Tag: LGBTQ+

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: A Power Unbound – Freya Marske

ramblingmads

Jack Alston – Lord Hawthorn – would love a nice, safe, comfortable life. He renounced magic after the death of his twin sister. But with the threat of a dangerous ritual risking every magician in Britain, he’s drawn reluctantly back into that world.

Now Jack is living in a bizarre puzzle-box of a magical London townhouse, helping its owner Violet track down the final piece of the Last Contract before their enemies can do the same. And to make matters worse, they need the help of writer and thief Alan Ross. Cagey and argumentative, Alan is only in this for the money. He’s loud in his hatred of the aristocracy and their unearned power . . . and unfortunately, he happens to be everything that Jack wants in one gorgeous, infuriating package.

When a plot to seize unimaginable magic power comes to a head on Jack’s own family estate, Jack, Alan and their allies will become entangled in a night of champagne, secrets and bloody sacrifice – and the foundations of magic in Britain might be torn up by the roots before the end.

Filled with magic, murder and romance, A Power Unbound is the thrilling third book in The Last Binding trilogy by Freya Marske. Start the series with A Marvellous Light and A Restless Truth.

My thoughts: all good things must come to an end, and so we come to the final book in the The Last Binding trilogy. The gang is all here, and all trying desperately to stop their enemies from finding the last piece of the Contract – the knife, and stealing magic from the magicians.

Jack, Lord Hawthorn, has seen what can happen when you do just that, but he can’t tell anyone, thanks to a fiendish spell. But having to return to his ancestral home, the scene of his sister’s death, might change things.

As events begin to get worse – and they’re all threatened with arrest, Jack must stop his evil cousin George, and Edwin’s horrible brother Walter, on home turf.

But he’s distracted by the journalist Alan Ross, aka Alonzo Rossi, who infuriates but also bewitches him. Could this man, with the ability to negate magic, be the love he’s needed for so long? And can they stop the scheme and save magic?

Delightful, very spicy, full of the humour and adventure this trilogy is known for, as the gang attempt to out-think and out-scheme their enemies with some disguises and misdirection. A fitting end to a series I have thoroughly enjoyed.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: How to Get a Girlfriend (When You’re a Terrifying Monster) – Marie Cardno

ramblingmads

To celebrate the release of the sequel, we’re touring the first book in the series, How to Get a Girlfriend (When You’re a Terrifying Monster) by Marie Cardno! It’s on sale for only $0.99 right now!

How To Get a Girlfriend cover copy 2 cozy

How to Get a Girlfriend (When You’re a Terrifying Monster)

Publication Date: July 2022

Genre: Cozy Fantasy Romance/ Sapphic Romance/ Romcom

Life is tough when you’re an eldritch abomination.

Trillin isn’t technically a person. She’s a tiny breakaway piece of consciousness from the all-devouring Endless, doomed to eventually rejoin it. But when a human witch stumbles into her world, Trillin suddenly has a new reason to figure out individuality–one shape-shifting tentacle at a time.

Sian is sure important magical discoveries are just around the corner, if she can just get her portals to work reliably. Reaching the dimension of the Endless without being eaten on sight is a dream come true, and Sian is determined to explore every bit of it. For science, of course, not for the strangely adorable life-form who keeps popping up and trying to… flirt?

But Trillin’s world can be a dangerous place, and keeping Sian safe might risk drawing the attention of the Endless itself–which will swallow Trillin up along with all her dreams of humanity. Together, can this unlikely duo escape the Endless, figure out the optimum number of appendages, and maybe even find love?

How to Get a Girlfriend (When You’re a Terrifying Monster) is a sapphic cozy fantasy romance between a witch scientist and a shape-shifting Cthulhu monster. HEA guaranteed!

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt

In the constantly changing void of the Endless Dimension, there is no such thing as people. There is only one person – or perhaps ‘being’ would be a better word. The constant, hungering entity that both is and fills the entire dimension: the Endless itself. Fragments of the Endless sometimes fracture off, spattering free like bubbles in a galactic pot of porridge, but they are quickly absorbed again, and anything they learnt or thought or felt while they were separated is gobbled back up into the hungering one-ness.

Except for one.

She didn’t remember how it had happened. One moment, she hadn’t been anything at all; the next, she was. She had edges. Something between the Endless and this new, separate thing that was her. And with those edges and this new her-ness, a sudden and desperate desire not to be sucked back into eternal, omniscient obscurity.

The Endless wanted her back, no question about that. But she (she! An individual!) was still very small, and as long as she didn’t do anything particularly noticeable, it was apparently difficult for the Endless to notice her.

The first time an interdimensional portal opened into the Endless, she thought it would provide good cover. The portal was very noticeable; next to it, she was even more likely to be overlooked. Even when the Endless manifested enormous eyeballs to peer at the portal, its gaze slid over her as though she didn’t exist.

Excellent.

She didn’t pay much attention to the portal the first few times it popped in and out of existence after that. It was enough that it attracted attention away from her, as she experimented with her edges and what she could do with the body – her body – inside them.

The Endless was full of shapes. It made and remade itself constantly, and fragments of it were forever sloughing off, devouring one another, and being reabsorbed by the whole again. She remembered a lot of the shapes from when she’d been part of the Endless, but none of them were right, and not just because it turned out to be very difficult to make your own shape when there was only you to make it.

None of the shapes she remembered were her. She didn’t even really know what she was going to be, yet, but she was fiercely, confusedly jealous of it. And each experimental skin and limb and sensory apparatus brought her closer to herself.

One day, just as she had succeeded in creating a tentacle and was waving it around, the portal flared. The rippling surface between the five points that outlined its shape against the Endless changed colour as a shadow formed at its centre. The shadow darkened, grew larger, and something pushed through from the other side.

Not something. Her edges sparked. A … a someone.

A someone with a flattish, paleish face, one blunt nose, two lidded eyes and a crest of dark hair. The bottom half of her face split, but not like aspects of the Endless split, forming and reforming along seams that changed position from moment to moment. This was an existing hole in the face, stretching wide as she stepped through the portal. Stepped through on legs. A body! A living body that moved through the world without changing its form!

She was suddenly, horribly self-conscious. She manifested another eyeball on the end of her tentacle and used it to look down at herself. Her body was … not like the newcomer’s. It had too many limbs, to start with. Small skittery limbs. She’d made a lot for practice, but now they were too many.

And her body had too many eyes, too, if the two the newcomer had were the number people were meant to have.

And a tentacle.

The newcomer didn’t have any tentacles.

She skittered down until only her tentacle-eye was visible over the solid surface in front of the portal. From there, she watched as the strange new being twisted its head this way and that, its mouth still stretched wide and its eyes darting around as though it were searching for something.

“Fantastic,” the creature breathed, and stepped back through the portal.

Her heart thudded. She suddenly had a heart to thud. It seemed to fill her entire body.

All at once, she knew two things.

First, she needed to make herself a new body. Something more like the urgently, wonderfully active creature she had just seen.

Second … she had to see that creature again.

Despite being separated from the Endless, the fragment still had its memories. At least, as many of them as could fit in her far smaller mind. She rifled through them as the portal dimmed. Before long, she found what she was looking for.

The portal-creature was what was known as a human.

Get it HERE!

About the Author

profile pic marie cardno

Marie Cardno loves cozy fantasy. She lives halfway between the sea and a French bakery on the south coast of the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, and writes stories about love, magic, and strange and wonderful worlds.

Marie Cardno

Book Tour Schedule

October 2nd

http://rrbooktours.com Kick-off

https://www.instagram.com/isabellesbookshelf/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/mommyandherbooks/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/zoms_reading_nook/?igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg%3D%3D – Review

https://www.instagram.com/sharingthebooklove – Feature

October 3rd

https://www.instagram.com/happily_undignified/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/a_lyttle_book_blog/?igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg%3D%3D – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/kmartbooks/ – Review

https://www.ladyhawkeye.com – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/kellyatx/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/tinasbooknook/ – Feature

October 4th

https://www.instagram.com/demigodreading19/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/birddbookss/?igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg%3D%3D – Review

https://www.instagram.com/page_turning_mama/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/hmylek/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/authormariereed/ – Feature

October 5th

https://www.instagram.com/ameliaveganreader/ – Review

https://bakingupgoodreads.wordpress.com/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/molina_lovestoread/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/inkspit.blog/ – Review

http://ramblingmads.com – Feature

October 6th

https://www.instagram.com/mythicmelancholy/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/nerdydreamer107/ – Review

http://www.thefaeriereview.com – Review

https://freelancewriterjannyc.com/ – Feature

https://www.thesexynerdrevue.com – Feature

Book Tour Organized by R&R Book Tours

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Fayne – Ann-Marie MacDonald

ramblingmads

‘I knew from a very young age that I was wrong in the world. And the idea of looking through the eyes of somebody who’s born with an intersex trait has been quite compelling to me for a very long time. It’s not an exotic quality. That’s why I’ve decided not to treat it as a “spoiler”. That’s just who Charlotte is, that’s her body. That’s normal. It’s the world that has a problem and is going to make it a problem for her’ ANN-MARIE MACDONALD

In the late nineteenth century, Charlotte Bell is growing up at Fayne, a vast and lonely estate straddling the border between England and Scotland, where she has been kept from the world by her adoring father, Lord Henry Bell, owing to a mysterious ‘condition’.

Charlotte, strong and insatiably curious, revels in the moorlands, and has learned the treacherous and healing ways of the bog from the old hired man, Byrn, whose own origins are shrouded in mystery. Her idyllic existence is shadowed by the magnificent portrait on the landing in Fayne House which depicts her mother, a beautiful Irish-American heiress, holding Charlotte’s brother, Charles Bell. Charlotte has grown up with the knowledge that her mother died in giving birth to her, and that her older brother, Charles, the long-awaited heir, died at the age of two. When Charlotte’s appetite for learning threatens to exceed the bounds of the estate, her father breaks with tradition and hires a tutor to teach his daughter ‘as you would my son, had I one’.

But when Charlotte and her tutor’s explorations of the bog turn up an unexpected artefact, her father announces he has arranged for her to be cured of her condition, and her world is upended. Charlotte’s passion for knowledge and adventure will take her to the bottom of family secrets and to the heart of her own identity.

In Fayne we meet an irresistible young queer character whose curiosity and joy collide with the frustratingly arbitrary gender dichotomies in the world. Even with all her gifts – intelligence, wit and strength of character – can Charlotte overcome the violently enforced boundaries of society to claim her own place in the world?

©️ Lora McDonald

ANN-MARIE MACDONALD is a novelist, playwright, actor, and broadcast host. She was born in the former West Germany. After graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, she moved to Toronto where she distinguished herself as an actor and playwright. Her first play won the Governor General’s Award, the Chalmers Award and the Canadian Authors’ Association Award. In 1996, her first novel Fall on Your Knees became an international bestseller, was translated into nineteen languages and sold three million copies. It won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Fiction, the People’s Choice Award and the Libris Award. In 2002, it became an Oprah’s Book Club title. In 2003, The Way the Crow Flies appeared, and in 2014, Adult Onset, both of which also enjoyed immense international success. In 2019 Ann-Marie MacDonald was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contribution to the arts and her LGBTQ2S+ activism. She is married to theatre director, Alisa Palmer, with whom she has two children.

My thoughts: I adore Charlotte, she’s incredibly clever, brave and longs to be a doctor at a time when being female is something of an impediment to that. Except Charlotte isn’t female or male – she’s intersex. And this is her story. But it’s also the story of Charlotte’s mother, Lady Marie “Mae” Bell, originally from Boston, Massachusetts. She marries Lord Henry Bell, Baron DC de Fayne, after meeting him in Rome.

They return, first to Edinburgh, where Henry’s sister the Honorable Clarissa, lives in the family’s town house, and then to Fayne, a wilderness of bog and fen. Where Charlotte grows up, wild and curious.

The story moves back and forth between Charlotte and Mae, as we learn more about the Bells and Fayne. There are so many secrets and lies that Charlotte will have to uncover as she ages and grows up. The absence of her mother, the death of her brother Charles, why they’re so cut off at Fayne and she doesn’t have any playmates and only a handful of servants remain.

This isn’t a short book, it’s a hefty tome, but it needs to be as there’s so many layers to the story of this family and especially Charlotte. I felt for her, I was delighted by the later chapters, as Charlotte asserts herself and finds happiness. The lonely grief of the earlier sections was well rewarded. Ghastly aunt Clarissa, so bitter and so conniving, what a shame she wasn’t the Baron. And Mae, oh poor, sweet Mae. Her story is heartbreaking. Have tissues handy, like many 19th Century women, fate was not kind to her.

This is an incredible book, powerful, moving and heartening. My mum used to be a midwife and has delivered intersex babies, the decisions families have to make at what should be a joyous time, can be very tough. Depending on their baby’s situation. As we know now, gender isn’t one thing or another, it can be a lot more complex than that and so is biological sex. I could write whole essays on the various in-between states – from the Disputed County of Fayne itself, to Charlotte, something for a new generation of literature students. I imagine this will be a future classic.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Ravensong – TJ Klune

ramblingmads

Gordo Livingstone never forgot the lessons carved into his skin. Hardened by the betrayal of a pack who left him behind, he sought solace in the garage in his tiny mountain town, vowing never again to involve himself in the affairs of wolves.

It should have been enough.

And it was, until the wolves came back, and with them, Mark Bennett. In the end, they faced the beast together as a pack . . . and won.

Now , a year later, Gordo has found himself once again the w itch of the Bennett pack. Green Creek has settled after the death of Richard Collins, and Gordo constantly struggles to ignore Mark and the song that how ls between them.

But time is running out. Something is coming. And this time, it’s craw ling from within.

Some bonds, no matter how strong, w ere made to be broken.

Ravensong is the second book in the Green Creek series by bestselling author TJ Klune.

My thoughts: filling in some of the gaps from Wolfsong, this starts with Gordo and the Bennett brothers away from Green Creek hunting down the murderer of their father – Richard Collins.

Gordo’s story, especially his relationship with Mark, is filled in with flashbacks, bringing us up to date with the complicated situation before they return to Green Creek and Gordo sees Mark again.

More trouble is coming, because the Green Creek pack seem to attract it, and they will be betrayed by someone they should have been able to trust. They will have to fight, not just for their own lives, but those of every human in town and in the process their secrets will be laid bare.

I really liked Gordo, he’s a complicated person, way too much responsibility was laid on him when he was far too young, but he’s mostly borne it well. Except for when the Bennetts left him alone in the town and went East. Then he rebelled, against them, against his assigned destiny, against his bond with Mark. I don’t really blame him, it was a terrible situation.

But he built his own family, with his friends, Rico, Tanner and Chris. And added Ox years later. They sustain him, even as they tease him mercilessly.

Reconnecting with the Bennetts will take time, something neither he nor the pack really has, and it’s a struggle for him. Ravensong is told from his perspective and it’s interesting to read all his internal wrestling and confusion. The threat they face is big, but he can do it, he’s tied to the land, just like the wolves, and is more powerful than his enemies realise.

Another wonderful visit to Green Creek and the wolves there. Bring on Heartsong, aka book three!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: A Plague of Hatred – Jeremiah Cain

ramblingmads

APlagueofHatred copy

Welcome to the tour for dark, epic fantasy A Plague of Hatred by Jeremiah Cain. Read on for more details!

cover-a-plague-of-hatred-by-jeremiah-cain

A Plague of Hatred (The Encroaching Chaos #1)

Genre: Dark Epic Fantasy/ LGBTQ2+ Rep

Publication Date: June 13, 2023

“This dazzling epic fantasy is packed with memorable characters in black, white, and gray.” — BookLife Reviews

On the verge of adulthood, Roslyn’s dreams are simple: Marry Jon and become a healer.

But on the world of Perdinok, the capture of the Church of Deagar by hate-filled fanatics puts Roslyn and all other followers of the blue God Karulus at risk. Soon, soldiers arrive to assassinate Roslyn’s mentor and priest. Dreaded Silthex knights lock eight hundred of Roslyn’s fellow villagers in the local inn–intending to burn them alive. Roslyn must act quickly and grow up quickly.

Years later, having become the legendary resistance leader known as the Blue Rose and an ambassador rallying forces against the repressive Empire, Roslyn is given another assignment: Find out how Chaos energy has been allowed to leak into Perdinok from the Plane of Chaos.

Now, on the slopes of Mount Triumph, Roslyn must call upon all her skills as an Azerent Mage to wrest truth from the twisted temptations and taunts that spew from the mouth of the devious Harpy that she has called up from the Nightmare Realm. Unless she can distill the tint of truth contained in the Harpy’s obscure prophecy of doom, her very planet may be at risk.

Excerpt

She kept walking, continuing unhurriedly down the thin dirt road through the dark woodlands. Her legs ached from the extensive journey, yet she could not risk a carriage driver knowing her destination. Nocturnal insects provided the only sound she’d heard in hours. A hooded cloak, long and forest green, hid all that she was. The constant need to hide had become a crucial necessity.

For over a decade, the Church of Déagar had stood as the one and only legal church within the Dayigan Empire. The worship of God Karulus, her God and savior, was punishable by death.

Nevertheless, Roslyn would not bow.

And so it came to be that, on this cool early spring night of her thirty-second year, she arrived in the shadowy yard of a moonlit cabin.

She knocked five times on the simple wooden door and waited five seconds. She knocked twice more.

A square panel at eye level opened within the door, and a young man peered out. “Bit late, innit, miss? Who may I ask is calling?”

She drew back her hood, showing a thin face with delicate features. Sadness lingered in the blue of her eyes and a frown crossed her lips. Her hair, dirty blond in both color and state, hung limp, retreating into her cloak.

“My name is Roslyn.” Even as she talked to him, she did not meet his gaze. Instead, she kept her eyes, as well as her head, lowered, as was proper. “I’ve come to sail the Veiled River. Will you allow me passage?”

“Sorry, miss. If such a river did exist, ’twould be unsafe to travel.” He began to close the panel.

“But yet, I have my ticket here.” She removed a folded note from a purse on her belt and held it to the hole.

The man pulled in the page and closed the panel door, leaving her in dark silence.

Roslyn waited. As nervous as she was, she remained calm. In the unlikely event that she was being watched, the observer should see nothing but an unsuspicious woman at an unsuspicious door. Luckily—or sadly—she’d had much practice in this sort of thing.

Finally, the door opened and the same young man showed her in. “Welcome to Port Lytel, miss. Lord Karhelm will see you.”

By flickering candlelight, he led Roslyn down a slight, tight hall.

“In here, miss.” He opened a final door, but did not enter with her.

This room was better lit. A fireplace cast a glow supplemented by a tin candelabra on a simple table. Its tallow candles streamed thick lines of black smoke.

A tall, well-built man in his mid-thirties stood in the center of the room.

Even as Roslyn entered, his face gave no sign of salutation.

“I was told you wished to see me, my lord,” she said, keeping her head at a downward tilt.

“You are the Azerent Mage sent by Father Hanugfrie.”

“Azerent Master Healer, my lord. I primarily perform the magic of my specialty and have taken a vow to do no harm. But I trained under Father Hanugfrie for three years and studied at Azerent College for five. Afterwards, I served God Karulus as a healer in multiple ports, during which time I received accolades for skill and merit from both the Order of Azerents and the Karulent Church. Also, I received multiple awards from the Veiled River Commission for bravery as a healer and as an evacuation coordinator, both under life-threatening conditions. I am pleased to join your port, and I know I will be an asset to your team.”

“Quite a mouthful.” He paused without expression and looked her up and down. “At least your appearance is adequate,” he said. “They warned me you’d be a woman. You should know, I find it obscene. A woman casting magic.”

“The Déagrians would say the same of all who practice magic.”

He crossed his arms. “I assume that was meant to be humorous. It wasn’t.”

“Actually, I meant it to be accurate, which it was.”

“Regardless, you are here. Let us hope God Karulus keeps you strong, for in this desperate time, we have no other choice than to utilize your gifts.”

“My thanks, my lord, for allowing me to serve our God.”

“I prefer that you call me Lieutenant.”

“An army rank? You are a soldier?”

“Once, at twenty, I was an honored Dayigan soldier with a royal commission and on my way to commanding thousands. But in an hour, I became a despised criminal. I continue to use the rank to remember that the world can change in a moment. You’d do well to remember the same.”

“Lessons I’ve learnt quite well on my own, Lieutenant.”

Available on Amazon

About the Author

author-pic-jeremiah-cain

Jeremiah Cain is a dark epic fantasy writer of a vivid world that BookLife Reviews called, “rich with detail and myth-lore that traipses brightly through the darker themes.” He served as an army medic and has a BA in Communication with a minor in English. In addition to reading and writing, he loves video games, particularly RPGs. 

Jeremiah Cain

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Button

R&R Book Tours

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: I Promise You Pain – Bart Baker

ramblingmads

I Promise you Pain copy

“Not your daddy’s Jack Reacher, Cordon Finn is a different breed…”

Welcome to the book tour for I Promise You Pain by Bart Baker. Read on for more details!

bookcover I Promise You Pain

I Promise you Pain (The Cordon Finn Vengeance Series #1)

Genre: Crime Fiction/ Action Thriller/ LGBTQ2+ Books

Publication Date: May 11, 2023

Hired by a Chicago billionaire to pluck his runaway son from the Palm Springs compound of a wealthy pedophile, former military extraction and information specialist, Cordon Finn, believes it will be a simple snatch-and-go job with a big payday. But Cordon discovers that his quarry isn’t the billionaire’s underage son, but rather his trans-daughter, Lucious, whose father wants her dead. After fighting off assassins, Cordon vows to keep Lucious alive. But when the billionaire kidnaps Cordon’s girlfriend and comes after his family and friends, Cordon takes the fight back to the billionaire’s door. With the help of Lucious and his sister, Annie, Cordon craves vengeance, even if the cost is his own life.

I PROMISE YOU PAIN contains brutal violence as well as raw language, consensual and nonconsensual sex. There are trans and gay characters. Not your daddy’s Jack Reacher, Cordon Finn is a different breed. Fascinating, faceted, damaged but relatable, Cordon seeks vengeance for those who can’t.

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt

“I got money,” Lucious says. “Whatever you’re getting paid for, whatever you’re doing, I can get you more.”

“Shut up,” Cordon demands, pushing Lucious behind him as Cordon plots their escape. As he calculates the route out, Cordon is snapped back to the moment when he hears Luscious behind him.

“I’m at Wayne’s! This fucking lunatic is kidnapping me! He about killed Way—” Lucious barks into his phone as Cordon whips around. Yanking the cell phone from Lucious’s hand, Cordon smashes it against the wall. Dropping the pieces to the floor, Cordon stomps on it.

“What the hell!? That’s a brand-new iPhone!”

“Hear me and hear me good, knucklefuck. You pull any bullshit, you call for help, try to signal someone, anything I don’t like, I will rip that little swimsuit off your ass and gag you with it. Understand?”

“Yeah, but—”

Cordon slaps his hand over Lucious’s mouth. “Shut! Up! You talk, you die. You keep your mouth shut, do as I say, you will come out of this alive, Lucas,” Cordon warns in a harsh whisper as he takes his hand away from Lucious’s mouth.

“Lucious! My name is Lucious! She! Her!”

Again, Cordon slaps his hand over Lucious’s mouth again, his face getting close to hers.

“Don’t! Care!” Cordon snaps back.

Lucious glares into Cordon’s eyes, fighting her rage. She carefully reaches up and pulls Cordon’s hand away from her face. “Why are you kidnapping me?”

Cordon’s finger gets right in Lucious’s face, ignoring her question. “We’re going down those stairs together, our arms around each other, and right out the front door. Remember, you try to alert anyone, I will punch you in the head so hard you will wake up in the hospital if you wake up at all. If I’m clear, nod.”

Lucious defiantly does as asked. As Cordon turns back to the door, Lucious seizes the moment and grabs Cordon’s hand, putting a lock on Cordon’s thumb, slamming her elbow into a pressure point in Cordon’s neck. More startled than injured, Cordon’s free hand comes up fast, right into Lucious’s solar plexus, the air blasting from Lucious’s lungs.

Staggering back, Lucious recovers quickly, jumping into the air and surprising Cordon with a kick that connects with his head. Cordon wobbles a step, his fist coming up defensively. Lucious strikes, pummeling Cordon with kicks and punches, her skill as a fighter remarkable but not

unexpected. Cordon knew the kid was a champion and prepared himself for Lucious to fight back.

Blocking Lucious’s attack, Cordon finds his back against the wall. He drops to the floor and sweeps out Lucious’s legs. Lucious hits the floor hard but startling Cordon, Lucious kips back to her feet, ducks under Cordon’s meaty swing, pile-drives a few punches into Cordon’s rib while screaming for help, hoping someone can hear her over the blasting music.

Cordon shoves Lucious back hard into the dresser, but Lucious comes back swinging and kicking. Cordon continues to block most of Lucious’s blows as Lucious continues to scream for help with each swing and kick. The music continues to drown out her pleas.

“I. Should. Be. The. One. Calling. For. Help!” Cordon barks, as he blocks the flurry of Lucious’s punches from doing any damage.

Needing to batter Cordon back long enough to escape, Lucious leaps in the air, her hips jerking hard as she comes around with a furious spin kick to Cordon’s head. But Cordon catches Lucious by the calf and slams her leg into the wall, holding her there, the leg up around Lucious’s face as the barrel of Cordon’s gun jams into Lucious’s balls.

“Hit me again, I’ll open you up like a can of fish,” Cordon snarls into Lucious’s face.

Slowly letting Lucious’s leg drop, Cordon grabs hold of the dozens of necklaces Lucious wears, many appearing homemade, dangling with a charm or amulet, tightening his grip until the necklaces dig into Lucious’s skin, choking her.

“Turn around,” Cordon orders, spinning Lucious towards the wall.

In the small black bag over his shoulder, Cordon pulls out a two zip ties. “I didn’t want to do this,” Cordon says as he binds Lucious’s hands together with the ties, and then grabs the necklaces again to maintain complete control over the kid. Yanking Lucious’s body against his, Cordon holds her tightly, sliding the gun barrel up to Lucious’s cheek. “This is how serious I am about this. I want to get out of here. And unless you want half your pretty face blown off, you’re going to do what I say. I feel you so much as tense a muscle, I’m going to send you home to your family in a plastic trash bag.”

“My father would like that.”

“Let’s not find out, Bruce Lee.”

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Bart Baker headshot (2)

With seven novels, two seasons of a Kindle Vella story, SCRAPS, eight plays, and 19 produced film and TV credits, Bart has been writing for over 40 years. Starting in the theater, the film rights to Bart’s play, RELAY, were bought by Warner Bros., which led him into screenwriting. Bart has had two feature films produced (LIVE WIRE and SUPERCROSS,) eleven produced movies for television for CBS, ABC, USA, Family Channel, and Hallmark as well as work on four television series including DIRT, starring Courtney Cox. Bart’s novel, HONEYMOON WITH HARRY was a critical and commercial success with the movie rights purchased by New Line/Warner Bros when the book was in galleys.

Bart lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with his husband, Joe Elvis, and two children, Isaiah and Emmanuel. Besides writing, Bart is a lifelong swimmer and gym rat. Follow Bart on Facebook, on Twitter at @firstBartBaker, on Instagram @thefirstBartBaker, IMDB as Bart Baker, or his website http://www.bartvbaker.com.

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Button

R&R Book Tours

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: No Worries If Not – Sophie Galustian

ramblingmads

In the spirit of My Mad Fat Diary by Rae Earl and Slug by Hollie Mcnish, No Worries If Not is a relatable coming-of-age story, that explores Soph Galustian’s experiences of poverty, queerness, mental health, grief and community. She recounts her life from childhood, to teens, into adulthood through a mixture of short stories, spoken word, illustrations, and space for the reader to reflect.

This book is for anyone who was raised struggling, anyone who wrestled with coming out, who accidentally killed their childhood pet, who has lost the person closest to them…

Filled with flashbacks to the 2000s/2010s, No Worries If Not is equally for the straights and the gays, the rich and disadvantaged. In this book Soph offers up her experiences and a space to reminisce and laugh at life’s misfortunes.

Soph Galustian is a born-and-bred Mancunian writer and actress of Armenian heritage, who specialises in comedy writing and spoken-word poetry. This is her first book. She is the writer and star of BBC Three comedy threesome Peck ‘Eds. A comedy about the testing moments of growing up as a young, working­class woman in South Manchester. Soph is currently starring in Channel 4’s Everyone Else Burns, a coming-of-age comedy about a Mancunian family and the puritanical Christian sect they are devoted to. This is her first book.

My thoughts: complete with a playlist you can listen to on Spotify, this is the memoir of a writer and actress who grew up very much in the Internet age, she talks about MSN Messenger and Facebook, the mid 00s is very much alive in this funny and at times heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Manchester without much money but with plenty of love and adventure.

Soph (not Sophie unless you’re her passport or mum) has a lot to say on the subject of being young and trying to find your way in the world. She’s gay and struggling to work out how to deal with that. She tries dating boys but that’s really not her thing, and falls in love pretty hard with her friend.

There’s some really sad and dark moments as well, and Soph explores a lot of her emotions through her poetry and drawings, shared throughout her book. There’s a lightness of touch to her writing, the way she chats to the reader, like a friend catching you up on things that makes it readable and relatable.

I can remember the years Soph writes about really well, the quite recent past but being a wee bit older than her, my memories of those years are somewhat different, but I liked the thought of the next generation coming up behind me doing a lot of the same stupid shit I did as a youngster.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Tales From Beyond the Rainbow – Pete Jordi Wood

ramblingmads

Ten captivating stories of adventure and resilience celebrating LGBTQ+ characters, published as an illustrated collection of queer classics for the first time.

These are the fairy tales that history forgot – or concealed. Tales in which gender is fluid and where queer stories can have a happy ending.

From the humble sailor who finds his handsome prince to the transgender market girl who becomes queen, from Europe to Asia via the African savannah, LGBTQ+ folklore researcher Pete Jordi Wood has combed through generations of history and adapted ten unforgettable stories, each illustrated by an artist who shares heritage with the culture from which the stories were born.

Pete Jordi Wood (he/him) is a British author, illustrator and screenwriter from Cornwall, U.K. Pete has written original drama for Channel 4 and the BBC and was a recipient of The John Brabourne Award from the Film and Television Charity. He describes himself as a ‘fairy tale detective’ who has dedicated himself to the academic study of queer folk tales, myths and legends.

My thoughts: what a great book to start Pride Month off with, ten stories from around the world collected here in this beautiful book. Each story has an LGBTQ+ protagonist and they’re illustrated too.

From modern day Benin (then the Kingdom of Dahomey) to Russia, China, India and beyond, these are traditional tales featuring characters that are either explicitly Queer or could be read as such.

Modernising the language but not altering the content, making them more accessible for younger readers as well as folklorists means this is a collection that could sit easily alongside a collection of Grimm tales on either a child’s shelf or a researchers. Or just someone like me, who loves fairy tales and folklore (and ok, I do have an academic background in this) but any reader would find these enchanting.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Grace Summit – Denise Roma

ramblingmads

We are happy to share Denise Roma’s novel Grace Summit with you all today! Read on for more details!

9-12-22 FINAL Full Cover -- Grace Summit

Grace Summit

Publication Date: September 2022

Genre: NA College Romance/ FF Romance (slightly literary bent)

Ann, Amelia, and Jackie arrive at Grace Summit Bible College with their own particular heartbreaks. Ann is lonely and hungry for belonging, Amelia is broken from abuse and separation from her child, and Jackie is searching for friendships to sustain her.

Ann and Amelia find the connection they seek in one another, but they must navigate the college’s religious mandates and eventually, the passage of decades. It is during those passing years that Jackie comes to understand the influence Amelia’s and Ann’s love story has had on her own life.
Grace Summit explores the lives of women coming of age in the late ’80s, navigating their places in a changing world. Giving each woman a voice to reflect on her story, it weaves together attraction, love, religion, and finally, aging, illness, and loss. It’s an achingly beautiful novel that spans cities and lifetimes, capturing the intensity of first loves and women’s friendships.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Denise photo 2

You can find Denise Roma’s poetry in After Hours, a Chicago journal of literature and visual art, and short fiction in the online literary journal Thread and the New Town Writer’s Off the Rocks magazine. Grace Summit is her first novel.

Denise lives in the Chicago area with her family. She loves reading, writing, dancing in land or water and early morning air.

Find out more at: Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/GraceSummitNovel

Instagram profile: https://www.instagram.com/gracesummitnovel/

Book Tour Schedule

May 29th

http://rrbooktours.com – Kick-Off

https://www.instagram.com/silkybookloverfun – Review

http://readsandreels.com – Feature

http://ramblingmads.com – Feature

May 30th

https://www.instagram.com/brandikaedesigns/ – Feature

http://www.thefaeriereview.com – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/latishaslowkeylife/ – Feature

https://christinebialczak.com/ – Feature

https://www.facebook.com/CocktailsFairytales – Feature

May 31st

https://www.instagram.com/bingingbooksandcoffee/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/margiebythebookcase/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/literaryinspired/ – Feature

https://bookwormbunnyreviews.blogspot.com/ – Feature

June 1st

https://lshadowlynauthor.com/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/aebennettwrites/ – Feature

https://freelancewriterjannyc.com/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/siriuslyjenn_/ – Feature

June 2nd

https://countrymamaswithkids.com – Review

https://www.instagram.com/katierichardauthor/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/sharingthebooklove/ – Review

https://www.thesexynerdrevue.com – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/sky.s_library/ – Feature

https://www.booksblog.co.uk/ – Feature

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Button

R&R Book Tours

blog tour, books, reviews

BBNYA Blog Tour: The Goddess of Nothing At All – Cat Rector

ramblingmads

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.  If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Perhaps you know the myths. 

Furious, benevolent Gods.

A tree that binds nine realms.

A hammer stronger than any weapon.

And someday, the end of everything.

But few have heard of me. 

Looking back, it’s easy to know what choices I might have made differently. At least it feels that way. I might have given up on my title. Told my father he was useless, king of Gods or no, and left Asgard. Made a life somewhere else. 

Maybe I would never have let Loki cross my path. Never have fallen in love. 

But there’s no going back. 

We were happy once. 

And the price for that happiness was the end of everything.

Goodreads

Amazon Canada USA UK

Cat Rector grew up in a small Nova Scotian town and could often be found simultaneously reading a book and fighting off muskrats while walking home from school. She devours stories in all their forms, loves messy, morally grey characters, and writes about the horrors that we inflict on each other. After spending nearly a decade living abroad, she returned to Canada with her spouse to resume her war against the muskrats. When she’s not writing, you can find her playing video games, spending time with loved ones, or staring at her To Be Read pile like it’s going to read itself. 

Epilogues for Lost Gods is the sequel to her debut novel, The Goddess of Nothing At All.

Find her on Twitter, Tiktok, and Instagram at Cat_Rector 

Or visit her website, CatRector.com 

My thoughts: I do enjoy a mythic retelling, and this, from the point of view of the Norse goddess Sigyn, wife of Loki, goddess of Fidelity, is really good. Daughter of Odin, but not one of his favoured children, she falls in love with the Trickster god and has two sons with him.

Their life together is not easy, Loki still has to work for Odin, and the All Father is not a kind master. Sigyn has no idea what fate has in store for her family, but a lifetime of cruelty and mocking is wearing and her love for her fellow Aesir is limited.

It is Ragnarok that brings Sigyn and Loki together the most, their punishment and the redemption the end of the world offers her.

Lots of research has clearly gone into the writing of this book and the little details, like the use of Icelandic words for the Jotun language, add flavour and depth to the story. It takes a while to get going, drawing you in slowly to the love that blossoms between the two main characters. Much of their life together is quiet, raising their children. But as Loki defies the gods, and draws events to their violent end, things shift and Sigyn has to choose her stand. A clever, well written and enjoyable retelling of this old story with a fresh modern perspective and voice.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.