 Enrapture by Pierce Smith is an erotic novella taking place at Halloween night.
The book starts out with a very upset Noah, who is horny and frustrated that his boyfriend, Ethan, who he happened to have met exactly one year ago that very night, is running late for their date. Being hyper, horny and quite bored to be honest he tries to occupy himself with flirting with the guy running the shop from across the street and after some time Ethan finally calls and things are on between the two boyfriends and the guy across the street. I don’t want to ruin the story by telling too much but the plot of the book is fairly straight forward, it consists of what erotic novels consist of mostly, namely sex in different aspects pleasing yourself while others are watching, listening or why not doing all of it in front of large windows where everyone and anyone can see. Enrapture, is if you like real erotic books, is full of lust filled sex, but also a good portion of humor. Noah and Ethan are both likable characters, even if what we really know about them as people isn’t that much. And because of that I find them both to be slightly immature at times. It would have help the depth of the story and the understanding of the characters if we had gotten to know them some on a more personal level, this is the problem I have often with short stories or in this case novellas. Then there is the fact that Noah giggles a lot, it drove me a tad bit bonkers because you all know how much I like adults giggling, but I ignored that fact because well let's face it some people giggle and I just need to get over it, and kept reading. Pierce Smith, writes really well, the dialog is engaging, it feels genuine and as if it is a true conversation that could take place. Noah’s and Ethan’s chemistry it real and hot and at the same time sweet. Spite the third party, it is obvious that they are more to each other than just a fuck buddies and that they care deeply for each other even though the language and tone at times would seem to convey the very opposite. But instead it makes it sort of playful between them. To this point I’d say Enrapture was pretty much like many other erotic novels and even though well written, from my point of view, there wasn’t really anything that made it stand out buuuut...then came the ending. So, what makes this story different and not just another erotic novel with two or more people screwing each other’s brains out, the ending. The ending chapter is brilliant and shocking! It makes you go “what the hell!” and go back several pages just to read it again so you can make sure that you read it right and didn’t miss something. What would have made this story top notch is if that "it" factor had been displayed way earlier and built up. Then it would have been killer! I give it a 4 star rating. You can find Pierce on the following social media: Goodreads
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 Dear Stranger by Sid Love is a short sweet story about two strangers who happen to just meet, or isn’t it as much of a coincident as at least Reggie thinks?
It is hard to write a good short story, I most often, I’d even say I more often than not come out after reading a short story (even those that are 10-20K longer than this one) feeling like I’ve missed out on a big great part of a story. I usually leaves me feeling cheated, meaning I don’t really like short stories because I love the detailed info, the build up, to get down to the nitty gritty of things. But I have to say I am happily surprised by Sid’s story Dear Stranger, not only doesn’t it leave me hanging in the end, even though I’d fancy to know more because I really do like both Reggie and his dear stranger. The plot is focused and driven, the characters engaging and the dialog sweet, even teasing at times and flowing along well for as short as it is. I am impressed by how much info and story Sid manages to get into the story, how he manages to make us see both Reggie and his stranger as people we know some without really telling us a lot about them, but what little info we get is important and helps you understand who they are and where they come from. Also the fact that it doesn’t feel rushed, which a lot of short stories feel because you try to get to much action into the story and instead of making it lovely it just makes it unbelievable. But not here with Dear Stranger. Sid Love write with a lot of heart, he’s a believer in true love, a romantic and it shows in his writing. Well done Sid Love! Be Proud! You can find Sid Love on the following social medias: Website Goodreads
Norse mythology, actually most kind of mythology, has been a subject that have been close to my heart for most of my life. I am by far the least religious person you can find but the myths and lore about the vikings and Norse Gods, bloody as it may be has always put a thrill in me. And in a way I guess it is just the fact that it is more lore and folktales than religion that suits me. Because lore and folktales are more commonly known as tales, unlike religion that most often is taken as a facts and truths even though there’s nothing that proves that it’s anything else but 95% lore too.
The idea of turning norse mythology and Native American lore into one well oiled series was never really the plan, Haven was at the start, was just like now a Native American, a were hunter who was going to have no other passion than traveling the roads like a nomad. His only mission in life that of killing off the entire shifter race because of what one crazed shifter did to his family and tribe. He was never meant to have a lover, a group of men and women who he considered his family, no his story was at the early stages of development of this story a very solitude and dark life. It wasn’t until I started plotting out his story that the idea of Norse Mythology and the Fenrir Ulv, being the ultimate father of all shifters, started to creep into my mind. First, the Fenrir Ulv was going to be the Ultimate shifter, the father of all creation, as he still is. He was meant to have been Haven’s ultimate challenge, who Haven in the end was meant to die from trying to kill, and who know’s he might just still do that, but all in all no matter, the path Haven ended up going down was nothing like I first anticipated or planned. Native American lore and history is another subject that has always been something that has fascinated and interested me. Native Americans being the real natives of the continent of North America, and it has always surprised me how little we see of their history alive in the US today. They were there, living the earth, making homes and a living long before Columbus discovered the Americas and were and are a huge part, the essential part of North American history and still “the white” man’s minute long presence is what dominates our history books. With Haven’s Revenge and the Caddo Norse Novels I wanted to change that, I wanted to make Native American history and lore a main part of the story. Those who have read my books, and I guess especially those that have read my books and knows me, know’s I favor the underdog, the odd ball, the grumpy goodhearted bastards of society who everyone else has lost faith in, those are the men and women I prefer since following the stream of political correctness has never really been my cup of tea. I can honestly say I despise political correctness for the sake of it, because way too many people hide behind it and are allowed to act like cowards because of it. Planning Haven’s Revenge, at the beginning was fairly easy because his cause, his reason was just going to be that of revenging his passed with his acts of devotion to killing of every shifter till all of them were dead. It wasn’t until I reacquainted myself with the Fenrir Ulv and Norse Mythology, and my love for it came back to live that I started playing with the idea of making it part of the heart of my story. I mean killing the Fenrir Ulv off when he was such a cool myth and when it would be so much more fun and interesting to have him stay alive and for once be one of the good guys! It is funny when it comes to Norse Mythology and vikings, most people get it wrong, Thor and Odin, and even Loki always somehow become heroes like Superman or Batman. Bad boys with good guys heart when in reality all of them were if you read the Edda or other sources of Norse Mythology information, they were all evil and selfish bastards. And as for the Viking, there was nothing gentle or loving about them, they were all brutes. Barbarians. Being pretty familiar with Norse mythology, researching it I knew what I was looking for and all I needed to look up were details such as how the Fenrir Ulv was captured by the Asa Gods, where exactly he was held and how they drove that sword through his giant jaws. The point was to keep as much of the original lore as possible, to keep the realness of what most people know or what is known as the “truth” so that you would get that familiar feeling as you read the story. Besides the most complicated story keeps to the basic facts, when you start swaying out too much and you need to explain in too much great detail that is when the story is lost. At least in my eyes it is. So, what happened between Haven being a pissed of and forever lost were hunter with nothing else on his mind than prowling the land of the United States killing shifters and ending up as ranch hand training horses, being the candy of a farm boy’s eye and becoming the key to that farm boy’s future as the King of Wolves? It is fairly stupid to call me romantic, because in reality I am not, I am way too cynical to be called romantic but I guess there’s a part of me, even if that part is fairly small, that still likes the idea of love like no other kind of love. The kind of love that will make you break all the rules, even your own, the kind of love that will get you through that long and dark tunnel and out into the light, the kind of love that makes you a possessive son of a gun and makes you wait forever and a lifetime just to be with that person for no other reason than that you have no room for anyone else. I guess a small part of me hopes that exists out there, at least for some people. Mind you now I say love, not being in love, because even if the idea of being in love and the idea of that one perfect mate/lover/partner/second half (call it what you want) is something a lot of people hope is true, love can be any type of love it doesn’t have to be boy meets girl or boy meets boy. It can be the love between a parent and child, grandson and grandfather and so on and so forth, and I think that you see all those kinds of loves all through Haven’s Revenge, that love is what love is and come in all different shapes and colors and none is better than the other just different. As soon as I started to toy with the idea of making Thor and foremost Odin into the bad guys of my story and the Fenrir Ulv (and his siblings the Midgard Snake and Sleipnir) together into the good guys everything just sort of fell into place all on it’s own. Coleman and Vojin they were the first characters to take form in my head, Vojin immediately being the key to the Native American lore of things. To me Native American culture and lore is a lot about self discovery, about finding you inner strength, personal spirituality and sacrifice. That you are willing to give up a lot of your own things to bring pleasure, happiness and safety for your people/family/tribe and at times that ultimate sacrifice is death itself but it is not feared because you are always protected by the spirit you made part of you. In Haven’s Revenge all of the Caddo community are a proof of this Zacharias, Haven’s father, death, Vojin being the link between the Caddo community, the Fenrir Ulv and the Shifter council with the original eleven (twenty) cubs that were the children of the Caddo man who was the first man to ever be possessed by the Fenrir spirit and who managed to not go crazy. And Haven having his fate that will be revealed further into the story, finding love and safety in Alexander was not his sole purpose, not at all. The Caddo Norse story is for the lack of a better word, a complex story, and I think that partly show’s in the actual criticism the book has gotten both from people who love it and hate it. The most common criticism that I have gotten from readers and reviewers is that there’s “things” that doesn’t make sense like who the hell is Viktor and Hawk, they pop up and disappears and we don’t really get a grip on them, Vojin is essential to the story but we don’t see him enough, and this was supposed to be Haven’s and Alex’s story but it is stolen away because of all those other characters or their story was rushed (which I personally don’t get because it was dragged out to the point of almost becoming too much) but all these criticisms all have answers. The M/M Romance community is very used too, or spoiled (winks) with HEA’s with stories that starts and ends with boy meets boy and then they live happily ever after. They are used to series where the MC are the main focus and there’s a new couple in each book and the couples from the past book or books only, if at all, makes small guest appearances. Not in mine, they don’t even though there will be new couples because I love to weigh up conflicted and troubled stories with an even more troublesome love affair. I don’t, only, write traditional romance stories, I obviously don’t mind them, but all my stories (with one exception of Finding Home) the main plot of the story isn’t love (and not even there is the main plot falling in love) and getting the two MC’s together as a couple. The couples are always a sidekick to the bigger picture, the red thread, the moral of the story which as in the Caddo Norse Novels is the war between the Asa Gods and the Fenrir Ulv/ Paranormal and human world. It is the war between good and evil, look and you shall find a lot of my own personal views on things all the good and all the evil represents real situations or people. What is the moral of the story. Characters pop up in Haven’s Revenge and disappears for a reason and will come back later on to fulfill their purpose, we are shifted back and forth in time to show the reader historic events that has a purpose for the future. Haven’s Revenge is the start, a beginning not the end. And as for Haven and Alexander, whatever possessed you to think that their story was over to begin with? (Grins) There are load of things still going on with those two and their fate, their story, together as well as apart has only just begun (and that goes for Vojin too.  When Skies Have Fallen by Debbie McGowan was my first book by this author and it won’t be my last one that is for sure. When picking up this book I was very curious about, one because it been so highly recommended but also because I met Debbie before reading any of her books and because I had done so it is always fun to see if you can find some of the persons essences in their writing. When Skies Have Fallen takes place during end of the WWII, where men were men and women were women, or at least where a small part of society decided what a man and a woman were, a world where being gay was considered to be a crime and you could actually be put in jail for taking part in so-called homosexual acts. I’ve been sitting here for hours trying to find the right words to describe this book because to make it fair it is not a love story, it is not without it but the moral of the story isn’t will there be love, the moral of the story is how far will you go to be free to love your partner so the world knows. To not live a life in fear and all that, how long will you go to make sure someone else will have those rights too and will you give up trying if fighting for that right will kill you? This story made me think of something I often ponder in regards to romance stories, as they are so aptly called, we make fun of it about being romance authors, some even feel shame in saying they write romance(ish) stories as if saying so is admitting to picking your nose or worse. To me, it is so funny that we put so much shame into something that is something that we all (including me even if I am about as romantic as a dirty gym sock) is to be loved. OK, it doesn’t mean having to be IN love but to be loved and accepted for who we are, no matter who that is (unless it is the chainsaw slayer, Luca’s dad or someone equally horrible). But the idea of love is somehow what keeps us all going and moving forward. This book is full of love, in love, deep friendship love, sibling love, love for thy country, love for thy neighbor and so on and so forth. This story is the beacon of love and hope, that we all live in a world that we all have the possibility to help change to the better for ourselves as well as thy neighbor. That there are people out there willing to fight battles that might not be their own but are willing to bend over backwards and then some because in doing so they help someone else be free, free to love the person that is the world to them in When Skies Have Fallen this is Jean and Charlie, better and truer friends than them you have to look for and they are someone how just as important for this story as the two lead men, Jim, and Arty, if that is what you want to call them. Because even though the battle of the story is theirs there wouldn’t have been the strength and hope or even possible for them to go through what they did and come out as well as they did on the other end without their friends fighting right there, side by side with them. So, if you want to read a story out there that is a hope bringer and a wake-up call giving you a glimpse on how far we come, but how we do not want to become again and therefore have to keep fighting all these battles of hate no matter what they are for, then you have to read When Skies Have Fallen. Thank you Debbie for this amazing story of love and hope! You can find and connect with Debbie at the following social medias: website Goodreads |
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