Halloween Reads: Steampunk/PNR/LGBT Spec-Fic

October is here and that means Halloween! From the books I've read lately and some read a while back, I have accumulated a few recommendations of books you might want to read: Paranormal Romance, LGBT Speculative Fiction, Horror, and well... things with fangs, claws or some that go bump in the night.

The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire #1) & The Rift Walker (Vampire #2) by Susan Griffith and Clay Griffith: (Steampunk Adventure/ Romance) See Leslie's review here.

The first book in the Vampire Empire trilogy has some of the scariest vampires I've seen around in a while. I really enjoyed the fact that they are Nosferatu-like vampires, parasitic, violent and portrayed as animalistic and clannish in nature. The humans are also portrayed quite differently in this world, and for the two main characters it's a learning experience as they venture into the world of vampires in the northern lands where they rule. There's a princess, a masked and caped hero, horrifying vampires and violent, often fast-paced battles, plus the beginning of a sweet romance that develops between two very different people. Along with the first book, I will recommend The Rift Walker (Vampire Empire #2), a book that I'm reading at the moment, and where the fun, chilling adventures continue. 

Demon Marked (Guardian Series #7) by Meljean Brook (Paranormal Romance): See review here.

Weather you begin this series from scratch or decide to pick up where you left off doesn't matter. This is a series that I highly recommend and that is appropriate for this month with it's angel-like Guardians and demons, hell hounds, heaven-like Caelum, and vampires. There's a lot to be said about Meljean Brook's world and it's all good... it's complex, tight, and fascinating. The romance and heat are off the charts and I can't recommend it enough. 

Supernatural with Larissa Ione, Alexandra Ivy, Jacquelyn Frank, G.A. Aiken (Paranormal Romance): See review here

And if you want something lighter, Supernatural is a paranormal romance collection of novellas where the writers feature characters set in worlds created for already popular series. A couple of the stories are a bit darker than the others, but all four are on the erotic side of the scale with lots of sexin' going on along with the fangs, claws, darkness, fire and brimstone. 

LGBT Speculative Fiction and Horror:

Wilde Stories 2011: The Years Best Gay Speculative Fiction edited by Steve Berman (Speculative Fiction): See review here

I just reviewed this collection of stories and highly recommend it. All the stories included are excellent: there are vampires, flesh eating zombies, stories about the occult, mermen, a mesmerizing psychic, a clown!, surfer dudes and dudettes, and well... romance and love along with all the hmm... weird fantasy.

Pumpkin Teeth by Tom Cardamone (LGBT Speculative Fiction): See mini here

Oh boy! Did I enjoy this collection by Cardamone or what? This is one fantastic collection of spec-fic stories where Cardamone includes both horror and fantasy. His stories are shocking and nightmarish, and if you love those ambiguous endings that leave you holding your breath at the end you'll love these. I read it last year and will be re-reading some of the stories again this October. :)

The StarCrossed Series by co-authors Reno MacLeod and Jaye Valentine (Speculative Fiction): See reviews here and here

Demon Tailz (Book 1), Opposite Ends of the Spectrum (Book 2), Sangria and Seraphim (Book 2.5), Objects in the Mirror (Book 3), Angel Tears (Book 3.5), In the Blink of an Eye (Book 4)

This is spec-fic of the horror, homo-erotic kind. The best kind. It's exciting and disturbing with demons, vampires, angels and witches equally doing their thing among humans and with each other. MacLeod and Valentine's series escalates and gets better and better as it goes along. But you don't have to believe me (I only wrote an ini-Mini), I've linked you above to Indigene's reviews of this series. She reviewed all four books when the series was first released a few years back and in my opinion, these are still the best reviews about this series out there. This series has had a resurgence in popularity recently after it was re-released by OmniLit.

There are many excellent Speculative Fiction books out there to read! I've slowly become an addict of this sub-genre, horror and fantasy in particular. For LGBT fans, Lethe Press' quarterly magazine, Icarus: The Magazine of Gay Speculative Fiction, is a great way to check out short stories by new or favorite writers, interviews, reviews, news about upcoming releases and of course networking information. So, I usually end up browsing through their book catalogue which has great choices. The upcoming fall issue has an interview with Ginn Hale who has the popular serial The Rifter out now. I've only read and reviewed the first episode from that series and am holding off on the rest. :)

So where do you look for new speculative fiction, horror, fantasy, new writers and upcoming books, LGBT or otherwise? What about books in general? What have you read lately that you would recommend as a great Halloween, October read?

Hilcia's Weekly Reads, and Gone Swimming...

Down to the Jersey Shore I go...

See you all in a week or so. :D

I'm taking a well-earned personal and blogging, end of summer break! In the meantime I'll leave you with my weekly reads post -- it's a long one, so you can take your time reading it. *g* I seem to be on a reading roll this month and don't want to fall behind.

I began my week by reading a few Linda Howard books I have on my TBR pile. My first pick was the suspense romance, Up Close and Dangerous. This was not a favorite. Bailey, a rich young widow in charge of her spoiled adult stepchildren's trustfunds and Cam, pilot and co-owner of the plane, crash on a mountain, survive, find out the plane crash was no accident, and fall in love. This book is more about survival after a plane crash than anything else. The romance was lukewarm at best, there was no real tension or suspense to the story, and the ending was rushed and a disappointment. The characters are likable and there are still moments where Howard's talent for writing great dialogue is present, plus survival details are provided in spades, but hmm... not a favorite. Grade C

Followed up with two short stories by Linda Howard. The first one was Blue Moon from the anthology Under the Boardwalk. In this short, Sheriff Jackson Brody is lured to rescue Lilah, a reclusive woman who's thought to be a witch and might be in danger. His trip down the Southern bayou river, during a hot and humid Summer day will lead him to a lover and murder. This short story was fast, electric and although not quite suspenseful, I thought it was a good short, Summer read. Grade B-

The second short by Linda Howard I chose was Overload from the Summer Sensations anthology. Tom and Elizabeth get caught up and locked down in their office building during a blackout that lasts about 24 hours. These two are ex-lovers but haven't seen each other for about six months. Tom will do anything to get her back, and Elizabeth just wants to keep her control. Well now... this story is HOT! And not just because of the heatwave that caused the overload and the blackout, lol! Overload is basically all about Tom and Elizabeth working out their issues, but Howard doesn't skimp on the sexual tension or the steamy scenes either. Pheww! Grade B

I then switched to some M/M Romance re-reads and kept Mariana company for a a bit longer during her Re-read Month. I began my re-reads with StarCrossed 1: Demon Tailz and StarCrossed 2: Opposite Ends of the Spectrum by Reno MacLeod and Jaye Valentine. Considered Paranormal/Horror the first two books in this series are my favorite and perfect pre-Halloween reads!

In Demon Tailz involving the demon Jace Burton and hunter Cash Rowan is the creepiest of the two. Cash is in pain and Jace is attracted to his darkness. From there a tale of love, loss and horror unfolds. In Opposite Ends of the Spectrum, MacLeod and Valentine continue their series by having a sex demon and an angel fall in love while held captive by humans. Jace Burton again makes an appearance and provides some of the darkness in this installment, as he's not your every day type of demon. However reading between the lines, the real monsters in this story are the humans. I love the thick, heavy atmosphere found in both these books and the pop and sizzle I get from the unexpected. Even when I knew what was going to happen, the suspense was still there... and the shock no less effective. For better enjoyment I listen to Darkness, Darkness by the Youngbloods while reading Demon Tailz, this song is highlighted in the book and the lyrics fit perfectly! Both books, Grade: B+

I continued my M/M Romance re-reads with two lighter romances by Amanda Young: Reckless Seduction and Reckless Behavior. I love a good May/December story and this is a good one. This is the romance between Cody and Dante. Cody is a young man who knows what he wants and goes after it in Reckless Seduction, and I still like the way Amanda Young writes the continuation of their story in Reckless Behavior, there's conflict and doubt between the couple, but it's not over done. Plus we can't forget that Dante is one hot dude! Combined Grade: B

And finished up my M/M Romance re-reads with an all time favorite, Tabula Rasa by Tori Temple. Cowboys, I love my cowboys! Teagan needs a heeler to join the rodeo and Cash is the man. They hit it off between the sheets, but Cash doesn't want more than that. After an argument and a misunderstanding, their affair comes to an end but their partnership continues. After Cash has an accident and suffers partial memory loss, Teag takes him home to his ranch and a real relationship evolves. But what will happen when Cash returns to normal? There's just something about Teagan and Cash that I love... maybe it's the way Teag falls for Cash without meaning to, the hurt and most of all the hope. His willingness to take what he can, while he can have it. I loved this story. Grade B+

I then switched to a category romance and read the fourth installment in Fiona Brand's SAS/Lombard series (2001), Marrying McCabe. I've read the first three books in this series and loved them. This is the story about the sister, Roma Lombard and Ben McCabe one of her brother's SAS friends. Someone tried to kill Roma and her brother Gray hires Ben as her bodyguard. This was one STEAMY book! The suspense was really well done and I enjoyed that part of it. McCabe and Roma fall in lust with each other immediately and then after that it's lust to love pretty quickly. There's a lack of communication between the two that's not quite resolved by the end. But what disturbed me about this book was the way condoms are addressed. Roma seems to have a problem with them... a BIG problem - she thinks of them as "dehumanizing." This condom theme is carried through for a while and truthfully I couldn't put it aside. Condoms weren't portrayed as being the "responsible" thing to do, but as kind of a dehumanizing, icky barrier used as a wall between a man and a woman. Her thoughts on this subject pulled me out of key scenes more than once. Grade C

And finished the week with Truly, Madly by Heather Webber! Review to come...

I'm actually reading a Silhouette Special Edition, Once a Father by Kathleen Eagle at the moment and will also review that book. The hero is a Native American cowboy and the heroine an army sergeant. Doesn't that sound like an interesting pairing? ETA: I saw this book and immediately thought of Wendy's blog post Contemporary Cowboys: The New Black? Check it out, I think it's true! At least I hope so. ;P

What are you all reading? I'm taking lots of books with me, let's see if they get read. :)

M/M Mini Reviews: Sean Michael, MacLeod/Valentine, Pepper Espinosa

Three Day Passes by Sean Michael

I wanted to start this challenge by reading not a Romance, per se, but the rawness of Gay Lit previously experienced through Sean Michael's work. In this, the first book in the Jarhead Series, Mr. Michael delivered. Our main characters are two Marines and a military EMT. Two of our characters have known each other for years and are more than "bedroom buddies," although we don't know exactly for how long. It almost feels as if we are introduced to them in the middle of the story, and as there are seven books to the series there is room for development. The third character is initially introduced as a "play" partner. A year later these three men are still sharing each other as lovers.

Each chapter is a three day pass, or encounter, where our characters meet and each is chuck-full of raw sex and passion. It is through those sexual encounters, the "almost" conversations, and all the important things left unsaid, that we become acquainted with and eventually invested in these characters. Surprising? Not really... it's Sean Michael's style of writing and what I enjoy about his work; his ability to convey feelings and emotions with few words, while placing you smack in the middle of a sexually overloaded scene. I recommend Three Day Passes be read by Chapter, and in my opinion, it would be best enjoyed if savored slowly and not rushed, otherwise you may find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of sexual scenes.

Gay Lit Grade: A
Three Day Passes can be found at Torquere


Star Crossed 1: Demon Tailz by Reno MacLeod and Jaye Valentine


Halloween night, Salem, Massachusetts. Jace Burton, a Demon who co-owns the successful bar, Tailz with his brother Konnor, meets Cash Rowan, a Hunter. Jace can feel Cash's darkness, pain and senses mystery, loss and danger -- as a demon he is attracted to all of it and has to find out more -- and this dark tale begins...

This IS a dark tale and one that kept me on edge wondering what else was coming, I quite enjoyed it! The darkness, the creepiness, the sexiness and the angst. These are not your run of the mill demons. I'll be following through by reading the second and third installments in the Star Crossed series. It was short and it made an impression. Not for everyone.

Paranormal Grade: B+
Star Crossed 1: Demon Tailz can be found at Torquere


My Only Home by Pepper Espinoza

Noah Hill has been away from home for 5 years and during that time, he did not keep in touch with friends or family. He left home and never looked back. He is now returning in an attempt to help his aging father. Luke Wesson has lived in Mountain View all his life where he and Noah had been best friends from first grade until Noah left town. Luke was married to his High School sweetheart and is now divorced and the single father of a little girl, Lili.

The "big misunderstanding" as a trope is not one of my favorites and although initially used to launch the story, it did not bother me here as it was cleared up quickly and things started to move. However, when Noah makes the same exact mistake he made the first time -- he decides to leave without explanation -- things started unraveling for me. It took me a couple of days to process this book, I had to really think about what it was that left me feeling so flat after finishing it, I enjoy Ms. Espinoza's writing and had high expectations.

In the end, I concluded that it was the fact that we were told these two men were friends since childhood, and yet, I did not really feel that connection between them... yes, they share some recollections, but that connection was not there to be shared with us as readers. There was a certain coldness to both of them -- even in their wanting of each other -- I didn't really feel the warmth or buy into their HEA.

M/M Contemporary Romance Grade: C-
My Only Home can be found at Amazon

Originally posted at Musings of a Bibliophile on May 4, 2009