, Past Couples’ Cameo, Mystery, Homophobia
Rating: LOVED It!
BLURB
When Plan A fails, turn to Man A.
Thanks to Collin Montes, Theta Alpha Gamma now welcomes gay and bisexual students. Persuading his Uncle Monty, president of the TAG Alumni Association, that the open approach won’t adversely affect TAG’s reputation is Collin’s own first step toward coming out. As long as there are no repercussions, he’ll escape the closet by graduation.
Enter repercussions, stage left: someone rigs the TAG House water heater to launch through the ceiling, then plants a bomb—thankfully unsuccessful—in the fraternity’s basement. Now Collin has his hands full not only trying to convince his uncle that this might not be the work of homophobes, but also dealing with a fratful of brothers worried about their kegger fridge.
Paramedic Eric Dixon can’t stop thinking about the kid he met during a call at his former college fraternity house. The age gap between them is trumped by sexy eyes, so when Eric sees Collin again at the bomb scene, he pursues him. Soon, Eric is dreaming of being a househusband, fighting to keep Collin safe from whoever’s trying to destroy the fraternity, and helping his sweet young thang realize that repercussions sometimes have silver linings.
REVIEW
Well, Anne, you’ve made me do it again. Every time I pick up one of your (long-awaited) books I find myself even more in love than before. I think this time around I really fell in love with this book, simply because it had so many different qualities to love and pinged on so many different emotions from so many different characters. And, it was touching. Anne takes us satisfactorily deep into Collin and then allows us to experience the moments of clarity and insight as he feels them and deals with them.
In this third installment of the Theta Alpha Gamma series, we head back once again to the fraternity that first saw an open gay student with Brad in Frat Boy and Toppy. We meet Collin briefly (if I can remember correctly) as Brad’s friend who gives him a pretty big failure of a blowjob, one that acts as somewhat of a catalyst in Brad and Sebastian’s relationship.
In Sweet Young Thang we see that experience from Collin’s perspective. He is…/was? Brad’s best friend but not out himself. He did a pretty good job of pretending to be straight before that, but now he has a good circle of friends at the college that are all gay men. He’s the Alumni Liaison for TAG, a position secured for him by his Uncle Monty, the President of the Alumni Association with a heavy hand in current TAG politics — the biggest of which is the recent change in policy that says that Theta Alpha Gamma now accepts gay students. Of course, it always did, but it was more of a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell kind of situation. Brad changed all that. Collin convinced his Uncle Monty to support him in his lobbying to change the policy and in return promises him that there will be no repercussions from those who might be unhappy about the change.
All of that is blown out of the water when someone plants a bomb and sets the TAG house on fire. A frat brother is injured and the house is totally a lost cause. And Uncle Monty starts putting on the pressure to change the policy back. But part of Collin’s reasons for lobbying the change so hard were to see his Uncle’s reactions in the first place. His whole life has been planned out by his uncle, his prep school, college, classes and degree, including his position in the family olive oil import business after graduation. It isn’t until he meets sexy paramedic Eric (who has his own secret history with Uncle Monty), an alum of TAG himself in the bomb fiasco that Collin starts to feel like he finally has someone in his corner. But their relationship is picking up quick and heavy and the pressure from all directions in his life is starting to get to Collin.
This is quite a long novel, but it really doesn’t seem like it because it’s really jam packed with action and a super quick pace. The only real downtime in the story are the times alone with Collin and Eric, which thankfully are a fair few. Normally, I would probably prefer the story to be less sex heavy and more plot-centric, but Anne Tenino knows how to write sex and intimacy together, while keeping the relationship moving forward and the sex important to plot. And that’s all while making it some of the hottest sex I’ve read this year! Whew, Eric and Collin have a serious connection from the moment they meet and it really shows throughout the book, slowly translating from lust into something real. Even though it’s made known several times throughout the book how fast their relationship is moving (a week total over the whole book) this NEVER felt like insta-love. It isn’t about the overall time that the couple has in getting to know one another, but about how they spend that time. Eric and Collin go through a lot together and each step along the way they communicate those changes between them, so that you can see them growing together.
All i can really do is urge you to read this book yourself. I know that this book will have a fair few amount of fans excited to read it already, because of the popularity of the series previously. But all I can really say is that I feel like this series gets better and better with each book, and while your preferences for the plot of each will change how you feel about each book (they’re all fairly different), I think that Anne’s writing has grown in leaps and bounds since Frat Boy…. There are so many great things about this book, a kick ass opening chapter which really introduces us to Eric well and some absolutely pure hilarity from the frat boys:
and
This moment between Collin and Eric pulled it all together for me:
Collin felt as if Eric had just dropped his full weight on his chest, denting in his ribcage and making it harder for his lungs to expand.
“No.”
Eric kissed his other palm.
“Shit. Maybe. Why would I feel ashamed?”
“I don’t know. For not being what your — what people wanted you to be.”
Oh God, now he felt nauseous. “That’s so unfair.”
Eric smiled sadly. “It’s unfair that you felt that way?”
Collin swallowed, nodding…
I admit I did wonder a few times if Collin ever went to class! Of course, that doesn’t matter, but it does illustrate the enormous pressure I felt for him. Collin has everything bombarding him at once with enormous pressure on him to hold the weight, to deal with it, to figure it out for everyone else. I really felt for him. And it made his time with Eric and their marathon sex chapters not just an expected byproduct of a romance novel, but needed as de-stressing time for him.
So, yes, I definitely recommend this one. I know a lot of you will be reading it anyway, so I’d love to know what you think. Please leave me comments!
My fantasy novel Thick as Thieves was published just recently. So far the response has been good. The most amazing thing for me, though, is how readers and reviewers overwhelmingly state that they were hooked by the blurb into wanting to read the book. One reviewer even went so far as to say the writer had to have some balls to put out a blurb so outrageous. Could the book possibly deliver?
Well, the blurb does start out with barbarian fucking himself with a unicorn horn.
I love blurbs. When they’re good, they’re a book’s best friend. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been prompted by a blurb to find out more, usually by reading an excerpt or first chapter. If a cover is a book’s clothing, designed to catch the eye, the blurb is what happens when the book starts to speak. It’s the reader’s first experience of the book’s voice.
My first attempt at a blurb for Thick as Thieves was much tamer. For one thing, I buried the part about Vorgell fucking himself in the ass with a unicorn horn. I thought that would be silly, so wrote something about how it was lust at first sight when Vorgell was cast into a cell with a pretty male witch. Interesting, right? Lust is good.
My editor came right back with a draft that mentioned the unicorn horn, though not right away. Pretty soon all the elements were in place—the barbarian, horn, witch, magic—but the blurb still lacked sparkle. I wanted sparkle. I wanted to capture the novel’s sense of fun and its rampant fantasy.
So of course I showed the blurb to my writing friends. Because that’s what writing friends are for. They huddle over words and poke at them and offer opinions. Besides, they’d read the story.
“You have to put the unicorn horn in Vorg’s ass,” said one whose opinion I generally respect.
“But—”
“That’s right,” said another, “the moment I read that part in the book, I knew it would be good.”
Fine.
Back to the drawing board. But did I really want to go there?
All my life I’ve wanted to be taken seriously as a writer. Most writers struggle with condescending loved ones, laughable incomes, and rejection in doses that would devastate mere mortals. By my measure, I was being pretty brave already for having written a book like this in the first place.
So I submitted another version of the blurb after implementing my friends’ suggestions. And the editor loved it! I guess she thought leading with Vorgell enjoying a unicorn horn in his ass was a fine way to introduce my book. With my publisher behind it, we had a blurb.
Actually, now that I’ve gotten over wanting to be taken seriously, it’s a pretty great blurb!
That darn unicorn horn in my barbarian’s ass is causing readers to take a longer look at the book. It’s doing what a blurb is supposed to do. Sure, many of those readers will roll their eyes or chuckle and move on… but lots of readers are being intrigued enough to take the next step and check out my excerpt or even buy the book just to see what that darn blurb is about. That’s good positioning! Because the book really does deliver on the blurb.
Positioning is “the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market.” This blurb does it in spades.
- It creates an image, however absurd.
- It creates an identity by branding Thick as Thieves fantasy with tongue in cheek.
- It reaches my target market of readers looking for M/M fantasy that’s a little different and fun.
For the record, I don’t claim to be good at writing blurbs. In fact, I usually struggle to make my books sound interesting. I completely rely on my editors and friends. Maybe that’s why the response to this one tickles me to pieces. It’s a great blurb and I’m enjoying my balls.
Blurb:
After Vorgell the barbarian fucks himself with a unicorn horn, he ends up in a cell with Maddog, a pretty young thief. It’s lust at first sight for Vorgell—but honestly, he can’t help it. Unicorn horn is a potent aphrodisiac, and now he can’t stop thinking about sex. Luckily, Madd is one male witch who knows how to put Vorgell’s new magical body to good use when he tricks Vorgell into a kiss that helps them escape.
Vorgell may desire sex in general—and Madd in particular—but Madd has no intention of being screwed by a man twice his size. He has problems of his own, including an enchanted collar that causes him to desire his most hated enemy. He wants that collar off as soon as possible, but that requires stealing a basilisk egg from the castle they just escaped.
Drawn together by lust and magic, the two men join forces and soon find themselves up to their necks in witches, wizards, and trouble. Vorgell and Madd might just be perfect for each other, but first they have to survive long enough to find out.
Excerpt:
Vorgell had no sooner yanked Madd through the vortex and into the alley than the little guy fought free of his grip and turned back, tracing a darkly glowing sign in the air. A baying hound burst through, bowling Madd over just before the dark hole vanished, revealing a plain wall of mold-blackened bricks. The barking dog crouched, prepared to leap. Vorgell rose to full height. Expanding his chest and flexing his arms to make himself look even bigger, he showed his teeth and roared. The dog yelped and fled down the alley.
“I’m glad the dog didn’t get stuck in there,” he said to Madd, who was panting and sitting in stunned relief in a puddle.
“The dog? What about me!” He got to his feet, shaking out his cloak.
“I pulled you through, didn’t I? So where are we?” Night had fallen, and the alleyway in which they stood was narrow and dark. What stray bits of light infiltrated the passage revealed grim stone walls, dripping eaves, and gutters filled with debris.
“Gurgh. Or more to the point, Rattail Alley in Sewerside.”
“You brought us to the city? I went to the wilderness to get away from here —”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re here now.” Madd began walking through the gloom toward a half-toppled archway at one end of the alley. “Well, are you coming or not?”
Vorgell glanced down his body. He’d lost his trousers and loincloth back in the forest and his nakedness was sure to draw attention. “No,” he said, “I think I’ll stay here.”
Madd stopped walking and snapped around to glare in warning. “The fucking baron is after you, and—”
“I thought he was after you. After all, you escaped.”
“And took you with me.” Madd frowned, his dark gaze traveling down Vorgell’s body and taking in his state of undress. “I guess we’ll have to find you some clothes.”
Vorgell liked that idea. “You could just hand me your cloak.”
“No!” Madd clutched the garment closed at the throat. “We’ll… find you something else.” He sighed. “You don’t get it, do you? We need to disappear. You consumed an entire unicorn horn, and—”
“And I’m horny all the time now. I know.” As if to confirm that point, Vorgell’s cock twitched and plumped at the sight of his companion. Even wrapped in shadows and with a water stain from the puddle on his ass, Madd was bewitching. Vorgell’s blood warmed just to look at him. “But I don’t see what that has to do with—”
“Are you really so gods-addled clueless? A mere sliver of unicorn horn makes a man horny for days. You consumed the entire horn! You filled your gargantuan body with so much fucking unicorn magic you’re now a walking, talking reservoir of enchantment! And you’re not a magician, are you? You’re like a toad sitting on gold coins! You can’t get rid of your pot of gold because you don’t know how to use it!”
Vorgell blinked at the little guy’s rage, struggling to see past the fact that Madd looked unbearably cute when he gestured and paced and sputtered. So cute Vorgell wanted to push him against the moldy wall and silence him with kisses while he pushed his cock against that delectable, lithe body. He fought to keep focus as his cock stiffened to full engorgement.
“I can do magic?”
Madd rolled his eyes. “No. You fucking are magic. Like a unicorn. Your blood, your bones, every living part of you, is filled with the shit.” He sighed. “Why the hell do you think I bit you in the tower, except to get at the magic? Or sucked your cock just now? Which, by the way,” he added, “I don’t plan on doing regularly.”
“But you’re good at it. And, well, I thought—” But then he realized he hadn’t been thinking for some days. It was time to start doing it. “So you are using me?”
Madd looked him in the eye. “Yes. And you’re fortunate in that. Because although I’m not a particularly good magician, I’m much more ethical than the baron or his like. Or any of the Wizards’ Guild. That lot would be bleeding you by now and amputating toes to suck on for a little extra spell power.”
Vorgell considered this. He distrusted magic users. He also knew a thing or two about unscrupulous men and could be one himself when the situation demanded. He hadn’t carried Madd away from their prison out of gratitude, but for purposes of ravishment. The latter still sounded like a good idea.
“So you’re saying the Baron is after me?”
“And me too. I’m high on his list of people he wants dead, especially now. I was busy, and not exactly praying for his good health, my last few days in that cell. For better or worse, we’re both hunted men. We’re in this together, so we might as well make the most of it. Let’s get you something to wear, and—”
Shouts for help broke out from the direction of the archway at the alley’s end, accompanied by screams and the clashing of swords. Vorgell’s nerves leaped. At last! He’d had enough of unicorn horns and talk of magic. A good fight was something he understood.
“Battle!” he cried. He ran toward the melee.
Author Bio
Tali Spencer fell in love with writing at an early age and never stopped. Thanks to a restless father, she grew up as a bit of a nomad and still loves to travel whenever she can. Her longest stint in one place was Milwaukee where she went to college and enjoyed a series of interesting careers including respiratory therapist, airport executive, and raising three surprisingly well-adjusted sons. She later married her true love and put down new roots in Philadelphia, where she lives in an ongoing Italian American family sitcom. At least she’s learned how make good pasta. When not writing, Tali reads everything from sweet goofy romances to Lebanese cookbooks, manages her fantasy football team—go Gekkos!—and takes long walks with her loving, if slightly neurotic, poodle.
Visit Tali’s blog at http://talismania-brilliantdisguise.blogspot.com
E-mail: tali.spencer1@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer
Twitter: @tali_spencer
Buy Links for Thick as Thieves
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4002
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thickasthieves-1228425-143.html
Giveaway
Please leave a comment below to win an ebook copy of Thick as Thieves. The giveaway will last until Midnight CDT on Friday, July 19. I will choose the winner using Random.org and email the winner who will then have 48 hours from the time of the drawing to reply to my email. I will then forward the winner’s information to Tali so the winner can receive their book.
Please enter the email you’d wish me to contact you at in the comment form, or if you prefer, leave it in the message.
Thank you and good luck! And thanks to Tali for visiting TAR again 🙂
GIVEAWAY CLOSED
Title: Thunderballs
Author: Andrea Speed
Publisher: Dreamspinner
Length: 5,323 words
Genre: m/m Contemporary Romance
Heat: 1 – Sweet/None
Sex Frequency: 1 – None
Keywords/Tags: 2013 Daily Dose — Make a Play, Short Story, Sports, Dodgeball, Flirting, Meet Cute
Rating: So So
Reviewed by Sadonna
BLURB
Luke Diaz signs up for an adult dodgeball league out of morbid curiosity and a love for a crazy movie. After all, sports aren’t his thing. Then attraction to the team captain, Shane Kinrade, keeps him from ducking out of tryouts, and Luke discovers he’s actually rather good at hitting where he aims. Along with his newfound ability, Luke considers the charming team captain to be right up his alley and luckily, Shane shares his interest.
REVIEW
This is a super short story that is really a setup for a possible relationship. If you’re expecting a romance, then you’ll be disappointed. In this story, Luke has gotten roped into trying out for an adult dodgeball league. He shows up for the tryouts, but he decides he might not try too hard to actually make the team – that is until he sees the coach, Shane Kinrade. Shane might just make this silly idea worthwhile. He makes the team and he decides if he gets to ogle Shane then that’s OK with him. He doesn’t even really care whether or not Shane is gay or not, but he’s hoping maybe he is. At the first practice they have some fun and it turns out Shane IS gay. They get together after the practice and learn that they have a lot in common. This could be the start of something good.
I’m a big fan of this writer. Her Infected series is easily one of my favorites. I really liked Luke’s voice in this story. It’s told from his POV and he is a typical snarky, sarcastic Andrea Speed character. This is a nice setup for a story, but I felt like that was all we got – the setup. I would have liked to see more with these guys. We don’t even get a kiss out of this one.
The Armchair Reader 