Synopsis: Young and eager to join the social playground of the gods, Marduk enters his first day of college at the exotic mountain retreat at the Temple of Power. But he swiftly falls into the clutches of a secret order. Confronted by the powerful gods who wish to claim him, Marduk is defenseless. His only way out: to lure another virgin god into the Order. 

Marduk finds refuge in the young god Anu-Akad. Delivering Akad to the order would earn Marduk his freedom, but Marduk struggles to keep his love affair hidden from the Order. Will his efforts be in vain? He failed to save himself. Is he strong enough to save his lover? 


Advisory: Contains portrayals of m/m sex, violence, non-con, & abuse. Intended for mature readers.

Review: So, I simply had to read this book when it was offered. I'm a mythology buff, and so many pantheons are represented here. A school for the gods is just an awesome idea, and makes for a riveting read. It has a lot of darkness in it, clearly. My heart can't help but reach out to Marduk when he's tricked and trapped by the order. For a storm god to be reduced to little better than a slave, it's rather heart wrenching. Wasn't a fan that my favorite pantheon, the Greeks, were so high strung and frankly jerks, but it happens. Then there's Akad, destined to be a supreme god with so much power, yet so timid and shy. Both are victims in different situations, and when they come together it's almost sweet, until dark sides comes to the surface but still. I wasn't disappointed at all. This was such a good read I got angry when I stopped halfway through to go participate in real life. I have to read the rest of this trilogy when it's out because this was just too good.

Synopsis: College freshman Parker Osborne is having the worst day ever. He humiliated himself trying to pick up a cute guy, he hasn’t made any friends at school, and his stupidly hot jerk of a TA gave him a crappy grade on his paper. He’s going to drop Adam Hawkins’ film class and start fresh tomorrow after he’s had a good sulk.

But Parker’s about to find out what a bad day really looks like—if he can survive the night.

A virus is unleashed, transforming infected people into zombie-like killers. After these quick and deadly creepers swarm campus, Parker only escapes thanks to Adam swooping him onto the back of his trusty motorcycle. Now they're on the run—and stuck with each other.

When they’re not bickering, they’re fighting off the infected in a bloody battle for survival. Their only hope is to head east to Parker's family, but orphaned Adam has a secret he’s not sure Parker will accept: he’s a werewolf. Can they trust each other enough to find some light in these dark days?

Review: So I'm not much of a fan of zombie books, though I am sometimes a fan of the movies. I was very interested to see how the author would set this up into a gay romance situation. I was not disappointed. 
Parker is likable only because he's so obviously human. He's someone easy to relate to. He's a college freshman, a perfectionist, and is clearly subject to panic attacks. Doesn't handle stress well. Adam is more of the dream man. Strong, muscular, direct and confident. An odd pairing but they say opposites attract. Besides, Adam calms Parker down easily and they just fit together. They're the couple you can picture in your head as you read. And they both have their strengths and their insecurities. Parker thinks no one wants him, Adam thinks no one can accept his wolf side. This was tremendously well written and so riveting that I've spent the past couple hours devouring it and i just got it this morning.

Synopsis: The Minneapolis/St.Paul 77th police precinct has been labeled as a group of misfits. It's actually unfair. They, in reality, have talent. Paranormal talent. Of course, no one really knows that. 

Nick, their boss, keeps them busy chasing all those creepy crawly things that tend to go "bump" in the night, keeping the cities safe and totally unaware that doors to other realms even exist. Mainly because Nick is the Door Keeper. He keeps order in what would otherwise be chaos. 

But chaos has suddenly reared its ugly head in the form of a dangerous vampire. Ferociously brutal, he is a killing machine and must be stopped. So the last thing Nick needs is another partner. Especially one as sexy as Arrain. 

To top it off, Arrain intends on being more than just a partner. Something Nick cannot allow. Not with the secret he harbors.

However, turns out Arrain has a few secrets of his own and one thing he knows. The vampire is after Nick to not only kill the Door Keeper, but to take his power. Can he get Nick to trust him in time to save him?

Review: I certainly hope this is the first in a series, or there's at least a sequel to this book. This is a very inventive world the author has created, or I suppose I should say worlds. Nick is apparently something of a legend, albeit a reluctant one with a guilty conscience. Arrain is just interesting. There's also an age difference between the two that bothers Nick more than Arrain. Arrain seems to be the very determined type. He knows what he wants and what he needs, and he just goes for it. If I have one critique its that he doesn't seem to be very understanding of Nick's issues, or maybe they'll just be worked on as they continue on their path. All in all, very enjoyable. I finished it in a day, and that was a work day. The ending tell me there has to be more, and I will definitely want to read it.

PUBLISHER:  Amber Quill Press

RELEASE DATE:  May 24, 2015

GENRE:  M/M Romance

TAGS:  Gay / Dark Fantasy / Vampire / Paranormal / Mystery / Detective / Suspense / Thriller / Action / Adventure

PAIRING: Male/Male

LENGTH:  Approximately 140 pages

BOOK LINKS:

Amber Quill Press| Amazon | Goodreads

BLURB:

Although they've been labeled as a group of misfits, Minneapolis' 77th police precinct has plenty of talent.  The problem is, it's paranormal talent and no one's supposed to know about it.

Nick keeps his officers busy chasing after all the creepy crawly things that tend to go "bump" in the night, thus insuring the twin cities are safe and totally unaware that other realms even exist. Nick is the Door Keeper and his job as the precinct’s captain is to maintain order in what would otherwise be chaos.

 When said chaos rears its ugly head in the form of a ferocious and brutal vampire, the last thing Nick needs is to deal with a new partner, even if that new partner is as sexy as Arrain.

Hello, Nick. Thanks for taking the time to let me talk with you today.
No problem. Not sure why you think I am interesting enough to interview, though.

Well, let’s talk about that. You’re the captain of this unit, right? The 77th precinct?
Yep
I did notice that no one calls you captain. They all call you ‘boss’.
Yeah. Bunch of disrespectful jack… (Clears throat) people. (Chuckles) Nah. Just kidding. They respect me. If they didn’t I would kick their as… butts.

I’m sure you’re aware that your precinct has a reputation?
(Laughs) Yeah. We’re known as the misfits. Can’t find our way out of a paper bag

Do you agree with that interpretation?
That we’re misfits? No. I don’t. We actually do a lot for the Twin Cities but we just don’t shout it from the top of the IDS Tower.

Oh really? Like what do you do?
Like making sure monsters, including vampires, stay in their own realms.

(Shocked) Monsters and vampires? 
(Laughs) Just kidding! (Sobers) Unless I’m not.

Come on now, Nick. You don’t expect me to believe you fight off monsters and vampires!
Why not?

Because there is no such thing! I have never seen a monster or a vampire.
See how good we are?

Now knock that off, Nick. Let’s talk about real issues, like crime.
Oh yeah. Crime. I let Barden handle all of that nonsense. He seems to think he’s good at it. At least the mayor does.

Oh yes, the mayor. You have been quite vocal about being against the mayor’s policies on reducing the crime rate in downtown Minneapolis.
I’m not against his policies. I’m just against his mind set they’re everyone’s, or anyone’s, for that matter, reality. He’s not out here in the street and that’s just fine. He shouldn’t be. But then he should be listening when officers, like my squad, talk. He doesn’t get that his idea of crime fighting is a utopian approach that sounds good when you spout it off in public because you’re up for re-election. But fancy words and ideals don’t make it happen on the dirty streets. But that’s politics and I don’t want to get involved with any of that.

But the mayor has taken away some very high profile cases from you. You sound angry about that.
Nope. Not in the least. I’m busy enough.

Doing what?
I told you. Keeping the monsters and vampires from being under your kids beds or in your kids closets.

Oh Nick! You can be so funny!
Yep, that’s me. Mr. Comedian. *wink*

So let’s talk about some personal things, shall we? How does your family feel about you being a cop?
Family? Well, don’t really remember a father and my mother is a lunatic. So, no real family. Don’t look so surprised. She was a lunatic. For Real.

That’s so sad!
Truth is sometimes a bit harsh.

So how about this question, then? What do you want from life? 
For it to slow down and quit making me so damn old

(Laughs) If you were granted three wishes, what would you ask for? 
Oh fuck, really? What kind of questions are these… oh, fine. Okay, let’s see. Already have the hot guy. (Laughs, then sighs) Would love the ability to read a Stalen vampire’s mind. Would use all three wishes on just that.

There you go with that vampire business again.
Well, hopefully not for a while. We all need a little break.

(Shakes her head) Moving on. What three things would you take to a Desert Island? 
Ha! Arrain, lots of lube and sunblock. We’ll be naked a lot. Okay, always naked.

Oh yes, Arrain. You’re in love. How did you fall in love? At first sight? Over a long period? 
Nah. With me, with us, it was a bit different. 

Different?
Yeah. We were paired. No real choice involved there.

That doesn’t sound romantic. You sound like you love the man.
Oh I do. A lot. The man of my dreams. Literally. We just didn’t come by love in the conventional way humans do.

You sound like you don’t think you’re human.
I’m not

What are you?
Can’t tell you.
(Laughs) I just don’t know about you, Nick. So tell me, what parts of loving come easy for you?
Sex. That’s way easy. We probably do it too often though.

How about hard? 
Talk (slowly shaking head) I don’t like the sharing crap.

So being a cop, you have to use your senses. Is one sense more highly developed than another?  Not really. But, observation, I guess. So visual. Yep. I notice things.

What do you consider are your strengths? 
Arrain. My friends. My trust in them.

What do you consider are your weaknesses? 
(Laughs) Arrain, my friends, my trust in them

What is one physical attribute you are proud of? 
(Leans forward and says softly) Seems my… um, libido is that of a young man these days. Has me kind of amazed. And dog tired.

What one physical attribute would you change? 
(Sits back) My age. That would take care of everything else. (Smiles)

What do you consider your special talent? 
(Laughs) I can’t talk about that.

What do you wish your special talent was?
(Laughs harder) Won’t talk about that.

What's the worst thing you've ever done? 
Ah shit. Really? That’s another thing I don’t want to talk about it.

Describe your ideal mate. 
Arrain

What's the most important thing in your life? What do you value most? 
Again, Arrain and my friends. Always and ever.

How do you feel about your life right now? 
Feel good. Things are going well. Doing the traveling thing and getting to see some things I never would have thought I wanted to see. And I’m doing it with Arrain. That’s the best.