Showing posts with label m/m paranormal romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label m/m paranormal romance. Show all posts

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Book Review: Alpha Unit One, New York by Chris T. Kat


Alpha Unit One, New York   

Author: Chris T. Kat
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
American release date: July 27, 2018
Format/Genre/Length: eBook/m/m/paranormal/181 pages
Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

In a world in which humans and shifters have learned to live together in comparative harmony, there are still some shifters who find themselves subjected to an assortment of restrictions. Namely,  small shifters and baby shifters. Small shifters are looked down upon as unequal to their larger counterparts.  Baby shifters are those who, unlike the majority of shifters, become the immature version of their animals, even though as humans they are adults. Baby shifters are forced to endure having their spouses as their legal guardians, and they are forbidden from doing anything too difficult or too dangerous. Such —as police work.

Nicholas Reed has just joined a combo human/shifter unit in New York City known as Alpha Unit One, which specializes in drug crimes. However Nick has a secret – he isn’t the human he pretends to be, he’s a shifter. Not just any shifter, but a baby shifter, becoming a snow leopard cub in his animal form. To keep his secret, he douses himself with cologne to cover the faint trace of shifter he bears. He doesn’t feel as though he is any less than any of his team members. As far as he is concerned, he’s doing what he has to do.

Sam Black is the head of Alpha Unit One, and a lion shifter. Burned by a previous relationship by a guy who pretended to love him but only wanted to use him, he is leery of new entanglements, and of humans posing as shifters. Complications arise when he finds himself attracted to the new hire, Nick. The attraction is mutual and strong. Nicky is fearful of his secret coming out, but he can’t withstand the pull of his mate. Can he trust Sam with his secret, and trust that Sam will allow him to continue to do the job that he loves? Or is he putting his future as a cop in jeopardy?

Alpha Unit One is hopefully the first in a new series by Chris T. Kat. I am a huge fan of Ms. Kat’s books, and love to read them. She especially excels in m/m romances, and one of her specialties is dealing with shifter stories. This book is no exception to that rule. It’s obvious to me that she understand humans and animals, and I love the way she draws her characters, especially the wise-cracking seme (bottom or catcher) who engages in witty repartee with the more mature, solid seme (top or pitcher).  With this book, she is delving into territory I’ve not seen before. Namely having shifters who become the baby form of their animals. It’s an original idea and very imaginative.
Besides Sam and Nick, the unit is populated with some very memorable characters. One of my favorites is Roland, a wolf shifter who is still suffering from the death of his wife, and Annie, the feisty tough shifter who is married to a human, Jake, whom she madly loves.

Ms. Kat does characters very well, and brings them to life as being imperfect and human. The story is about a group of cops, and it does delve into their work, but mostly it is about the cops themselves. The police procedural part of the story is interesting, and will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering how they are going to make it out alive sometimes.

As far as the heat goes, there is a lot of it, and a lot of love and romance. If graphic romance is not your thing, I would suggest a pass on this book. But if you like hot guys who love each other and appreciate each other’s bodies, if you like to read about shifters and especially shifters who are different, and if you enjoy a feel-good romance, then this might just be the book for you. I know there is a second book in this series, and I eagerly await its publication.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Virtual Book Tour: Tangling with Bears





The Questions
  1. 1)            You’re marooned on a small island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and what item do you have?
I wouldn’t take a person; I’d take two items. My kindle and a crate full of battery chargers.
  1. 2)            Which musical would you say best exemplifies your life – and which character in that musical are you?
I don’t pay a lot of attention to musicals, so I can’t give you an idea of characters – but if I was going to be a character it would be one of the men in my books – probably Griff.
  1. 3)            Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less scene using them:  galaxy, jet, cream
  2. 4)            You’ve just been let loose in the world of fiction, with permission to do anything you want. What’s the first thing you do and why?
  3. 5)            What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?
  4. 6)            When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?
Always the characters – I have a huge file on my computer of all types of men. I chose two that seem to want to speak to me, or three as in the case of Tangling With Bears, and go from there. I never know how a story is going to end until the last few chapters.
  1. 7)            If they were to make the story of your life into a movie, who should play you?
I’m a huge Cher fan, so I’d love it if she played me.
  1. 8)            Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?
Dracula, although in my head he’d be gay and not so promiscuous lol
  1. 9)            Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?
  2. 10)          Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?


Author Name: Lisa Oliver

Book Name: Tangling With Bears
Series: The Cloverleah Pack
Book: Eight
Can be read as a standalone

Release Date: March, 2016
Blurb:
Tobias tells himself he's having fun. He has a great life as a beta in the Cloverleah Pack, and while danger still threatens the pack, he has his friend's wedding to look forward to, and the pleasures that come from hookups in random places. He'd like to meet his mate, just so he's not the odd one out in the inner circle, but it's not something he's expecting anytime soon. So when a hookup just before the wedding leaves Tobias with a permanent scar, he wonders where the heck his life went wrong. Especially when the man responsible for the wicked set of tooth marks, disappeared after the deed was done, to ring a man called Kurt.
Kurt and Luke have been mated for three years. As bear shifters, Kurt has known from puberty that he will have two mates and once he'd claimed Luke, his mama warned him to be on the look out for a human female. So when Luke rings him and lets him know he might have accidentally on purpose bitten a wolf shifter, from some town they'd never heard of, Kurt heads to Cloverleah to sort out the mess.
Sorting out their mating is just one of the things the three men have to contend with. A magic user has stepped up his game and nowhere on pack lands seems safe. When Tobias gets taken, Kurt and Luke are helpless to do anything about it. It's going to take the power of the pack before life will be safe again, for any of them.
Warning: Contains scenes of M/M and M/M/M sex. It also contains a special kind of bear, his grumpy mate, and a wolf that just wants to be loved. HEA and no cheating guaranteed.
While this book can be read as standalone, you will understand more about the secondary characters in the book, if you have read the others in the series.

Pages or Words: 89,621 words

Categories: Erotica, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Ménage/Poly, Paranormal, Romance, Shifters (Wolf and Bear)

Excerpt:

“I’m too sexy for my shirt…”  Kurt’s ring tone. Luke could hear the tinny tune, but it seemed like the sound was coming from outside. Leaping out of the truck, he glared at the trash can, now filled with his rubbish, before tipping the thing upside down, flailing his arms through the boxes and papers. There, on the ground. Thank the Fates. Luke sank his butt to the ground, tapping madly on the screen.
“Kurt, oh my god, Kurt….”
“Little bear, is everything okay? I sensed your distress. Are you hurt? Where are you?”
Luke breathed a sigh of relief, Kurt’s deep voice making the world seem like a more manageable place again. “I’m just outside of a tiny town, Cloverleah, I think it’s called. But Kurt, I found him, at least I think it was him, because I got hard, and he felt so good, and I just wanted to rub all over his sexy body, and when he came…”
“Luke. Stop. Focus.”
Focus. Kurt was right. Luke knew he had a tendency to run on about things.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a small voice. 
“I’m not angry, little bear,” and Luke could tell that he wasn’t. Kurt never got angry with him, even that time when he thought he could microwave an entire jar full of honey so it would soften, and forgot that the jar had a metal lid.
“Now start again, from the beginning. You met someone who made your cock hard?”
Luke took in a deep breath, his cock hardening again. “Yes.”
“And then what happened?”
“He was in the shower, here at the truck stop. He was fondling his pretty cock, and his body was slim but muscled and the water was just streaming down, and my cock was so hard I thought it would burst out of my pants, so I took them off, because it hurt, you know. And I don’t think he heard me, but I just had to grab him, and then…”
“Breathe little bear.” Yeah, that probably would be a good idea. Luke took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“That’s good, babe, now, I presume you got in the shower with him.”
“Yes, but I took my clothes off first.” Luke remembered that Kurt wouldn’t like the idea of him wandering around wearing wet clothes. He did tend to forget things like that sometimes, especially if the salmon were running.
“That’s good, so then what happened? You grabbed him. Did you frighten him?”
“No!” Luke stared at the phone, wishing Kurt could see his face. He never intentionally frightened anyone, except that one time, and that was the night Kurt came and saved him…
“Don’t let your mind wander.” Kurt knew him so well.
“I didn’t frighten him, he leaned on me, and he let me play with him, and his cock just fit in my hand, and he smelled so good, like honey and chocolate all melted together even with the bleach stink, and I couldn’t help myself, his ass was right there…”
“He let you have sex with him?”
“I didn’t want to do that without you there. I just rubbed on him lots, and with the water and the smell, and when his cock spurted out…”
“I get the picture, little bear and it’s all right.”
“So he must be our mate, right?” Kurt wasn’t upset with him, that was the main thing.
“You would’ve gotten sick, and you definitely wouldn’t get a hard on with anyone else but our mate – I’ve told you that before. So yes, the man is our mate. Unexpected, but there’s no other explanation.” Kurt sounded so confident and Luke sighed and smiled, even though he knew Kurt couldn’t see him. Kurt knew about so much, and he would make sure everything was okay.
“Where is the man now and what’s his name?”
Oops. “I don’t know what his name is,” Luke yelled as he leaped up, leaving the rubbish on the ground, and his truck unlocked. “I left him in the bathroom.” Shit, had he been too long, was the sexy man still there? Maybe the wolf had got upset with him. He pounded towards the bathroom and flung open the door, but of course the room was empty, nothing but a towel tossed on the floor to indicate the room had even been used.

Buy the book:


Meet the author:

Lisa Oliver had been writing non-fiction books for years when visions of half dressed, buff men started invading her dreams.  Unable to resist the lure of her stories, Lisa decided to switch to fiction books, and now stories about her men clamor to get out from under her fingertips. 
When Lisa is not writing, she is usually reading with a cup of tea always at hand. Her grown children and grandchildren sometimes try and pry her away from the computer and have found that the best way to do it, is to promise her chocolate.  Lisa will do anything for chocolate.
Lisa loves to hear from her readers and other writers.  You can friend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/lisaoliverauthor), catch up on what’s happening at her blog (http://www.supernaturalsmut.com) or email her directly at yoursintuitively@gmail.com.



Where to find the author:


Publisher: Oliver Group Publications
Cover Artist: Lisa Oliver

Tour Dates & Stops:
16-May: BFD Book Blog
18-May: Oh My Shelves
19-May: Velvet Panic
25-May: Molly Lolly
27-May: Love Bytes



Rafflecopter Prize: Three Print Copies available – Tangling With Bears
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Virtual Book Tour: The Dilemma





Author Name: Victoria Sue

Book Name: The Dilemma
Series: Sirius’s Wolves
Book: Five
Series should be read in order.

Release Date: April 7, 2016
Blurb:

Marcus has just become the only human ever to be Alpha of a werewolf pack and thwarted the plans of Anubis to destroy the goddess Sirius' creation – the werewolves.
Now, Anubis has decided to focus his efforts instead on Marcus and his new pack, to try and destroy the pack from within. In order to do this, Anubis seeks the one thing Marcus wants above all else and when he finds it, will use that to get him to walk away from his lovers and the pack.
Unaware of the evil god's plans, Marcus works together with Kellan and Ricoh, not only trying to help Nate recover from the vicious torture he has undergone at the hands of the terrorist group, The Winter Circle, but to also come to terms with leading a pack of over two thousand wolves.
Marcus soon will be faced with a dilemma, but will he give everything up for his mates and the pack or will the temptation Anubis offers him be too much for one human to refuse? Will Marcus put his wolves before himself or will he be tricked into leaving them behind forever?
Pages or Words: 50,000 words

Categories: Fiction, M/M Romance, Ménage/Poly, Wolf Shifters

Excerpt:
The Dilemma – excerpt 1
Nate opened his eyes slowly and looked down. Kellan blinked as they both seemed to shimmer for a few seconds and then gaped as he stared at the white wolf now standing shoulder to shoulder with a black one.
Nate had shifted. Not only had he shifted into a beautiful wolf, his wolf was black. Nate was an Alpha.
Does that mean what I think it does? Marcus said quietly.
Ive never seen his wolf, Ricoh said, awe coloring his words.
Then in another second, Nate had shifted back, and that was their second surprise. He was fully clothed. Kellan realized there had been no torn clothes on the floor, and as far as he knew Darric was the only wolf with that ability.
Nate stood. The wolf, Chris, was still close enough so Nate could burrow his hands in the thick white fur.
Marcus took a step forward and Nate lifted his head and they all gasped. All hesitancy, all trace of fear, all the remnants of pain that Nate seemed to carry with him constantly it all vanished as the man took a step and Marcus opened his arms for Nate to step into them.
The white wolf shook himself, casually licked a paw, and headed for one of the smaller meeting rooms. Conner followed him with some jeans he had been carrying. In seconds Chris and Conner were walking over to Marcus, Chris fully shifted back and clothed. Nate and Marcus stood quietly holding each other.
Blaze spoke up. Unless its essential for you all to be here would you please give your Alphas some privacy?
In seconds everyone had disappeared except for both Alpha groups and Chris. Blaze drew some chairs together and sat down. Aden chuckled, his arms full with a sleeping baby. Well, you dont see that every day.
Look, Marcus said quietly, holding one of Nates scarred hands. The skin was smooth. Injury free, no burn marks, no missing nails.
Aden stared in astonishment. Thats incredible. Shifting heals, but it doesnt remove scars. Darric dropped a hand on his leg. I should know, Aden whispered.
Kellan swallowed, guilt immediately swamping him. Kellan had lured Aden back to their old pack the last time when he got injured again.
Aden lifted his head and stared at Kellan. Then he smiled, and Kellan felt the guilt ease. He was grateful. He wasnt sure he deserved it, but he was grateful.
I have to ask, Blaze said when they were all sitting down. Marcus and Nate were side by side, but Kellan had drawn Ricoh to him. Of them all, Ricoh seemed the most shocked. I understand you were thrown out of your pack as a child. Was it because you are an Alpha?
Nate sat a little taller. Im not an Alpha, he said hesitantly.
I can assure you, Darric interrupted, your wolf is black. Alpha marked. Besides which, I can feel your energy. He paused and assessed him. Thats new, isnt it?
New? Marcus asked.
My wolf is gray, Nate said hesitantly. He looked at Chris who was sitting quietly with Conner. Did you do that? I felt an incredible amount of power when I touched you.
Chris put his head to one side and laughed nervously. I dont think so. I just remember thinking you seemed hurt and that I had to help you.
I felt the Alpha power. I can sense it in you, Darric said.
Nate turned his head and gazed at Darric. Im sorry. I know those are words often said with little meaning, but I—”
Darric reached over and clasped Nates hand. The gods knew what they were doing. I think everything happened as it should. Darric smiled. I think you are an Alpha for a reason, and I think the gods have a purpose for you.
Kellan gazed at everyones awed faces and knew that Darric was right. Even he could feel the steady thrum of Alpha power coming from Nate. What did that mean for their future?
****
Marcus stared in awe. He wasnt totally sure what was happening here. Are you saying that because Nathaniel has a black wolf, hes an Alpha, and that his wolf has changed color?
There are different types of Alphas, Marcus. My wolf is silver, Darric said.
Stephens is golden brown, as is mine, Conner said.
Marcus frowned. Then why do you say black means Alpha-marked if an Alpha can be any color?
Darric smiled. Alpha-marked also means marked by gods. He gestured at Blaze. Blazes wolf is black. Its usually an indication of leadership as well.
Marcus gazed at Nate. What does that mean for you? Did that mean he should be running the pack? But Nate never left their rooms. He looked like he had a newfound confidence, but he was still curled into Marcus side as if he needed protection.
Nate looked at a complete loss. Aden spoke up. I am not completely sure but I would hazard a guess that Sirius has a specific job for you to do, he said quietly.
Marcus nearly shook his head in complete disbelief, but then he knew all the other incredible things that had happened, Darric being alive, the baby that Aden was cuddling. If they had happened, why was it such a leap to believe Nate had a higher purpose of some sort?
Marcus thought hard. Even as the other Alphas stood and congratulated Nate and fussed over Chris, he let the conversation swirl around him and he knew. Kellan was a strong werewolf. Ricoh had gotten a strength of purpose planning the new school and helping the kids he loved.
And Nate his fragile boy, the one who Marcus had never been able to leave for long, because he needed him so much ... Nate was an Alpha werewolf. If he wasnt about to run a pack then he was destined to play some important role. God touched.
Marcus eased his arm away from Nate as Nate laughed at something Darric said. At the end of the day, Marcus was fooling himself. Nate healing had just taken away his reason for being here, and he was very much afraid none of them needed him now.





Buy the book:



Meet the author:

Victoria Sue has loved books for as long as she can remember. Books were always what pocket money went on and what usually Father Christmas brought. When she ran out of her kids' adventure stories, she would go raid her mom's. By the age of eight she was devouring classics like Little Women, and fell in love with love stories.
She especially loves writing gay romance because as far as she’s concerned the only thing better than one hot guy, is two of them.


Where to find the author:
Twitter: @vickysuewrites


Goodreads Link:
Publisher: Dark Hollows Press
Cover Artist: 3 rusted spoons



Tour Dates & Stops:


Rafflecopter Prize: eBook from Victoria Sue’s backlist