Welcome to the book tour for The Island of Forever by Jeremy Harrison. This one has all kinds of Peter Pan vibes, and mythical creatures!
The Island of Forever
Expected Publication Date: June 18, 2024
Genre: YA Fantasy/LGBTQ+
🌴Coming-of-Age
🌴First Love
🌴Hidden Identity
🌴Chosen One
🌴Friends to Lovers
🌴Peter Pan Vibes
🌴Fairies and Merman
He’s his own worst enemy—and their only salvation.
Seventeen-year-old Max Greenfell grew up hearing stories about the Island of Forever—a beautiful paradise of intrigue and magic that was once controlled by a destructive shapeshifter who killed everything in his path. When monsters roamed its sandy shores, and the island’s magic began to dwindle, a hero emerged to overcome the evil and restore the land.
But all good stories have an end—and fairy tales are just that—or so he thought.
When a strange storm sweeps through his town, Max finds himself washed upon the shores of the fabled utopia. Faced with bullying and overwhelming anxiety at school, he finds solace in the island’s allure, creating a better reality to confront. But his arrival has disrupted the world’s balance, threatening to unleash the shapeshifter once more.
With help from a snarky merman and a pistol-wielding fairy, Max must embark on a dangerous adventure to ensure the island’s safety. Returning home will be a challenging journey, requiring him to confront his deepest emotions, confide in his closest allies, and survive an encounter with his greatest foe: himself.
Welcome to the tour for award-winning Of Friction by S.J. Lee. This is the first book in the Altered Earth series and the author’s debut!
Of Friction (Altered Earth Book 1)
Publication Date: February 20, 2024
Genre: Speculative Fiction/ Dystopian/ LGBTQ+
Decades of hostilities. A chance for peace. Caught between belligerent groups, will this operation be her last?
Sam “Valkyrie” Ryan is reeling. Struggling with her brother’s recent decision to make their next assignment his last, the recon specialist fights to change his mind. But she has no time to process her emotions when they’re tasked to protect a pivotal reconciliation summit between the Altered and Humans from human-supremacist terrorists.
Distracted by a charming female medic, the golden-haired marine struggles to stay focused as events quickly unravel. And with the conflict becoming dangerously unpredictable, secrets from the past catch Sam by surprise as she uncovers a plot to destroy all of humanity.
Can she stop a violent and oppressive history from spiraling into a catastrophic future?
Of Friction is the fast-paced first book in the Altered Earth dystopian military speculative fiction series. If you like strong women, tense action, and slow-burn LGBTQ+ romance, then you’ll love S.J. Lee’s gripping story.
Read Of Friction to launch a critical mission today!
S.J. Lee is a foreign service specialist by day, gamer, photographer, and writer by night. She has worked and lived in Iraq, Mexico, Chile, India, Brazil, and Guyana, and currently resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with her spouse and rescued street-dog. Of Friction is her debut novel and the first of the Altered Earth series.
Two boys fall in love in a deadly world, but it’s the secrets they keep that might kill them.
From debut author Paul Michael Winters, Together in a Broken World adds a queer romance twist to a popular post-apocalyptic road-trip storyline. Winters is an exciting new LGBTQA voice with a mission to normalize queerness and create joyful stories where you might not normally see queer characters.
Zach, 17, was visiting his uncle in a small Montana town when a mysterious illness ripped through the world. Most died, but those who survived the Infection became mindless killers, spreading the disease with a single scratch. Now, a year later, civilization lies in ruins, and Zach is the town’s sole survivor. Desperately lonely, he longs to return to his family in Seattle, but his fears hold him captive.
Meanwhile, Aiden, 18, is on a critical mission for the covert Scientific Collective, delivering vials whose contents could cure the Infection. Tortured by his boyfriend’s death, he welcomes the risks of the perilous journey. When a militia attacks Aiden, he flees to Zach’s town.
The boys escape together and soon form a bond as they comfort each other in this desolate and broken world. The farther they travel, the more their affection grows, as do the forces pulling them apart. But their greatest threats are the secrets they keep. Zach hides details of his uncle’s death, and Aiden conceals the vials’ sinister origins. In order to survive, they’ll have to confront the truths that could tear their love apart.
Featuring two characters who know and are comfortable with their queerness, Together in a Broken World is about overcoming trauma and loneliness, falling in love amidst adversity, and learning to trust with a subtext of the dangers of climate change and biological warfare. It’s perfect for fans of They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera, Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, and All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown.
Author Paul Michael Winters first thought of this story during the early days of COVID when the world was isolated. “This is a story of overcoming isolation and finding connections in a broken world,” Winters says.
“For a long time, I was unaware of just how far LGBTQ+ fiction had progressed until I saw Love, Simon. I was floored, and I immediately started eating up queer fiction. I’m particularly a fan of books that emphasize queer joy, showing queer people living their best lives and being happy. I’m a happily married gay man who’s had a lot of queer joy in my life, and I want to spread that feeling through my storytelling.”
Paul Michael Winters is a lifelong creative writer whose life is filled with queer joy. His passion is to spread that joy through storytelling and writing books where you might not typically see queer characters. His books feature queer people living their best lives where their queerness is an aspect of their personality but doesn’t dominate the story. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his husband and two tuxedo kitties and might have a slight addiction to reading gay romance. But it’s not a problem. He could stop any time he wanted. Honestly. Find him online at pmwinters.com and follow him on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, and Twitter.
AIDEN It’s hard to get over how desolate the world is now. I haven’t seen another soul for over a week. And if I want to stay alive, I hope to keep it that way. The road cuts a winding path through a dense forest, the cone of my headlights revealing just enough to see ahead. Everything else is stark blackness. Daft Punk and GRiZ blast through the car’s speakers—an EDM mix I made last year as a DJ for my high school. Back when DJs and high schools existed, that is. The bass rumbling through the seat makes me feel connected to the car. With one eye on the road, I paw at the backpack resting on the passenger seat. It’s the third time this hour I’ve checked on the vials. The familiar shape of the protective aluminum case through the nylon fabric helps ease my anxiety. For the moment, anyway. It may be a little obsessive, but the vials are my critical cargo. They’re what I’m risking my life for. And I’m doing this for Marcus. The slightest thought of him sends waves of grief flooding over me. I fight those feelings and bury them away. Letting emotions control me is the surest way of getting killed. When I pull up to a rest area, the car cuts a path through an inch of pine needles spread over the parking lot. Weeds spring up through every possible crack, and vines are well on their way to swallowing the restrooms whole. The sheer relentlessness of Mother Nature is startling. Since manmade light is a thing of the past, it’s impossible to see your hand six inches in front of your face, especially on a cloudy, moonless night in rural Montana. The headlights are my only guide through the darkness, so I leave them turned on. As I open the door, I’m hit with a cold blast of air and the smell of sap. It must be low forties out. My breaths puff out in misty clouds. Looters often overlook vending machines at rest stops, so I always check them out. I’m pleasantly surprised to find the machines undamaged and nearly full. With a few pries of a crowbar, the lock springs open. I load what I can into my backpack and stuff the rest in a black plastic bag.
After doing my business in the restroom, I return to my faded red ’97 Integra, crunching through the thick layer of decaying pine needles. I stop suddenly, staring at another pair of footprints that cross over mine, head up to my car door, and then into the woods. They were not here before. I’m sure of it. Did I remember to lock the door? In a flash, I run to the car and reach for the handle. Locked. Thank god. The second I’m in, I fire up the engine. Debris kicks up from the tires as I hit the gas and speed away. For the next several minutes, I’m hypervigilant, keeping my eye on the mirrors and looking ahead for a potential ambush. Those footprints could have been from a member of a local militia. Their scouts are notorious for spotting lone cars and radioing for backup. Or the footprints could have been from one of the people sick with that damn disease. The Infected. It’s unlikely since they went right up to the car door. Once the fever has done its damage, the Infected don’t really have that level of cognitive ability. The path would have been more random. Either way, I’m glad to put the rest area behind me. As time passes, my nerves start to settle. Guess I got lucky. Maybe it was nothing, like a local survivor passing through. As the minutes drift by, my eyes get heavy. It’s no use fighting sleep, so I scan the highway for a side road with enough cover to pull over and rest for the night. That’s when headlights shine in my rearview mirror. Goddamn it. Carjackers. Their standard MO is to drive up beside you and point guns at the car until you pull over. But I’m not planning on letting them get that close. The trick is to go slowly at first and make them overconfident. Let them think they’ve got easy prey. Then floor it. Take curves so fast, they’ll piss their pants. With any luck, their car will spin out, trying to follow. It’s half skill, half psychology. And here comes a curve now. I find just the right speed to keep traction. The tires squeal but hold. Right at the apex of the turn, I punch the accelerator. It pushes me back into the seat as the tires grab the tarmac, and the car blasts down the road. Those guys should be long gone, but somehow, the headlights shine in the rearview mirror again.
Shit. These guys are good. I floor the accelerator, but the engine groans in protest. A distinct smell of burning oil drifts into the cabin. That can’t be good. Whizzing sounds fly past the car. Are those bullets? Are they shooting at me? A bullet hits the rear window, shattering it into a million pieces, making my heart rate spike. These aren’t carjackers. They’re trying to kill me. I turn off the music. Drawing in a deep breath, my training kicks in. One wrong move, and I’m dead. I sharpen my focus and clear my mind, each action deliberate and calculated. I weave the car back and forth to evade the next round of bullets and take the next turn faster than the last. The subtle sliding out of the back end translates through the wheel. With the slightest shift of steering and a barely perceptible change of speed, the car holds to the curve. Another round of bullets sprays the car, and the left rear tire explodes. The steering wheel lurches violently. Trying to steady it takes every ounce of strength, fingers clenched, my life on the line. The car veers off the road, and I slam on the brakes. Dirt kicks up everywhere but decelerates the vehicle gradually enough that the crash doesn’t kill me. The front bumper comes to rest against a tree. Ninety to zero in five seconds. And somehow, I’m still alive. I grab the backpack and my mixtape as headlights approach. With no time for anything else, I jump out and run for the cover of the forest. The sounds of screeching brakes and slamming car doors are right behind me. I’m in total darkness. Brambles rip against my face and arms as I stumble through the woods. The knobby end of a tree branch hits me hard in the ribs. The pain is blinding, but I grit my teeth and push forward. Bullets stream past, some hitting nearby trees, covering me in an explosion of splinters. A voice yells out from behind. “Aiden! I know you’re there. Hand over the vials, and you can walk away.” Who the hell knows my name? Worse, how do they know what I’m carrying? The only other person aware of my mission is the woman who sent me. She handpicked me because I was the only courier who could get the job done. Willing to do what most would call a suicide mission. And maybe that’s what this is.
Behind me, the gunshots and shouts are relentless. My lungs burn, and my ribs scream. Every part of my body is telling me to stop. To my left, the ground slopes slightly. I fumble in that direction, following it downward. As it gets steeper, the slope forces my pace to quicken. I’m barely able to keep my feet from sliding under me. A wet patch of leaves sends my legs flailing forward, and for the last thirty feet, I’m on my backside until my boots splash into a running stream. My burning lungs force me to pause for a moment. Beyond the babbling of the stream are the sounds of gunshots and shouting, but they’re far off to my right. So, I head in the opposite direction with slow and deliberate footsteps, favoring silence over speed. After several minutes of painfully slow going, the sound of the stream is gone, and the gunshots have fallen silent. But I don’t dare stop yet. Time has lost all meaning in the darkness. It could be twenty minutes. Could be an hour. My aching feet and burning muscles are my only gauge, and they just hit empty. I sit down hard on the forest floor. How did that get so bad so fast? My mind races, playing out all the scenarios that could have happened. If the car lurches the other way, or a bullet flies six inches to the right, then I’m dead. Focus, Aiden. I close my eyes and force out unwanted thoughts, clearing my mind. Okay. Survival. When I open my eyes, they’ve adjusted to the darkness. The moon has risen, providing the slightest bit of light. Vague details emerge. Scrapes run up and down my arms, but nothing is too deep. I’ll live. My ribs are tender at the spot where I hit the tree. The slightest touch makes me wince in pain. Yeah, that’s going to suck for a while. Inside my backpack, the small aluminum box has a minor dent in one corner, but beyond that, it’s undamaged. This is what my pursuers were after. But who in the hell were they? I know the territories of every militia group between Boston and Seattle. Standard training for couriers like me. This is the turf of the Freedom Liberation Army—the FLA. Grabbing every bit of territory after the Great Collapse, their influence runs from Montana to Central Washington. But how could they know anything about my mission? There’ll be time to figure that out. Right now, my focus needs to be on staying alive. Besides the box, there’s not much in the backpack—a bottle of water and the granola bars and pretzels I looted. Of course, my flashlight, compass, and gun are all back in the car. I wasn’t expecting to have to ditch it like that. Sure glad I took the time to get my mixtape. Shit. It’s not a lot, but it’ll last me until tomorrow. No sense in stumbling around in the dark, so finding shelter is the first order of business—something with cover and warmth. A small, protected hollow under a tree fits me perfectly. A layer of moss and leaves act as my blanket, and I soon fall into a restless sleep. The same dream haunts me every night. Like some sick cosmic joke, my worst memory replays in my mind, a horror movie in excruciating detail. I’m returning from an illfated mission. My fellow courier Connor has died, sacrificing his life to save mine. But things get even worse at home as I discover my boyfriend, Marcus, has fallen ill. He’s lying in bed, sick and dying, the Infection in its vicious final stage. I stand by his bedside, a protective barrier separating us. The undulations in the plastic distort his face. A face that is pale and worn out, with deep creases marring what was once beautiful. He looks more eighty than eighteen. “Aiden,” he utters weakly, putting a hand up to the barrier. I press my hand against his, with tears streaming down my face. “I’m here, Marcus.” His voice is only a whisper. “Connor. I know—” His words are cut off by a fit of coughing. I pull back in shock. Marcus couldn’t know what happened on the mission. I only just returned, and Conner didn’t make it back alive. “What about Connor?” I ask. He’s too weak to speak. But the look in his eyes is sadness and hurt. I want to explain and tell him what happened—tell him I love him. But he’s used his last breath. He coughs up blood, and his body thrashes as the Infection claims its latest victim. The only small mercy is him not turning into one of those—things. Consciousness tears a hole through my nightmare, and I wake up with a start, my eyes damp. No use in trying to bury this memory. My subconscious won’t allow it. It’s been six months since his death, but the dream keeps returning as vivid as if it were yesterday. The box. In a panic, I reach for the backpack, but of course, it’s still there. That same familiar shape. I’m under no illusion that the vials in the box will erase my torment or somehow bring Marcus back. But if they help find a cure and save a single person from the Infection, or spare a single loved one from feeling the misery I feel, maybe I’ll have done my penance. Maybe that will dampen the pain. And if this really is a suicide mission? Well, that’ll dampen the pain too.
My thoughts: this was a really good road trip, dystopian love story, with two engaging and interesting protagonists.
Following a terrible environmental disaster that has led to a government collapse and a deadly virus has left society in tatters, with isolated pockets of survivors fending off looters, militia and infected people (a bit like The Walking Dead).
Zach is stranded in rural Montana, where his uncle lived, he’s fortified a safe place for himself and set up some defences. But he’s alone, and scared.
Aiden is working for group of scientists, hoping to create a cure or vaccine for the virus that leads to the Infection. Unlike in the pandemic of recent years, the lack of communication methods and the collapsed society means they’re working in isolation and under threat.
When the two cross paths, sparks fly. But they’re not safe, a militia group is hunting them. As they travel to Seattle they meet other people surviving and are helped by some of them, reminded of the kindness of strangers and determined to reach their destination, their bond grows.
It’s a sweet young love story, a gripping adventure and a tale of surviving against the odds in a changed world.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Happy cover reveal day to author A.W. Jackson! The Pudding Lane Witch will be hitting retailers this fall! Pre-order now!
The Pudding Lane Witch
Expected Publication Date: September 24. 2024
Genre YA/ LGBTQ+ Fantasy
“They killed her! They tied her up and burned her!”
On the run from the mob who killed her mother, young pyrokinetic witch Gweneviere Baxter is running out of options. Surviving as an unmarried young woman in the 17th century is challenging enough, let alone when you are a witch. So, when the opportunity to wed the local baker is presented to her, Gweneviere feels she has no other choice, if she wants to survive.
Tragically, marriage is less peaceful than Gweneviere had envisaged, and she struggles to keep her witch identity hidden as she suffers through her husband’s daily abuse. But everything changes with the arrival of a young slave woman, Kambili, and Gweneviere falls hard and fast, her love for Kambili shining brightly in her otherwise hellish life.
But with both witches and mortals working against her, will Gweneviere ever be able to make a life for herself and her true love? Will she ever have her paradise?
Comedian Sofie Hagen has not had sex in 3,000 days (and counting). And it turns out, she’s not the only one . . .
In an attempt to find out why we’re not having the sex we want, Sofie asks the questions: can we blame a lacking sex education? Is it all just sexual trauma? Where’s the radical sexual liberation we were promised? What are we going to do about this? Should she have slept with that guy in that bush that one time? How do you overcome being a 35-year-old virgin (when it comes to queer sex, that is)? How do the socially awkward and the neurodiverse have sex?
In Will I Ever Have Sex Again?, Sofie Hagen explores the quirks and difficulties of being an ‘involuntary celibate’ (but one of the feminist, progressive ones). With a blend of memoir and conversations with experts, therapists, sex workers, porn stars, comedians and public figures, this is a humorous and bold undertaking to gain a better understanding of how we can think, talk and feel about sex.
My thoughts: this was a really interesting read, bits of it were very funny, because Sofie Hagen is a funny person, and bits of I were very insightful too.
I found Sofie’s exploration of sex, sexuality, gender identity, and the body intelligent and thought provoking. At no point was any of the discussion gratuitous or rude, and the range of people quoted, from academics to porn performers and drag kings, added to the discussion in new and interesting ways.
While exploring their own gender and sexuality, Sofie also shared a sample of different stories, some anonymously from the 1,800 responses to their survey and others from friends and experts. I liked the differing experiences and perspectives on the questions being raised. It felt like a collaborative exploration of the themes and showed that we all experience sex, love, sexuality and gender differently. I actually filled out the questionnaire, which was very insightful and made me think a lot about my own experiences and feelings.
Despite Sofie’s stated plan to end with an orgy, there isn’t really an overarching narrative, it’s more a collection of thoughts and experiences as Sofie gets to know themselves better and understand how others see the same things with their own perspective. We are all a collection of our thoughts, feelings and experiences after all.
The book felt like a great jumping off point to asking yourself about how you truly feel about sex, relationships, sexuality, gender identity and your own past, present and future, whether you’re currently having sex with another person or not. It has certainly raised questions in my mind that I need to work through.
I’ve seen Sofie perform before and am planning to go and see them again later this year, while this book didn’t make me more or less interested in them, I did think they gave a large insight into themselves, and opening yourself up to scrutiny like this is incredibly powerful. I know there will be negative responses, but I personally feel more positively towards Sofie, like I know them better and understand them more.
Because of the feelings the book might raise, I wouldn’t say it’s the easiest of reading and it may well ring bells within you, especially in the chapter about sexual assault and rape. So save this for when you feel safe and able to evaluate yourself. I wouldn’t say it’s one for reading on the bus to work for example, definitely more for at home on your own. But it is definitely worth reading.
*I was kindly gifted an advanced copy of this book, which will be published in May, but all opinions remain my own.
It’s release week and we’re thrilled to share First Comes Death with you all! Read on for more details!
First Comes Death
Publication Date: April 15, 2024
Genre: Sci-Fi/Superhero Fantasy/LGBTQ+
A power for every death…
When a black hole anomaly rewrites the rules of life and death, Dina resurrects from a fatal crash into the Chesapeake with an uncontrollable tie to water. Trapped in a cycle of vanishing and reappearing across the world at the water’s whim, all Dina wants is to rid herself of this connection and have control of her life again. But with every new resurfacing, it becomes clear she has a worse crisis on her hands: she’s being followed by a monster.
Drowning may not be a natural cause of death, but neither is murder. And when Ivy resurrects with the ability to produce bone daggers from her own body, she’s hungry for revenge. But between her distrust of her new, supposed allies, puzzling encounters with a woman with powers of her own, and the soul devouring creature on their tail, attaining vengeance is looking a lot more difficult than dying in the first place.
As Dina and Ivy’s inexplicable bond pulls them together time and again, they find something neither expected in their afterlife: someone worth living for. But they’ll have to find a way to annihilate the monster at their heels before time runs out on their second lives. Because without another anomaly to bring them back, this time death will have its due.
We’re thrilled to share the cover for upcoming release The Island of Forever by Jeremy Harrison!
The Island of Forever
Expected Publication Date: June 18, 2024
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/LGBTQ+
🌴Coming-of-Age
🌴First Love
🌴Hidden Identity
🌴Chosen One
🌴Friends to Lovers
He’s his own worst enemy—and their only salvation.
Seventeen-year-old Max Greenfell grew up hearing stories about the Island of Forever—a beautiful paradise of intrigue and magic that was once controlled by a destructive shapeshifter who killed everything in his path. When monsters roamed its sandy shores, and the island’s magic began to dwindle, a hero emerged to overcome the evil and restore the land.
But all good stories have an end—and fairy tales are just that—or so he thought.
When a strange storm sweeps through his town, Max finds himself washed upon the shores of the fabled utopia. Faced with bullying and overwhelming anxiety at school, he finds solace in the island’s allure, creating a better reality to confront. But his arrival has disrupted the world’s balance, threatening to unleash the shapeshifter once more.
With help from a snarky merman and a pistol-wielding fairy, Max must embark on a dangerous adventure to ensure the island’s safety. Returning home will be a challenging journey, requiring him to confront his deepest emotions, confide in his closest allies, and survive an encounter with his greatest foe: himself.
In a small home, built into the branches of a tree, live a human named Victor and three robots. These are a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, a small vacuum desperate for love and attention, and a fatherly inventor-android named Giovanni Lawson. Together they’re a family, hidden and safe. Then Vic salvages an unfamiliar android labelled ‘HAP’. He learns that Hap and Gio share a dark past, where they hunted humans. And Hap unwittingly gives away Gio’s location. Before they know it, robots from Gio’s former life arrive – to capture and return the android to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. The rest of the unconventional family must travel across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommissioning. Or worse, reprogramming. Along the way, Vic must decide if he can handle his feelings for Hap – even if they come with strings attached.
Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful standalone fantasy adventure from the author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.
Special Paperback Feature: This paperback edition includes the beautifully poignant short story ‘Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!’ set in the extraordinary world of In the Lives of Puppets.
TJ Klune is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award winning author of Under the Whispering Door, The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, Wolfsong and more. Being queer himself, TJ believes it’s important – now more than ever – to have accurate, positive, queer representation in stories.
My thoughts: this was a slow burn read for me, it took a while to understand the setting and the situation the characters were in. But once I started to understand the life Vic, his friends Nurse Ratched and Rambo (who I loved, if you’re a Wall-E fan, Rambo is Wall-E with a voice) were living in their forest home with Vic’s dad Gio, it’s an enchanting story inspired by Pinocchio, The Wizard of Oz, Top Hat (although my favourite Fred & Ginger film is The Gay Divorcee – it’s pure dancing silliness) and magic. Found family is a huge theme too, as that’s who Vic and Co are, especially when they add Hap to the mix.
After the Authority take Gio away, Vic and his family travel to the City of Electric Dreams to rescue him, and maybe learn a bit about Hap too. They’re kidnapped by the Coachman, who actually isn’t too awful, then have to sneak into the city and find the Blue Fairy.
Much like the original Pinocchio story, this isn’t for children. Bits of it were creepy and scary, and the Blue Fairy is more monstrous than fae.
But it’s message of love, hope and family is strong and together the robots and their boy are able to win against impossible odds and escape to make a new home in the belly of a whale.
Also I need more Nurse Ratched and Rambo stories, I loved them so much, Rambo is the bravest little vacuum cleaner ever and Nurse Ratched is terrifying for all the right reasons – who said robots can’t love to your entrails? They bring so much humour and lightness, much better than Jiminy Cricket.
The short story in the paperback edition – Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! was, if anything, more traumatic and sad. I don’t think the robot utopia is very nice, thank you. Maybe read something cute and fluffy after reading In The Lives of Puppets to recover. But do read it.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re celebrating the release of the next book in the Branches of Past and Future series, Two Who Live On by MN Bennet!
Two Who Live On (Branches of Past and Future #2)
Publication Date: March 11, 2024
Genre: LGBTQ+ Fantasy Romance/ Dark Academia
Grumpy/Sunshine
Dark academia vibes
Unraveling mysteries
Cinnamon rolls
Angsty teens
So much banter
Second chance romance
Spicy 🌶🌶🌶
Going into the second semester, all Dorian wants to do is explore his relationship with Milo and prepare his students for the upcoming academy showcase. But Enchanter Evergreen’s fame makes Dorian question his place in Milo’s world. His fear of going public is complicated when he notices a shift in his telepathy that strengthens his bond to Milo in a way it never has before. Dorian finds himself forced to simultaneously navigate his work life and Milo’s enchanter cases.
This amplification in his magic puts a strain on Dorian’s mind, making it difficult to prioritize his students while they struggle to rank into the showcase. Dorian wants to ensure their magics are mastered in time for the event, help them deal with trauma from the warlock incursion last semester, and teach them to handle class bullies this semester. But finding a balance is out of the question when Dorian’s mind is reeled toward dangerous threats lurking in the city.
Demons. Haunting and deadly, they stalk citizens, picking off witches and warlocks alike, while Milo investigates their motives. It’s a terrifying reminder for Dorian about why he wasn’t cut out for life as an industry professional. He lost Finn to demons, and now, just as he’s finally gotten some semblance of his life back, Dorian worries he’ll lose Milo to the same fate.
MN Bennet loves reading and writing about magical worlds, sweet romances, and snarky characters. When not writing, buried in a stack of TBR books, or binge watching something captivating, he can be found working on lesson plans.
Explore the hidden world of magnetic and mysterious villains, often cast aside and misunderstood in tales of mythology and folklore. Through the pages of Queer Villains of Myth and Legend, discover a diverse community of fascinating characters, ranging from seductive and cunning to powerful and awe-inspiring.
Experience the dark allure of Circe and Medusa through to David Bowie’s Jareth in Labyrinth and delve into their complex and multifaceted personalities and motivations. Take a deep dive into the intersection of queerness and villainy, re-examine some of our favourite characters, and discover why so many ‘bad’ characters are queer-coded.
From ancient mythology to contemporary pop culture, Queer Villains of Myth and Legend celebrates the fascinating stories of these often-overlooked characters.
Join Dan Jones on a journey of discovery, as he explores the hidden depths of queer villainy and sheds light on the queer identities of these compelling figures. It’s a powerful celebration of queerness through the ages in all its legendary complexity.
Dan Jones is a freelance writer and author based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from the UK, he has previously covered men’s style and grooming as an editor for several fashion and lifestyle magazines – including the New York Times’ Wirecutter – and ecommerce brands. A big myth nerd and martini fan, Dan has published books on both legendary queer mythological characters and cocktails alongside a series of fashion titles.
My thoughts: in this book each short chapter focuses on one character from mythology or pop culture that is either overtly queer or queer coded; historically there are times when being openly gay or trans was criminalised or put you at risk, even if you were producing art rather than bring queer yourself.
While some of the chapters feel a bit rushed and lack details, others are more thorough and use examples from the tales these characters come from and retellings or scholarly work, especially the mythic figures.
Some of the names will be familiar and others less well known, unless you’re a mythology nerd like me, and some, such as the Knights Templar, don’t really have much evidence – they didn’t leave records behind, so we have to go on rumour and theory.
It’s a nice volume collecting some interesting figures from history, mythology, literature and pop culture, from Circe to Buffy’s Dark Willow.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
ramblingmads 