Thursday, June 14, 2012

Book Review: The Eclective: The Pride Collection

by: Jack Wallen, Shéa MacLeod, PJ Jones, Alan Nayes, M. Edward McNally, Rex Jameson, Heather Marie Adkins

Available at Amazon

Synopsis:
The fourth short story anthology from the Eclective brings together seven writers from across genres, each contributing a unique take in recognition of LGBT Pride Month. Go Team Everybody.

"Saving Suzanna" by Rex Jameson - As Sara and Morgan struggle to escape the ruins left by the Northern Organizational Militia's campaign of terror, they hear the cries of an infant through the darkness. If they keep running north, they may save themselves… but if they stay and fight, they may just save their future.

"Shero: Glam, Bam, Thank You, Ma’am!" by Jack Wallen - Don't judge a book by it's cover and don't judge a queen by her smooth moves alone! Shero is honored to serve as judge for a local drag queen pageant. When all hell breaks loose, can Shero save the queens from a disaster worse than a loose gaff or broken heel?

"Gay Angels in Heaven" by Alan Nayes - A teenager learns having pride in who she is is far more important than what others think of her.

"Moon Blossoms" by P.J. Jones - Outcast from their colony, two sprites learn to accept that their love is not a sin against nature but a thing of beauty.

"Urbs in Horto" by M. Edward McNally - There are many gardens in the city of Chicago, and none are as different as they may seem.

"Be Careful What You Wish For" by Shéa MacLeod - Cross-dresser Ryan Roberts has always dreamed of being a real woman for just one day. He'll soon discover that when it comes to cupcake-addicted ancient Welsh goddesses, you should be careful what you wish for.

"Love & Disaster" by Heather Marie Adkins - Becca is finally marrying the woman of her dreams, but she’s frightened of what the future holds in a world that doesn’t accept their love.


I'm a huge fan of Rex Jameson and I've known M. Edward McNally for ages on Facebook. I've never gotten around to reading his stuff until now.

I truly enjoyed all the stories. Saving Suzanna by Rex Jameson was so very dark and scary, especially given the political climate right now. I literally took the rest of the night off to digest this one. Gay people were being hunted like animals, and they all knew it would be a matter of time until other "undesirables" would be hunted as well. I'm straight, but as a pagan this was quite sobering.

That was followed by "Shero: Glam, Bam, Thank You, Ma’am!" by Jack Wallen, at first it seemed a strange placement. But having something so light, funny and LOUD was great. It lightened the mood considerably.

The rest were fairly serious but not overly so. I had never read such a story of fantasy as "Moon Blossoms" by P.J. Jones. 2 female sprites that find love, even at the cost of losing their homes.

Another funny one was "Be Careful What You Wish For" where Branwen grants a cross-dressing man his wish of being a woman for a day. Do you think he is happy and enjoys every minute of it? Us women know better. ;)

It's only 99cents at Amazon, and the entire book is in recognition of LGBT Pride Month.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Book Review: Sins of the Mind

by: L. J. Garland and Debbie Gould

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:
Seven years ago, Abby Montgomery survived a brutal attack. Now she is ready to put her pain in the past and move on with her life. The problem is, one by one the men in her life are being viciously murdered.

The detective assigned to the case, Ethan Parker, has demons of his own to hide. As the danger gets closer to Abby, so does Ethan. But can they get past his secrets before the killer gets to them? Sometimes the sins of the mind are more depraved than the sins of the heart.


Review written by Lilith


OMG, what can I say about this book? It started off with a bang and kept me hanging on every word until the end. The main character, Detective Ethan Parker, is what you would expect for a strong male lead. He had a dark secret in his past and so does the leading lady in the book, Abby Montgomery. Little do either of them know, they share the same dark secret and that there is another dark secret out there that will do anything to destroy them both!

The is an action packed thriller that will keep you guessing and reading! The writing was done very well and the authors gave just the right amount of details. I could see the story unfolding in my mind and was eager to keep reading to find out what was going on.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers with a little bit of romance/erotica mixed in.

5 STARS!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Book Review: A Titanic Tale

by: Lynn Hones

Available at Amazon

Synopsis:
Beautiful Cornelia Bainesworth cared only about herself and her own life the night the Titanic went down. A curse brought on by a woman who witnessed her selfish behavior that evening destroys her, but it doesn’t stop there.

One hundred years later, the curse rears its ugly head in the life of small-town teenager Callie. As if the tragedy of her boyfriend’s death wasn’t enough, strange occurrences bring her to the brink of insanity. Callie’s search for answers is unsuccessful until a nerdy schoolmate takes up her cause and together they experience frightening apparitions, unexplained phenomena and chilling truths. These truths turn Callie’s life upside down and reveal a shocking ending to a story that began on the deck of a ship doomed the moment it saw light.


Mrs. Bainesworth was worse than that. She was psychotic! The Titanic sinking wasn't a HUGE part of the story, it was more background for Mrs. Bainesworth. But I love how it all went together, and it painted a snapshot of one of the 1st class passengers. My oldest is currently obsessed with the Titanic and the stuff I've learned and been shocked by...well I won't go into that here. But over 70% of 3rd class passengers died while only 45% of 1st class passengers died. Isn't that sick? I saw in the movie they locked the 3rd class passengers down, and that was in this book too, but I don't know if that's true or not. I know they were lower on the ship and at the very least had a hard time coming up.

If you want to know the little factoids I have, e-mail me. Now back to the story. There was a woman on the ship with 2 babies, she was 3rd class and begged the officers to take her babies even if they wouldn't let her up. Her babies were then handed to Mrs. Bainesworth who wanted a daughter more than anything. So when she was rescued she decided to keep the babies, even though she didn't want the boy. What she did after that is so horrid...I cringed and had a hard time reading. I couldn't put it down, but it was hard going.

There are ghosts, scary mansions, and teenage lovers. What's not to love? I really enjoyed this book and I'm so happy Lynn let me review this one, too. She does paranormal deliciously creepy!

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