Out of Nowhere by Roan Parrish
My rating:  4.5 reflective stars.

I love the names of these books by Roan Parrish, really great titles.

I really felt something in regards to Colin's struggle and felt that I'd been in a similar place my whole life, trying so hard in many ways to live the path others want me to follow. In the end, of course, we all have to choose our paths. Still wondering when I'll get my butt in gear and live in lieu of mere existence.

Anyway this was a very enjoyable book. It did kind of bug me the way the next book appears to have been set up in the story but that's just me I suppose, yet again.

It did give me some thoughts about my 2017 Nanowrimo novel so there is that.  Have you found any inspiration lately? 




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Read this damn it!!

Damned If You Do by Marie Sexton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Damned if You Do by Marie Sexton

This was a cute story, very funny in parts.

Both characters, Abaddon, who was pathetic at being bad and Seth, the blind musician, with mysterious healing powers, were people (the devil, Abaddon, was a real person in this to me) I liked and I don’t like a lot of devils let me just say that right now.

Maybe finding my own religious history a bit of a turn off, at the moment, was why I enjoyed this story. It made me think about my own beliefs and the religion I’ve left behind, even made me question my values just a bit when it comes to believing in the power of love to heal all (in some stories that would make me gag but this story moistened my eyes). And even though I was taught all about good and bad there really is a lot of gray areas in life to consider. And maybe I have judged others too much and maybe....

That’s what I found in this story a statement about love between two people (fine, one of them was a devil, get over it) who wanted more that what they had and were willing to reach out to someone else and help the other person even though they put their own souls at risk by doing so.

An enjoyable 4.5 stars and though I'm not fond of snakes I was still able to read this book.

*Copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review.*

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Rag and Bone by K. J. Charles

Rag and Bone by K.J. Charles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Right, I loved this, another great read from KJ Charles. There it is, my review. Oh, all right.

This was a solid 4.5 star read for me until it came to the ending which gave me smiley tears and thus magically became 5 stars. Nice.

Crispin began his practice (magical training) the wrong way and was almost condemned as a wizard which is an evil magician in this world. He’d gotten a second chance but no one seemed to be able to train him in a different form of magic than his own.

Ned, Crispin’s good friend and lover, sees so much good in Crispin but Ned hates Crispin’s practice. Then again, Ned can hear magic. Hmm.

Ned and Crispin. Different races, different classes, one hunky and tough, perhaps the other not quite so much. And yet, together they defeat an evil wizard (or two). Also the fabulous Stephen Day shows up in this tale as well.

Great conflicts that kept the story tension going right until a lovely ending. I look forward to reading about these two men again.

*Copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review.*

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I did it for the fans... Learn to Write With Fan Fiction

Ever heard of Sterek? 

How about Steter? 

I know you've heard of Trekkies. 

Some of us belong to fandoms, grouping of folks that grove (that word is telling of my age, no?) on certain shows like Star Trek (Trekkies) or Teen Wolf (Sterek: a pairing of 2 characters from the show). 

Recently I've read a lot of Teen Wolf Stereks mainly but also several Steters, as well as a few others all available on many fan sites but I really like AO3 (Archive of Our Own).  

Why do we read, and some of us write, such things? 

I used to always look down on those that wrote fan fiction.  Couldn't authors come up with their own ideas, certainly their own characters?  Get over yourself. 

That is I decided to get over myself (no need to get too graphic on here) and check out a few of these stories.  What I found is that there is some pretty good fiction out there available for free ('natch you can't sell fan fiction unless you change names, etc like some certain books out there and you can Google to find out the many in existence). 

Not sure I'm allowed to give out names but many authors started out as Fan Fiction writers.  Maybe that is the path I too must follow.

Give it a go and let me know.
And have fun with it.  

Spectr Series by Jordan L. Hawk

Summoner of Storms by Jordan L. Hawk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars out of 5 for this.

The 'possession' of Caleb by Gray is handled very well and I almost always could tell who was in charge (even when chatting to themselves the author made it clear through punctuation who was speaking... good).

Caleb and John have progressed through this series (and the way Gray has changed as well in growing to love both Caleb and John even going so far to say it out loud to John) not just in their love for each other but in how they relate to others and how they feel about themselves and their lives.

I really did enjoy the SPECTR series. I see the SPECTR 2 series has begun. Nice.


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Driftwood by Harper Fox

Driftwood by Harper Fox
My rating: 4.3 stars out of 5.



A doctor, and veteran of war, has isolated himself in a crumbling rental with a cairn outside his home in memory of his dead love. The doctor finally wakes up to life to care about another man who is in an abusive relationship.

This author writes beautifully and hits some good high and low points for the doctor and his love.  This had a nice ending too. 

However the condom thing bugged me. In stories we either push condom use like constant lectures to the readers or we try to be more realistic in that the ideal is not always followed in real life or we have supernatural, or other reasons, why condoms are not used. The doctor in this story, a medical doctor, was a bit lax with the condom non-use so that kind of bugged me. Other than that I enjoyed this tale.

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Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

Infected: Prey by Andrea Speed
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was really good. A unique world with certain folk who suffer from an incurable disease that causes them to shift into cat forms - big cat forms.

I loved Roan's snarky talk and manners, and how he dealt with his infection. Also, Roan's boyfriend, Paris, was a well written character. I so dread Paris dying at some point from his tiger strain disease though my fingers are crossed he'll survive somehow.

I'm glad I finally took the time to get back to this world (Sterek books have been a bit of a distraction for me lately... sigh).

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