M/M, Science Fiction - novella
TBR Reviewer: Brutally Honest

Review

This had an interesting concept. This line had me laughing -  the mighty lump of manhood at my groin bulging heroically. I know what you’re thinking, lame line but when you read it in the context of the story, funny stuff. 
 
Ready for the issues? First, is his age. How old is  he? By him getting beat up by that bully it sounded like he was a kid but once he’s lex there’s description that’s adult. In other words if this is a kid, those descriptions were awkward to read. I had to go back and check the blurb.
Turns out this is a m/m science fiction novel. So, the author definitely could have explained that better. There’s no age on Lex or background. There were excessive commas. They needed to be eliminated. Lex and Lotar also have a relationship already so there was no connection between them. None what so ever, so it's pretty much like reading the ending to a 400 page book. Then there’s an ammonia leak and they’re stopping to have sex...Come on!

Then we come to the ending which is a moment I like to call, what the hell! That was no an ending. It just ended. No resolution, no explanations and I hate wasting time when authors do this. I invested in the story and they left me hanging. It’s becoming such a common occurrence with these new authors. A story should have a beginning, middle/climax and AN
ENDING!

 Infinity Incident was a waste of time.  Normally, because it sounded promising I’d give it two stars. This is not a book, it’s a bad short story and as such will be rated accordingly.

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Erotica - novella
TBR Reviewer: Shyla

Review

I felt like I was reading an outline versus a story with Hadyn in Heat. From the simple sentences, to the overall lay out of the story ,everything was unfinished and a bit murky.  I also noticed quite a bit of head hoping, which distracted from the universe Ms.  Midnight & Ms. Michaels were creating.  The sex scenes were intense, numerous, and varied. There was a wide range of pairings from M/m , F/F, and M/F. So, in that sense Haydn Heat had it all. 

The problem for me was, hot sex was all this story seemed to have. The plot was lost in the sex scenes, and I had no connection to the lead characters.  I never knew anything about the hero Sarah other than the fact that she was blond, horny, and Hadyn’s mate. Her actions seemed unbelievable from the very start. If a wolf with human genitals approached me in the woods the last thing I’d want to do would be to stroke his penis. That cut too close to the line of bestiality for me, even though Haydn does turn into a human male before they
actually have sex.  

The same sense of disconnection happened with Hadyn. He was a young wolf in heat who lives in some strange society whom I believe were trying to train them to live in the real world, and get them through the mating period. It was unclear, like a lot of the book.  When Hadyn breaks the rules of his people and leaves their commune to have sex with a human he ends up mated. 

This leaves an opening for the evil shifter Valon to try to take advantage of the situation. He wants his daughter, Sephy to mate with a shifter to regain the power he’s lost so he kidnaps Sarah knowing eventually Hadyn will be unable to resist her siren’s call.  (Yeah the father daughter  relationship made me squirm . The idea of a parent providing sex partners for his child, and coming in on her performing sex acts without being bothered did not sit well with me. Wolf shifter or not, and I’d have to say I’m no prude or shrinking flower) 

 I hope that Ms. Midnight & Ms. Michaels pay as much attention to the details and plot on the next story as they do the sex, because then I think they’ll have a winner on their hands.

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Science Fiction Novel
TBR reviewer: Mark

Review

The Chosen is the first book in The Portals Of Destiny series and tells the story of a vast, highly intelligent alien race of beings who are all that stands between the universe and a destructive, mechanical race of machines that aim to mine and plunder every planet they come across for resources. According to ancient prophecy, only The Guardians of Gentra hold the key to bringing the awful reign of the Mekans to an end but to do this they must first seek out a series of champions known as The Chosen. And to do that, they must travel through portals across vast expanses of space and train these Chosen, on planets all across the galaxy, ready for the battle ahead. But the outcome is far from certain and the trials and tribulations that face these Guardians in their quest are only just beginning.....
 
I really liked the sound of this and thought it sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, I found this very hard going very early on and really could not get to grips with all of the various characters who are spread out across many different worlds. I found many of the names difficult to pronounce. The plot just way too overly heavy and convoluted right from the start. The problem for me was that the plot all just felt a bit old hat. The alien invasion theme has been done multiple times in Sci-Fi to the point that authors attempting this angle need to come up with fresh ideas and a new approach. I am not sure that Shay Fabbo ever really manages this. The Mekans just came across as a bit of a cold, empty threat and never particulary frightening. There was so much going on in the opening chapters that I had trouble keeping track who was who and exactly what was going on.  

The Chosen felt a bit too much like a step backwards for good, ground-breaking Sci-Fi and there was never anything here that I hadn't seen done before.

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Fantasy - Novella
TBR reviewer: B.H.

Blurb

His lust is eternal.

When author Rose Garland summons the Muse from Mount Olympus to inspire her in writing an erotic historical romance, she expects to see a sweet lady in a flowing gown appear. Instead, she finds herself facing a sleazy but sexy hustler who compels her to write BDSM, menage a trois and Master-slave fiction instead, thus fulfilling her own wildest fantasies. 
 
Things get even wilder when Mr. Muse forces her to act out his scenes with him and his handsome apprentice, who boasts a very broad chest covered with equally vulgar t-shirts. But when a wealthy publisher offers to print her sweet historical romance instead…and the nice Muse of History pops up at a city council meeting in order to help her…while her sister Muse of Comedy won’t stop laughing at her own awful jokes…then what’s a girl to do, especially when she realizes that she enjoys it all?

Review

The title intrigued me first, it was clever and the blurb made it official, I chose this novella to review. I hadn’t heard any story like this before. 

I now hang my head, this was a bad decision. Who knew how the story would play out? I quickly found out. Telling plays an unfortunate role in  The Muse of X Rated Romance. It’s a crippling mistake along with the use of ‘had’ and ‘freaking’.The muse himself had a very feminine talk/thoughts, and I could not picture the tall hunk Ms. Rose described in two sentences. The muse’s apprentice, Eratus, apparently delivers pizza. It’s his earth job.
Really? How unromantic.

I know this is supposed to be a light-hearted, fun read but it’s turning into unique and disheveled. The character don’t mesh, it’s instant sex, the story is rushed and the sex with two strangers is...passionless, lifeless, really bad – take your pick of words. 

I’d really like to give this story a 2 because it did have potential but after reading the ‘ménage’ scene, that’s not going to happen. I can only hope Ms. Rose works on her writing and tries again because the plot was a great idea.

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This novel was purchased (paperback) and reviewed by B.H.
Genre: Science Fiction - Time Travel

Blurb

For decades, inexplicable technology has passed into our world through the top secret anomaly called the Breach. The latest device can punch a hole into the future ..."

What Paige Campbell saw when she opened a door into seventy years from now scared the hell out of her. She and her Tangent colleagues brought their terrible discovery to the President - and were met with a hail of automatic gunfire after leaving the White House. Only Paige survived.

Fearing a terrifying personal destiny revealed to him from the other side of the Breach, Travis Chase abandoned Tangent ... and Paige Campbell. Now he must rescue her - because Paige knows tomorrow's world is desperate and dead, a ghost country scattered with the bones of billions. And Doomsday will dawn in just four short months ... unless they can find the answers buried in the ruins to come.

But once they cross the nightmare border into Ghost Country, they might never find their way back ...

Review

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The blurb intrigued me so much I had to buy this book. I love ‘end of the world’ novels which is why I grabbed this up even though I never heard about this author before. Ghost Country is about Paige opening a ‘door’ into the future which is desolate and void of life. Now she and her former team member Travis must find out how it happened. With the government after them will they stop it in time. 

It started with well written action that really keep the pages turning then it slams to a stop with an information dump. It was difficult to get through these pages where all Mr. Lee has his characters do is go over that past. How this happened, how that happened, I was begging for it to end so we could get back to the story. This slow overwhelming rush of information on Tangent, entities and the characters was such a downer. Still, I had high hopes for this book and was determined to continue on.

Alas, it was just too slow moving and the characters had no depth! The writing turned dull and I struggled another thirty pages or so before I gave up.

What a waste of such a great plot idea.

Purchase links:

Ghost Country (Travis Chase, #2)
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