M/M, science Fiction - novel
TBR Reviewer: Brutally honest

Review

Kirk is a pretty boy, the rich son of a billionaire who’s somehow mistaken (Or is it a mistake?) and now being sold as a Slave. Lyndarum is a shifter who is of no value because he has freckles. Together they’re stuck in this grueling slave market and that's just the beginning of their problems.

 I noticed the editing was a little worse with this book. Things popped out very frequently, both grammar and head hops. The relationship between Kirk and Lyndarum was way too quick, almost instant. I think if that was flesh out they would have felt more connected. That does change as the story progresses and the main characters have more time together. The science fiction is amped up in this story. More fantastic details and an awesome space chase. The space battle was freaking epic! There a very hot sex scenes, some shocking revelations and more action. As the plot unfolds and twists the story becomes an adventure, a race against time to save Lyndarum’s people. 

Atlantica Dream is a sexy adventure and a great addition to the Schism Universe Series.

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Adventure, Science Fiction - novel
TBR Reviewer: B.H.

Review

First suggestion to this author, stay away from exclamation points. Seriously. This would have benefited from more editing. The scenes jumps are freaking horrendous. We start  in a sparring match between Stormy and Lance. Good sequence but then suddenly after a confession he loves Stormy, she’s resting at home. Rowen's relaxing then she’s reciting this poem/rhyme or something in her head and then she’s thinking about the cake for her birthday. What? What's going on? There's no flow to speak of. Then there’s information dumps which are numerous. Can I just sigh and try another book?

I read on, as I have to review this for TBR. Okay, so to decipher, there’s apparently mental messaging. Cool concept, sort of like telepathy. The flashbacks are not italicized or any indication it’s a memory so I had no idea it was a flashback for a few paragraphs. Then we’re back to present in such a jerky fashion. There was no description on the ship, or her fly through space or landing in this asteroid. It was frustrating. This is supposed to be science fiction but she skipped over what could have been world building descriptions.

I really tried to get into this book as I absolutely love science fiction but alas, not going to happen.

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m/m, Romance, science fiction - novel
TBR Reviewer: Brutally Honest

Review

This is another book in The Schism Universe series by Mark Alders. The first one I read was freaking fantastic and I’m anxious to see if the greatness continues. Sarge’s Angel is about tough Sarge buying a slave that he's fallen completely for but this 'angel' has a secret that could kill them both.

I’m not  a fan of flashbacks. They tend to hinder the flow and muddle the story but apparently not in a Mark Alders book. I was thoroughly impressed. The flashbacks blended into the story beautifully. I also like how Alders includes foreskin on most his characters, if
not all. The erotica books I’ve read rarely have them uncut or don’t bother to get that detailed. It gives this science fiction world a little more jump into reality the way he describes the sex scenes. Holy hell, the sex scenes are so hot. Do not read this in public. Then there's this fantastic new world and the budding romance. The relationship building is magmatic between the smitten Sarge and the slave Hayden.

I did notice the editing was really bad in this book. Run-on, comma usage, repetition of words and other things were heavy enough to through me out of the world Alder’s created. The chapter  ends were choppy and the story really could have been polished better. Thus, the four star rating.

Sarge’s Angel was a sexy addition to the Schism Universe Series. I can’t wait to read more of this world and the fantastic man on man goodness.

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Science Fiction, Horror - novel
TBR Reviewer: Mark

Review

The Icarus is on an experimental voyage deep into the atmosphere of the sun, going further than any other vessel has gone before it. It is Captain Gordon Markov's last mission but it could well be the one from which he never returns. The crew are at breaking point through stress, the Ship is threatening to fall apart at the seams because of the immense pressure it is under and the onboard Lead Research scientist is becoming increasingly more obsessed with an Alien artifact that really shouldn't be there the closer they get to achieving their
original objective. Reluctantly the Captain agrees to take the artifact onboard but it is not long before he has cause to regret that decision as he feels his command slowly spiraling out of control!
 
The Icarus Void is an awesome, awesome tale that takes its influence from a whole generation of Sci-Fi books and movies before it then gives them its own unique and original twist! There are elements here taken from the likes of Aliens, Event Horizon, Sunshine and Sphere but Burch manages to combine these influences to good effect creating a story in the process that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the start all the way through to its terrifying climax! 

An English teacher at High School once told me that one of the best ways to hook your readers right from the start is to put them in a perilous situation and have them fight their way out of it through the course of your tale and this is a technique that Burch uses here to full and frightening effect! The tension in this book is razor sharp through-out right from the very first chapter and, even in its quieter moments, the suspense almost becomes too much to bear. This is a story that is action-packed from the very beginning and barely gives you a moment to catch your breath before chucking something new and even more deadly
in your direction. As such, it is also a book that will really tire you out and leave you feeling emotionally drained!

 I could barely put this down and only thank my lucky stars that I read this on Kindle because I think if I had read this on paper I would either have set the pages alight I was turning them so quick or else have ended up with a fistful of paper-cuts! Honestly, it is rarely that proper, grown-up Sci-Fi this good comes along and if you only read one Science-Fiction novel this year, really it needs to be this one! I guessed the very final twist right at the end, even this could not spoil the book for me. Burch is an author I will be looking out for in the future for definite and if this debut is anything to go by, then he has a highly promising career ahead of him as a writer and one which deserves every success! This was that good that, if I was able, I even would have given this 6 stars out of 5! Highly recommended!!

The Icarus Void is the best Science Fiction book I've read in years! Thanks TBR for bringing this author to my attention.

Excerpt

″I have to agree with Doctors Tybalt and Kerrick,″ Straub said. ″The artifact is an important find. It's going to help us immensely in the sciences field. But I think it's my responsibility as a member of the crew to acknowledge the risk of capturing it with that much radiation present. Risky, but worthwhile? Yes. Ultimately, however, it's your ship.″ That was as diplomatic as he could be. Tybalt wanted that goddamn thing, Kerrick was keeping her shapeshifting personality in line, and the crew needed this mission to be over with. Straub
didn't give a damn anymore. All he saw was the potential relationship that he had been fostering with Kerrick dying in her eyes, and on top of it, he wanted off this goddamn ship.

Markov nodded. ″For the record, your advice is noted, Doctor Straub. Thank you.″ Markov turned to Tybalt, and held her gaze as he removed his comm from his magbelt. The chief engineer's voice came back, and Markov said to him, ″I don't know where you are right now, but I need you down in engineering on the bounce. We need to dive early.″

Tybalt clasped her hands together, made a slight bow to acknowledge the captain's decision and her appreciation, and then pointed to Kerrick and Straub and said, ″Let's go.″

Markov slipped something into Straub's hands; it was a personal communicator. ″This is set to my frequency,″ the captain said, his voice low. ″If anything goes wrong, call me instantly.″

Straub nodded, and pocketed the comm. He followed Tybalt and Kerrick off the bridge. As they left, he turned and saw Captain Udeh lean in close to Captain Markov and begin to confer over something, probably this clusterfuck of a mission, and Straub caught Markov's eyes.

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CONTEST: CK Burch is giving away an ecopy to one lucky winner! Comment below to enter. Contest ends March 18th.
2 Comments
 
 
M/M, Science Fiction - novel
TBR Reviewer: Brutally Honest

Review

Another Mark Alders novel, I’ve been a fan of his after reading several fantastic books.
(Oddly, the only thing I don’t like about Mr. Alders is the titles he picks. Eh, to each his own.) This particular book is about David who been on solo space missions for years. On a mission from Ardross Major David comes upon a stowaway. One that isn’t quite human but sexy as hell.

Mr. Alders has done it again. Mouse in the Wainscott is a fantastic, unique and sexy novel. He has more wonderful one-liners. His descriptions are almost poetic and really pulls the reader in. This ship was well detailed, the hot men even more so but without any dragging. Naru is the stowaway who’s actually a shifter. His background story is very interesting and deep. I loved reading about his world, why he’s being hunted and why he considers himself a murderer. David’s only companion has been a female computer, Miranda. She’s fantastic and witty, although she didn’t sound like a normal AI, it was still a fun character. 
  
There’s a good amount of action as Naru’s hunters find the ship and attack. There are a few editing issues but nothing major. There isn’t much sex in this as Alder’s usual novels but I think that was a good call. David and Naru had a chance to really connect and form a relationship. When they did finally discover each other it was more meaningful and really hot.
 
As I said, Mark Alders books are some of my favorite to sink into. The stories are fuel for fantasies and dreams. Mouse in the Wainscott is another great addition to Mark Alders successful book shelf.
 
If you haven’t read him yet – what the hell are you waiting for?

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Romance - Novella
TBR Reviewer: Shyla

Review

This short left me wanting more… in a good way. The universe TC Archer dropped me into was so much bigger than the brief glimpse I was given.  Winter in Paradise was thirty-six pages of, adventure, romance, passion and sci-fi. All swirled into a short that had me wanting to skim forward.  No, really. I had to stop myself from skipping ahead to see how the story ended. That’s not something that happens to me every day.

Stationed on a unforgiving planet, Kelly and Grayson are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice to save their planet. As they wait for the right moment to unfurl their plan, they find love and passion. I found the description of the barren wasteland Kelly, and Grayson, were stationed on to be realistic, and captivating. The history of their planet and its ruthless alien enemy intrigued me. 

The sex was well written and steamy but the real intensity came from not knowing if this would be our couples last tryst. The desperation that comes from having your life in peril.
 
If you’re looking for a quick read that steps outside of the norm Winter In Paradise is the one for you.

Excerpt

“Byron, you’re scaring me.”

 His furs still hung by the exit, but… Her blood chilled. His enviro-suit was gone. Heart pounding, Kelly leaned forward and looked to the far left. Half hidden from view, a smaller storage cabinet sat beside a large locker. The small locker was open and the quantum disruptor that had been stored there was gone. She couldn’t mistake the message behind the disruptor’s open case. That was like him. No note, no good-byes, just an open door that stated I’ve taken matters into my own hands.

Anger replaced fear. The fool had disobeyed orders. Her orders. They were officers in the Provisional Army and she was the senior officer on this mission—senior by four months, but senior nonetheless—and she had ordered him to stay put. Worse yet, he’d promised. He’d promised!

She dropped the fur and rushed to Biometrics, located in the right hand corner of the cave. The readout indicated his suit had been gone for four hours and had dropped off telemetry link two hours ago. The computer had extrapolated how much power his suit would have used during the last two hours based on the  weather conditions outside and subtracted that from how much remained when he lost contact. A red 0% flashed on the monitor.

Kelly blinked away hot tears and glanced at the furs just inside the tunnel leading to the exit. Two sets hung on the wall. An enviro-suit would maintain his core temperature for ten hours when wearing the furs, but he’d worn only the suit. She turned and batted the weather monitor around to face her. Green numbers glared bright against the black monitor that showed the outside temp the same today as it had been yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that: sixty below zero.

Her heart constricted. By now, his suit would be drained of all power. She couldn’t imagine the powerful body that had ridden her into a delirious frenzy night after night lying frozen and alone in the ice somewhere. How would she live without ever feeling his touch again, the flutter that always began in her stomach when he looked at her, the feeling in that moment when his cock invaded her? What would she do without him?

Damn him and the ridiculous honor that compelled him to forego his furs in hopes the enemy would detect his body heat and not search for smaller heat signatures like that of the shielded station…and her. Was this proof why lovers shouldn’t be stationed together? No, the most glorious part of love was undeniable devotion.

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8 Comments
 
 
Science Fiction, Erotica - Novel
TBR Reviewer: Christine

Review

Where do I even start? This book had such promise. The plot alone had me standing at attention ready to sink into a new world. Black Carnival was such a disappointment.

There was a lot of telling. It needed background details in certain scenes and in other scenes; the background details drowned the story.  The author hasn’t found that balance between the two.  This overwhelming amount of description led to a slow pace and really hindered the
story. Couple that with the telling and Black Carnival was hard to get into. There were huge paragraphs that needed a break.  First person point of view is tricky because of the use of ‘I’ and that was another problem in this book. On a side note, I have never heard a man giggle before but apparently, one of the male characters in here does. There's also choppy scenes. The story was pretty much destroyed by all the above which could be lessened by a better edit. 
 
Ivory was very empty and one-dimensional. Her entire character was so cardboard and Lukan was a big question mark because of the first person point of view. It’s hard to write that POV successfully and this author missed the mark.
 
I’m sorry but I would not recommend this book. Would I read this author in the future? Yes, only because the plot sounded so unique and that is the bases for a good book.

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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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Science Fiction - novel
TBR reviewer: Mark

Review

Imagine if you will a dystopian future in the style of George Orwell's 1984. A future where Governments have all but been dissolved; a future where big Corporations now control every aspect of your life and where there are no more cities but instead self-contained districts split into four distinct sectors of business. Imagine a world where the energy crisis has spiraled to the point where electricity and heating is strictly rationed and where Global Warming has
lead to much of the planet becoming uninhabitable due to adverse weather conditions. Sounds pretty bleak right? The problem is that it also all sounds pretty credible and believable! Could this be where our own future is leading? For Humanity's sake, I sure hope not!
 
World Mart is a bleak tale set in an all too likely future. Think not so much Bladerunner but more of a darker, more serious and less surreal version of Terry Gilliam's Brazil  and you will be getting very close to the world Lane has created here. Following the life of one family as it struggles to survive in this post-modern depressingly prophetic future, World Mart is a tale that twists and turns through a series of events that overturn everything one man thinks he
knows about those in control and offers a bleak vision of a world that seems, at times, not that far away from coming true! 
 
It is difficult to talk about this book without giving too much away, but this was a compelling read that gripped me very early on. The characters are well conceived, the plot compulsively addictive and all in all the story flowed fairly well. That is not to say this book is not without a few flaws (a plot thread concerning one character's experiences of voices in her head is never adequately explained, the Deviants who seek to threaten the big Corporations' control only seem distinctive by the fact that their eyes are a lighter shade than other peoples') but these were never enough to spoil my enjoyment. The end result is a novel that unsettles the reader simply by being very close to the truth of what could just be waiting around the horizon.  

I really enjoyed this and would certainly read other material by this author. Lane apparently writes under lots of other names in several different genres but certainly from this example it seems they have a real talent for scarily believable Science-Fiction and will definitely be someone I will be looking out for in the future!

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Contest

Ms. Lane is giving away a copy to one lucky winner. Comment below to enter. Contest ends January 13th.
6 Comments
 
 
Science Fiction, erotica - novella
TBR reviewer: Brutally Honest

Review

I do believe my name will come through in this review – Brutally Honest. 

The first scene introducing the book is a mess. An angry person explains how the cloned woman Raleigh is out of time to find her ‘mates’. That’s it. We don’t know who these people are, what they look like, where they are. There are no descriptions, surrounding details, anything that would explain what we’re getting into.

From there we go to a store on a planet. Again no descriptions. Suddenly the above mentioned woman/clone is attacked, robbed, shots lighting and kills the robber – in one page! Are you kidding me? Is this a novella or a plot outline?
 
Then we met the cloned men. Three of them, no descriptions. They could have 9 eyes and the readers would never know. We also meet the ‘evil’ prince. Cyclops? Clown? Does the prince have four legs? NO DETAILS! 

I could go on but I don’t want to waste more space. I’ll just say that these issues continue through the entire book with lack luster dialogue. This non connection made the hot sex scenes fall flat.

The first in the Four Ever More series I’d recommend, but this, the second is a definite skip.

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