Review: Talos (Bloodlines of Fate #1) by A.G. Carothers

The Age of Man has passed, and a new age is upon the Earth. An age of magic and technology ruled by the supernatural beings that once hid amongst humanity has begun.

Talos - Vampyr King, Supernatural Council Member, and Despiser of Humans. Fate has a surprise up their sleeve for him.

Bayne - Raised by the human resistance, Would-be Assassin, and Despiser of Supernatural Beings. He's ready to sacrifice himself to kill his enemy.

Bayne is thrust into a world he thinks he knows but quickly discovers his whole life has been built on lies. Talos, perfectly happy ruling his corner of the world, is faced with an unexpected and unwelcome change that comes with the mate chosen by Fate. Together they must discover how to live and, in the end, love one another. But will Fate have more in store for them than just learning to love the species they hate?

Bloodlines of Fate is a new urban fantasy series set in a world destroyed by humans and resurrected by supernatural beings. Fate has many plans for the vampires, fae, unicorns, therianthropes, and humans of this new world. While their mates may be fated, love isn't that easy.

This book contains depictions of gladiatorial combat, snarky fem twinks who will cut you, kings in stilettos, and awkward heats with a pinch of daddy kink.

Talos is part one of a two part story arch. It does end in an HFN with a HEA tied into the second part. This is a type of omegaverse with mpreg


Ok, I may be exaggerating a bit but this new series was whack, and I mean that in the nicest way.

Briefly, this is a futuristic post apocalyptic world where humans aren’t really the good guys and the supernaturals have basically come to rule, having saved earth from said human greed and corruption. The leader is King Talos, a Vampyri (a born bred of vamp), who’s often the target of human rebellion factions. It’s just another day in paradise as Talos goes about his ostentatious life of a mostly benevolent, definitely indulgent, but always guarded routine, thinking he’ll easily handle another rote assassination attempt with nary a blip on his schedule. Imagine Talos’s surprise when the assassin turns out to be his mate and a human at that.

What you won’t get is an angsty push pull between Talos and Bayne. You also won’t get a drawn out thoughtful look at the evolution of said enemies to lovers. This is almost campy fun (if you like to toss in some brutality and depravity) where the author has taken the setting and the beings who inhabit it to the max. Regardless, I think mainly Carothers had a grand time creating this world and basically had the mentality of “anything goes” especially dabbling in the following (with varying intensity) which may or may not titillate...

-gratuitous gladiator gore
-public sex
-unicorn sex
-blood play
-urination play?? (beyond a simple golden shower)
-ménage (lovers of mate monogamy beware)
-daddy kink
-touches of bdsm
-heats and mpreg

Now while the story does focus on Talos and Bayne, it also focuses a lot on the dynamic between his brother and BFF (Odin and Majid are trying to complete their mate triad) as well as several other periphery characters who are sure to be featured in their own future books.

I’m on the fence whether I’ll continue, but I will say the sequel hints at the 3rd component of Odin and Majid’s triangle which is very enticing as I do love me a good gentle, or not so gentle, giant especially since it's going to be a bear. Honestly, I don’t think my staid self is the target audience but if you like violence and debauchery, fated mates, a new take on born vampires, along with a varied dabbling in all sorts sexual shenanigans, then this might be the tangent to take you away from the usual MM fare! Enjoy!!




Don't miss the release blitz for Talos HERE!

Release Blitz + Giveaway: Talos (Bloodlines of Fate #1) by A.G. Carothers



Author A.G. Carothers and Gay Book Promotions host today's release blitz for supernatural/ urban fantasy, Talos (Bloodlines of Fate #1)! Discover more about the first in the new series and enter in the $15 Amazon Gift Card giveaway! 

See our review here!

RELEASE BLITZ


Book Title: Talos: Bloodlines of Fate, Book One

Author and Publisher: A. G. Carothers

Cover Artist: Samantha Santana, Amai Designs with illustration by Maberan

Release Date: September 7, 2020

Genre/s: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal, MPreg

Trope/s: Enemies to Lovers, Fated Mates, First Time, Hurt/Comfort

Themes: Assassination Attempt, Supernatural Society, 

BDSM, Size Difference, [Vampires, Unicorns, and Shifters, Oh My!]

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 46 000 words

It is not a standalone story.




Buy Links - Available on Kindle Unlimited

 
 


Blurb

The Age of Man has passed, and a new age is upon the Earth. An age of magic and technology ruled by the supernatural beings that once hid amongst humanity has begun.

Talos - Vampyr King, Supernatural Council Member, and Despiser of Humans. Fate has a surprise up their sleeve for him.

Bayne - Raised by the human resistance, Would-be Assassin, and Despiser of Supernatural Beings. He's ready to sacrifice himself to kill his enemy.

Bayne is thrust into a world he thinks he knows but quickly discovers his whole life has been built on lies. Talos, perfectly happy ruling his corner of the world, is faced with an unexpected and unwelcome change that comes with the mate chosen by Fate. Together they must discover how to live and, in the end, love one another. But will Fate have more in store for them than just learning to love the species they hate?

Bloodlines of Fate is a new urban fantasy series set in a world destroyed by humans and resurrected by supernatural beings. Fate has many plans for the vampires, fae, unicorns, therianthropes, and humans of this new world. While their mates may be fated, learning to love isn't that easy.

This book contains depictions of gladiatorial combat, snarky fem twinks who will cut you, kings in stilettos, and awkward heats with a pinch of daddy kink.


Excerpt

Talos strode calmly into his office. His skin tingled with pins and needles all over. Odin and Majid were on his heels, and Majid closed the door behind him. Talos leaned on his teak desk as his discovery crashed into him. Claws extended from his fingertips and dug into the dense wood, marring its polished surface.

"Why of all days would this happen today?" Talos asked Fate.

"Brother, what is it?" Odin closed in and put a reassuring hand on Talos' back, but it made his skin crawl. He shrugged Odin off and turned back around.

"It's him." Talos still couldn't believe it. He wanted to race to his bedroom to confirm it, but he had to wait.

Majid cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, it's him?"

Talos looked up at Odin and realization dawned on Odin's face. "Oh, him him?" Talos could only nod. His throat constricted.

"I knew I had to come to you, Brother. And it seems this is why. I was there when our father found his beloved, your pa."

Talos sat on the edge of the desk, crossed his arms, and massaged his temples with one hand. Majid stepped closer, started to put his hand on Talos, then took his hand back with an apologetic smile.

"Congratulations on finding your mate, my old friend."

Talos raised his head with a weary smile. "Thank you, and that was a magnificent display in there. I'll never tire of seeing you get horny." Talos chuckled softly. "Although my new mate called you a horse. Apparently, he's never heard of a black unicorn."

Majid snorted. "He's lucky I can't read his thoughts like you can," he scowled.

Odin's deep booming laugh caused Majid to snort again. Odin cleared his throat nervously, trying to cut off his laughter.

"Your idea to let one of the other resistance members through with him was good. It gave me an idea as to what kind of man my mate is. He was scared but he held his ground. His stubbornness to see his mission through shored him up. It's going to be interesting to see how he reacts to spending an eternity with us leeches."

Majid smirked. "You know how much I like a good impaling."

"I got something you can impale." Odin shook his butt at Majid and Talos snorted out a laugh.

Majid ignored Odin's interruption. "Your mate jumped a little, but you're right. He held steady even when I slowly killed that weakling." He scoffed in disgust. "Like anyone that weak would have made it through the selection process. It's a wonder they survived the games. They were lucky to have been killed by me."

"It is quite an honor. I think it's been a full month since you've impaled someone in the throne room." Talos rubbed his forehead. His skin continued to tingle. "I won't be able to bond with him until his blood is clean."

"Gideon is having the hemodialysis machine brought to your chambers along with a bed he can be properly restrained on. The doctors estimate it'll only take two rounds for his blood to be cleaner than when he was born," Majid reassured Talos.

"He will fight. I have no doubt. And we will most likely have to sedate him," Talos added.

"The sooner you get it done, the better, brother. Your body will not allow you to wait too long."

"It's almost dawn now." Talos looked at the clock on his wall. "Go to bed. Majid will stay up with me to watch over my mate."




 

About the Author 

A.G. Carothers is actually a dragon very cleverly disguised as a human. They are a non-binary author of LGBTQIA Romance and Urban Fantasy, who enjoys writing original and entertaining stories. They are very excited to share the worlds they've created with you.

A.G. currently lives in Tennessee with their platonic life partner, who is not a dragon. They yearn to live back in Europe and will some day. In their spare time they are addicted to losing themselves in the lovely worlds created by other authors

A.G. is committed to writing the stories they see in their head without restrictions. Love is blind and doesn't see gender, race, or sexuality.



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a $15 Amazon Gift Card


   




 

Release Blitz + Giveaway: The Handsome Twist by Pezhmun D Ghiassi


First time author Pezhmun D Ghiassi and IndiGo Marketing host today's release blitz for The Handsome Twist. Learn more about the suspense and enter in the eBook giveaway for your own copy! Good luck!

Title: The Handsome Twist
Author: Pezhmun D Ghiassi
Publisher: Friesen press
Release Date: 8/19/2020
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male/Female (Male/Male interaction), Male/Male Menage
Length: 144 pages
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Literary Fiction, New Adult, Thriller/Suspense

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Synopsis

The Handsome Twist is a dark fairy tale inspired by the author's actual life, being raised in Iran as a gay male, which for many who don't know, is equivalent to the death penalty. Due to tackling topics such as perverse behavior, taboo lust, political oppression, maltreatment, rape and homicide, in high volume of vulgar language, this book is aimed for the mature audience.
Living his sweetest life in a cozy cottage, deep in the heart of a magical forest, a little boy by the name Pezhmun is cursed on his 10th birthday by the 1st royal subject of Hell, queen of lust, to live a life full of horrific trauma and tragedy.
In the rudest awakening he is stripped from his chakras as they take human form, helping him to truly comprehend the power of love, through self acceptance and courage, where only then he meets his soulmate, but hopefully in time to save the world from plunging into eternal darkness.
This story points to topics in which many of people who grow up LGBTQ, usually face throughout the journey of self discovery and self acceptance with a hope of inspiring all to be there true organic selves.
The Handsome Twist simple edition is written in a more comprehensive manner for all to read without difficulty in comparison to the sophisticated, prosaic and poetic original version.

Excerpt

I was born on a glacial Thursday, 4 am of January 4th, 1990, in Baltimore, Maryland, from a mixture of Persian, Irish, Italian, and Native American, something my mother use to call a Heinz 57 ketchup. A year later, after my birth, both my father and mother grew exasperated from to the complexities of the cold climate. In a drastic change of mind, our domesticity was relocated to the Sunny Scottsdale of Arizona.
I confess life in the scorched city did us well. My parents both successful businessman and woman, steady income, a beautiful home and anything to ever ask for and how I wish life always showed its brighter side to me and my loved ones, but that's not always the case, and this life we speak of isn’t always dreamy…
I recall being ten and en-route from school to home that day as a certain anxiety pommeled my paunch.
I swung the door open only to my witness, the household tarnished! I had never seen so much shattered glass and porcelain gathered in one spot! My pops seeing me rapidly tugged my wrist, marching to the bedroom, sitting us at his computer. “You want to see what your mom's doing?” My momma's shriek from the other side of the house rang loud “Parheez No! Don't do that to him!” Disregarding her plea, he opened his browser, pulling up a website.  A tall, scrawny man, his blinkers framed in glass binoculars, and a dirty brown mustache with a red cap on his head appeared as my father uttered, “You're mother is fucking this man!”  I gasped in shock! My breath shortened as I dashed to my only sibling, my older sister's room drowning in tears! I leaped to her embrace as she nurtured me.  How could someone do that to a 10-year old I pondered! Anyhow, let's let that minor one slip, considering that the least of our worries, for now, that is.
Months later, the once upon a time madly in love couple split! My father by fate lost all his fortune to his partner who had swindled him to his very last dime and as far as my mother who till that day had dedicated her life-giving me and my sister her all, chose emancipation parting ways, re-wedding to a forest firefighter named" William Delaney " who most likely now quivers in the icy flames of Hell!
My old man now left with empty pockets, and two kids on his hand did what he only knew best, returning to his homeland, Iran.
Luckily his parents had been financially blessed and were indeed the significance of benevolence granting us a home to launch a new life!
A year later, my Baba saw suitable to remarry, so he did. He pondered maybe if a motherly figure hovered our lives, it would do us good, another erroneous mistake!
My step-dame initially seemed the kindest, sweetest being to roam the earth, though gradually in time, she allowed her true colors to show vibrancy.
This woman I speak of had seen much darkness and cruelty in her life, and by the time she had been locked into our family, already had she entrapped herself in a chamber of bitterness, constructed by bricks of pessimism and paranoia. So to be honest, yes, she has a golden heart, though like myself a very fucked up past with the only difference I chose the path of wisdom, not ignorance in my years of youth.
My father made certain to never deprive her of emotion, yet still, she portrayed envy for the love and affection he offered us, making it her mission to assure our lives a misery.
By night shame would be our pillows and goosebumps of gloom our blankets. Now imagine me, my sister to her brown almond eyes, adversaries, not offspring!
Years of her crudeness sailed the sea of our existence till in a sudden twist, this compulsively jealous spouse of a wife of my father went down a darker spiral of violence as one day I declined one of her many ruthless requisitions, expecting me to drop whatever I had in hand and spring at her ease.
I stood up for myself for once, in-surprise my merit were sharpened claws! Scaring my throat, leaving a sting of blood, the image of my scrag!
If a wicked stepmother was my only pain, I'm positive I wouldn't be here scribbling away.

Purchase at Amazon

Meet the Author

 
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Raised in Iran, Ghiassi is a renaissance in the field of art! At the age 10 after the separation of his parents he along with his father and sister moved to Iran. He soon began school in a Farsi language school and easily became adapted. In his teen years he discovered himself a dilatent in the field of art by sowing clothing, painting, dancing and high school plays. Ghiassi is a graduate with a BA in Persian literature. At the age 24 he returned to America, served as a US Marine reservist and soon found himself obsessed with writing and a brilliant outlet to manage his heavy luggage of trauma and pain. He currently now resides in Southern California, studying film and directing as an actors student in hopes to one day transform The Handsome into a full length feature.

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Blog Tour: All or None by Aurora Lee Thornton


Author Aurora Lee Thornton and Other Worlds Ink host today's blog tour stop for queer fantasy, All or None! Learn more today!


All or None - Aurora Lee Thornton


Aurora Lee Thornton has a new queer fantasy book out: "All or None."

In a world where everyone has a soulmate, uniquely powerful mage Royiora and reluctant assassin Kalo collide in the worst of ways.
Royiora Daralkaen, the only mage alive able to use all five kinds of magic, has a near idyllic childhood in the country of Porescalia - before war breaks out with their antagonistic neighbors, Kloria.

Kalo Porla, a naturally magic-proof individual known as a Null, is trained to be as an assassin by the authoritarian empire known as the Domain.

When Kalo and his partner assassin are sent to kill a mage and his apprentice, it starts a journey neither man was prepared to begin.


Amazon | Universal Link | Goodreads





Excerpt


All or None

Is this our destination? Roy considered, but chose to wait to find out.

His assumption turned out to be correct, as Kalo sighed in relief when he saw it, leading the way right to the door and knocking.

A woman of Kalo’s race answered it, even with the same red skin and gray hair. She laughed and pulled his soulmate into a hug when she saw him, before pulling back and flicking his ear with something even Roy recognized as an admonishment.

The assassin replied something tiredly, walking past the woman with the slight limp he’d had for the past week or so.

Then she turned to the mage, and in perfect Porescalian said, “And you must be my brother's soulmate. Hello, I’m Rela.”

Roy flinched in surprise, then cleared his throat and shook the proffered hand, “Yes, uh… I’m Royiora.”

“Do you shorten it?” Rela asked, ushering him inside, “I read most Porescalian men do.”

“Um, yes,” the Porescalian man replied, “I usually go by Roy.”

The horned woman nodded, half pushing him past high vaulted halls into another room, “You must be freezing - come on, let’s get you something warm to drink. I’m sure you have plenty of questions Kalo couldn’t answer.”

Roy didn’t get a word in until after Rela had taken the borrowed coat and replaced it with a surprisingly warm blanket, sitting him at a table in what appeared to be a study or classroom with the promised hot drink.

“There are warmth runes inside the stuffing,” someone said, and then a strange looking man with six arms and blue skin hung down from the ceiling. Unlike Rela and Kalo, he had purple glowing eyes, and held out one of his arms, “Hello, I’m Xia - Rela’s one of my soulmates, and this is our home.”

“Uh, hello,” the mage said, shaking as he looked up at the rest of the man’s insectoid body clinging to the ceiling, “I’m… Roy.”

“Nice to meet you, Roy,” Xia said, skittering over a bit to lower himself to the ground, “Rela and I took the trouble of learning your language some time ago, as our other two soulmates appear to be Porescalian as well.”

“And Kalo asked me to translate his soul writing when we were kids,” Rela said, sitting across from Roy, “He was so very excited to meet you, you know. Though, judging by the state of the two of you, I’m guessing it wasn’t under happy circumstances.”

“Not… exactly, no,” Roy said, feeling comfortably warm for the first time in a while. He took a sip of the drink - it was oddly nutty, but enjoyable nonetheless, “Uh… what… is Kalo?”

Rela snorted, “A bit of a pain in the ass, honestly.”

Xia laughed, and went over to the chalkboard in the room. He cleared it with a bit of arcane magic, and started drawing, “Kalo is what we call a ‘null’ - magic doesn’t affect him, and he can absorb it to fuel pseudo-magic abilities of a limited range.”

The strange insect man pulled back to reveal the celestial star, with words written underneath each point.

“Divine magic gives him self-regenerative abilities and invisibility,” Xia said, pointing to Radzmia’s crystal throne, then moved on to Pelzz’s obelisk, “Arcane provides mental acuity and teleportation,” onto Ruelop’s spring, “Physical resistance and enhanced senses,” Guulruf’s nine-pointed star, “Physical strength and shadow walking,” and finally, Forea’s whirlpool, “And physical speed and water breathing.”

“They identified him and our cousin when they were five,” Rela said, smiling, “We were all so excited - the government provided us stipends for their education and care. Us, a little provincial family of no repute.”

“So it’s an…” Roy struggled to keep up as the warmth and stillness worked on relaxing him to the point of drowsiness.

“That’s what they told us,” the woman snorted, taking a drink, ears flicking, “But when they were twelve, they went to the Institute.”

“Where they train them to be tools of the Trinity,” Xia sighed, coming back to the table.

“The… Trinity?” Roy asked.

“Our leaders, Frezians like Xia,” Rela supplied, then shook her head. She looked up at the mage, “Let me tell you about what happened to my brother.”




Kalo



Kalo was so glad to finally lay down on a pad and sleep without worrying about being attacked. Rela had said she’d talk to Royiora, explain things, and he trusted her to do so.

His sister and Hult might be the only people he trusted anymore.

The null didn’t know how much time had passed before there was a gentle touch on his shoulder, and his soulmate saying his name softly.

Kalo sighed, forcing himself to sit up and turn to look at the mage.

Royiora frowned at him, then his eyes lit up gold and he hesitantly reached up and laid a hand on the null’s cheek.

The assassin understood, but still hesitated himself before kissing his soulmate. It wasn’t like the time when he’d had to stop Royiora from killing them both by causing a cave in - it was slow, deceptively intimate.

He only took enough to heal his current injuries before pulling back.

The mage was still frowning at him. Royiora’s gaze fell - to the arm which used to have Kalo’s soul writing on it.

The assassin sighed, and unwrapped it. What did you go and tell him, Rela?

Kalo held the arm out, rough, burnt skin obviously clear of writing on display.

His soulmate reached out hesitantly, gentle fingertips brushing over the scarred skin. Then he took a sudden breath, hand jerking back as if he were the one burned.

Kalo looked up to see the other man crying. He shook his head, reaching out without thought to cup his soulmate’s face and brush away the tears with his thumbs, “No, don’t - don’t cry over me. I don’t deserve that.”

Royiora stared up at him, and something like resolve seemed to enter his eyes. He pushed up, barely hesitating before kissing Kalo himself.

At first, the null didn’t know how to react. This wasn’t an exchange, it wasn’t necessary. It couldn’t be affection - so what was it?

And then Royiora’s hand brushed over his burns again, and it clicked - sympathy.




Author Bio


Aurora Lee Thornton

Aurora is a nonbinary, asexual writer with a new goal in life: to write the queerest books possible. (And yes, xe means gay, but also weird is good too.)

Xe loves dragons and fantasy, and someday hopes to complete a (soft) science fiction novel as well. Currently, xe lives with xyr two cats.

Author Website: https://www.auroraleethornton.com

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/AuroraLeeThorntonBooks

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aurora_T_Books

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auroraleethornton/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16358225.Aurora_Lee_Thornton

Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Aurora-Lee-Thornton/e/B078QTVKQP?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000


LOGO - Other Worlds Ink

Review: Acsquidentally in Love (Sucker for Love Mysteries #1) by K.L. Hiers

Nothing brings two men—or one man and an ancient god—together like revenge.

Private investigator Sloane sacrificed his career in law enforcement in pursuit of his parents’ murderer. Like them, he is a follower of long-forgotten gods, practicing their magic and offering them his prayers… not that he’s ever gotten a response.

Until now.

Azaethoth the Lesser might be the patron of thieves and tricksters, but he takes care of his followers. He’s come to earth to avenge the killing of one of his favorites, and maybe charm the pants off the cute detective Fate has placed in his path. If he has his way, they’ll do much more than bring a killer to justice. In fact, he’s sure he’s found the man he’ll spend his immortal life with.

Sloane’s resolve is crumbling under Azaethoth’s surprising sweetness, and the tentacles he sometimes glimpses escaping the god’s mortal form set his imagination alight. But their investigation gets stranger and deadlier with every turn. To survive, they’ll need a little faith… and a lot of mystical firepower.




Tentacles! Tentacles! Tentacles!

Who's with me?

I know the tentacle lovers out there understand when the tentacles come a-callin' the lure is too great to resist. This was one of those times.

I'm glad I didn't too because this was cute and fluffy escapism with a healthy side of eroticism. There is a bit of mystery that drives the plot forward and makes for some hijinks and the occasional ghoul. Along the way Sloane and Loch become smitten with each other and Sloane discovers the joys of the tentacock.

Bottom line: it's a fun read. Sure, there's an abundance of exclaiming. Sure, there's some cheese especially from Loch. But it all adds to the charm of a tentacle romance based in some mythology that I'm *fairly certain* is a product of the author's mind, though admittedly I'm too lazy to actually look it up to be certain.

Who cares, though?

It was sexy, fun, lighthearted and a nice diversion so if any of the above appeals give it a try. You could discover you have a tentacle kink heretofore unknown to you.

Do it in the name of self-discovery!



A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.



Release Blitz + Giveaway: Soothe Me, Daddy by Elouise East


Welcome Elouise East and Gay Book Promotions as they celebrate the release of Soothe Me, Daddy! If you enjoy contemporary romance, read more of today's blitz! Enter in the $10 Amazon gift card giveaway!


RELEASE BLITZ and BLOG TOUR

Book Title: Soothe Me, Daddy
Author: Elouise East
Publisher: Self-published
Cover Artist: Elouise East
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Trope/s: Daddy kink
Themes: Workplace romance
Heat Rating: 3 - 4 flames
Length: Approx. 42 000 words
It is a standalone book.

Buy Links - Available on Kindle Unlimited

Soothing his boy is a pleasure in more ways than one


Blurb

Once upon a time, there was a boy who wanted a Daddy...

Henley knows what he wants from a relationship: to be taken care of by a Daddy. He’s under no illusions that he can be a handful. When he starts a new job, his gaze is taken to a prime specimen. Maybe Henley could persuade him to be his Daddy…

Isaac is worn out from the clubs, the scenes, the boys who say they want a Daddy then change their minds. When he’s given the responsibility of training the most obedient guy he’s ever met, Isaac is hooked. But does the guy even know what a boy is, despite acting like one?

They are powerless to stop their relationship. They complement each other so well.

Is Isaac the right Daddy for Henley, and is Henley the right boy for Isaac?

This is a 40,000 words sweet Daddy/boy romance



Excerpt

“I don’t want you to change yourself for me, Henley.”

“What do you mean?”

“You need to be yourself from the beginning. Don’t act or speak how you think I want you to. If I think something about your behaviour needs correcting, I will discuss it with you and help you alter it.”

“Through punishments?” Henley asked, eyebrows raising.

“If I believe that is the best way to remind you, yes.” Isaac hesitated. “For me, being a Daddy is a twenty-four-seven responsibility. I would need you to realise that everything I do for or to you is for your own benefit. I want to help you become all that you can be, and in return, you need to trust me wholeheartedly. Telling me the truth at all times, even when it scares you. You need to trust that I will catch you should you fall. I will hold you close and protect you with everything I am.”

Isaac gazed at Henley, seeing a shimmer begin in his eyes before they filled and overflowed.

“Come here.” Isaac issued the order, and they both scooted out of their opposite seats, Isaac guiding Henley to slide over in the booth seat so he could sit next to him. Isaac wrapped his arm around Henley’s shoulder, hugging him close and resting his fingers against the side of his face as his tears continued to fall soundlessly.

Once Henley had calmed, Isaac lifted his face. “Are you okay?” Henley nodded. “I need your words, sweetheart.”

“I’m okay,” he croaked. “I…You…It’s everything I want.”

“Alright. Let’s eat our food, and once we’re full, we can talk some more.”

Isaac reached for Henley’s plate from the opposite side of the table and placed it in front of Henley. Henley smiled, and though a little watery, it filled Isaac’s heart with joy. He couldn’t believe he had found someone who already knew about Daddies and boys, and in fact, was one.

After they had finished their meal and Isaac deduced Henley didn’t want a dessert, he gripped Henley’s hand and left the restaurant. It wasn’t particularly late, and the air was warm, so he suggested a short walk.

“For a relationship to work with me, I would need to give you a routine to stick to—”

“What kind of routine?”

Isaac raised his eyebrows at Henley, waiting until he apologised for interrupting before continuing, “Things like when you’d need to go to sleep, when to wake, when to eat. I don’t do this because I think you are incapable of doing them yourself. I do it because then I will know you are looking after yourself like I have asked you to. I trust that if I ask you to do something, you will do it. For example, if I ask you to eat at midday, and you agree, I expect you to eat at midday, barring any unforeseen circumstances.”

“That sounds good.” Henley glanced up at Isaac from underneath his eyelashes. “I do sometimes forget whether I’ve eaten or not.”

“Good to know, and thank you for being honest with me. I have seen that you can be a little excitable at times. I would like to help you find a way to manage that. I think your work, however amazing you already are at it, would benefit a great deal from you being calmer and more in control of your actions.” He paused and smirked. “And mouth.”

“Hey!” Henley pouted for a second before grinning. “Yes, okay. I know I can be a chatterbox. But I have so much to say.”

“And I wouldn’t ever want to stop you from saying it, but I do think there is a time and place for certain topics of conversation.”

Henley scrunched his nose up. “Is there really?”

“Yes,” Isaac said firmly.

They walked in silence for a few steps before Henley asked, “What should I call you?”

Isaac exhaled deeply. “I would love for you to call me Daddy. But you don’t have to. Isaac is fine, too.”

Henley rested his head against Isaac’s shoulder, wrapping his free hand around his biceps. “I would love to call you Daddy.”

“Does everything sound okay so far?”

Henley nodded, and when Isaac raised his eyebrows, he added, “Yes…Daddy.”

Isaac inhaled and briefly closed his eyes, his pulse skyrocketing at the word. “Perfect.”





About the Author
Elouise East is a bestselling author of contemporary MM romance. She writes a variety of themes: sweet and fluffy to high angst to taboo, but there is a huge nod in the direction of friendships being integral to each character's experience. She writes books that are emotionally realistic, even if liberties are taken with other aspects of her stories.
Reading and writing have always been a part of her life, although her debut book wasn't published until July 2019, when she was 36 years old. Her experience has come from reading thousands of books over the years and being a perfectionist when it comes to trying to make things right. She lives in the centre of the UK with her two children, who make life worth living, keep her (in)sane and make her laugh. She loves Zumba, yoga and walking, all things that can be done alone as she is very introverted.

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Review: Hallelujah by Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley, Jr.

 

 Can you hear it? 

Whispering in the dark. 

Secrets only the dark knows. 

Joseph Moore, choir director for the First Baptist Church of Lenora, Nebraska, has secrets of his own. Terrible, lonely secrets. One that involves natural human desire. One that calls forth powers he cannot begin to understand. Both with the potential to destroy him and those he loves. 

Now the world is changing. The darkness, the shadows, the ghosts, are closing in—and Joseph and his lover, Kevin, are being stalked by a merciless demon, hell-bent on possession. 

Can you hear it now? 

There in the dark. 

It's whispering your name.



Every book I’ve read by Kim Fielding and F.E. Feeley, Jr. separately have been memorable, these two authors together brought my reading journey to another level. Hallelujah reminded me why I love to read, the all encompassing experience was overwhelming in the best possible way. I told the family they were on their own because I had book rapture happening and I would be unavailable for 374 pages, plus reflection time. 

Hallelujah is quite a ride. There is a lot going on, a lot of themes, a lot of action, a lot of realizations, a lot. The authors balanced and tied everything together so perfectly the story never felt too busy or at loose ends. Every sentence and action had a purpose for Joseph and his journey. 

There are many religious undertones (and overtones, if I’m honest) to Hallelujah. Religion is an integral component to the story and while the specific faith is personal to Joseph, the overarching theme is much more broad, encompassing the basics of good vs. evil and redemption and forgiveness. 

Growing up in an agnostic household, I was able to understand everything in theory, but I’m sure I was missing some of the visceral reactions someone who grew up in a religious upbringing might feel. I googled and learned a lot, something I always appreciate from a book, and I can’t decide which background would be more beneficial when reading Hallelujah. I bought a copy for a friend (he’s no longer actively practicing any formal religion, but he did grow up in a faithfully religious household) and we’re going to mini bookclub this one. 

There is so much more though too. If organized religion is not your jam, don’t let that keep you from Hallelujah. It’s part of who Joseph is in his core, and that part of him is clear and accessible to the reader. It explains a lot about the decisions he makes and the loyalties he keeps. 

I could go on and on and on about specifics and characters, but you get the gist from the blurb and part of the beauty of this book is meeting each of the characters for the first time. Reading the evolution of the relationships and interactions is the meat of this book. Sure, the horror is most definitely real, and most definitely horrifying, but we know evil because we know good and the characters here are so humanly good. Not perfect, perfect is boring and a falsehood. But inherent goodness is real and a real part of this book. 

Joseph. He’s so fully fleshed out, that I’ll remember him for a long time to come and he’ll make me reread this book. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him when the story was done, even though the story was done with all the bits wrapped up in a bittersweet package. After everything the group had been through I wasn’t sure how Hallelujah would wrap, or if it even could, but damn, the authors did an amazing job of ending the story and being true to each of the characters.



**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Release Blitz + Giveaway: Splash by J.R. Hart


Enjoy new adult romance? See today's release blitz from author J.R. Hart and IndiGo Marketing for contemporary romance, Splash! Learn more and enter in the $10 NineStar Press credit giveaway!



Title: Splash
Author: J.R. Hart
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: September 7, 2020
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 60100
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Contemporary, romance, new adult, gay, cisgender, swimming pool, lifeguard, summer job, enemies to lovers, father/son relationship, multiple partners

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Synopsis

Connor Molina’s summer can’t get any worse. He’s stuck in his college town taking summer classes, and he’s got a dead-end lifeguard job he’s too old for and a baby gay who’s thirsty for all the wrong guys.

Even worse? Tristan, a wild patron, won’t leave his section of the pool, splashing him and pulling stupid stunts to get his attention. When Tristan fakes a drowning to get closer to him, Connor’s furious, but he quickly realizes that Tristan’s reckless nature isn’t always infuriating…it’s also intriguing.

Can he let his guard down and let Tristan in, or will he be bound by his own rules and drown in the self-doubt this summer could free him from?

Excerpt

Splash
J.R. Hart © 2020
All Rights Reserved

I overslept. One week into summer, and I’d already overslept. Showering? Not really an option. Nothing about the summer after my sophomore year of college had gone the way I planned for it to go, so oversleeping? Yeah, not super unsurprising. That was me, Connor Molina, epic fuck-up. I knew why I was stuck in that godforsaken town the entire fucking summer, and almost all of it had everything to do with going to parties more often than going to my 8:00 a.m. classes. Can anyone blame that on me, though? No. The blame goes to anyone who thought morning classes would ever be an acceptable thing for anyone to experience. Whoever came up with that idea should be locked away, key thrown away, all of it.

But summer started all wrong. My ultimate goal had been to go back home. You know, normal summer stuff. Swim laps in the backyard pool, slack off, maybe hook up a few times. I don’t know. Obviously, that didn’t happen. I wouldn’t be saying shit about that summer if it had. Uneventful stories never make for good reflections, do they? But that summer was eventful in ways I didn’t expect it to be. It’s part of what made my summer so, so fucked.

Instead of being home for the summer, I was there, at the Springdale Aquatic Center and Lap Pool, sitting in ungodly heat and staring at unnaturally blue-looking water. You know the kind of blue of skies and oceans and all that? No, this was hyperchlorinated blue, made more intense by the paint at the bottom until it was an intense cerulean. Instead of swimming in my parents’ greenish lap pool, I was trying to make sure no one drowned in this lap pool. Real upgrade there, Connor. Awesome.

You’d think that shit wouldn’t get old after a day and a half, but it did. The only perk was not getting audited in the first couple of days—if no one was checking to see whether I was watching closely enough, then I couldn’t get screwed over and lose my job if I missed the sign. Of course, it would have been no surprise if the summer went like that. Considering everything else that had happened so far, it would have made sense for it to blow up in my stupid face and leave me jobless too. But that didn’t happen. All I wanted was to make it through the summer without someone dying on my watch. That shouldn’t have been too much to ask.

Nothing about the job was worth the money. If you’re thinking about being a lifeguard, let this be your warning. It isn’t worth it. But I couldn’t back out no matter how badly I wanted to. It was on the schedule before we even had the most terrifying meeting ever, and I had no choice but to press on. Never mind that they made it clear the job was life-or-death during that meeting. Never mind that I hated the concept of ever setting foot in the pool again after the stuff their words stirred up in my mind.

Never mind that I was scared to death someone might drown right in front of me because of my own fuck-up or inability to keep them alive. Never mind the added pressure when I was already at my breaking point going into summer. All of it was horrifying, but I didn’t have the luxury of choice. Everything else was full. Literally every single damn summer job…full.

If I wouldn’t have had to be there in the first place, I could have slacked off and loafed around on my parents’ couch and watched shitty daytime talk shows, checked out The Price Is Right and tried to guess the price of a car I’d never own. But no, I had rent to pay. I still do. I had to have something to do. Every pizza delivery position, every law firm secretary job, every retail cashier option, all of it was full. I couldn’t even get a job sacking groceries, not that I would have taken a position clearly made for a high schooler. Any of those had to be better than lifeguarding though. Every job in town, even that, was for teenagers. I was underqualified for the good shit, but I was way overqualified for being a lifeguard.

One summer. I promised them I’d work there for one summer, but after that, I had told myself there was no way in hell I’d ever be caught on that guard stand again. The whole job is complete and utter bullshit. No amount of SPF in the world could have gotten me through it either. I still don’t know how I didn’t lose my entire mind being there. Well, I do, but I didn’t at the time.

Sure, I probably took it a little bit too seriously, a little bit too personally whenever they mentioned, you know…drowning. None of my other coworkers gave a shit if someone were to die in their section. The thing is, they’re all basically kids, lifeguards are. High school babies at best, with a few going into college in the fall. I was the only jackass actually in college when I got the job, so, of course, none of them took it seriously. It made sense that they didn’t give a shit if something happened. None of us ever think it’ll happen to us. No one ever does, do they? But that stuff does happen. It does. I had seen it happen before, and the thought of letting it happen that summer somehow? I was horrified by the entire prospect. Don’t worry, nobody actually drowned over the summer, though the close calls were enough to make me hate the job regardless.

The summer didn’t start great, either. We were down two guards on the second day of work. One of them never bothered to call in, and I’m pretty sure she never showed up all summer anyway. The other one missed the audit ball and got sent home. Greg, the manager, tossed this little ball in the water in your section. Each ball represents someone drowning, and if you don’t jump in and save the ball in time, you get written up and sent home early. I’m not sure why they think sending you home is the right choice there. It’s not like it gives you more practice. To me, you should be buddy-guarding until you get it right, but that’s not how it goes, and it left us shorthanded. Way too shorthanded.

That’s why I scan the water, why I always keep scanning the water. The ball represents a life, someone she would have just let drown because she wasn’t even watching. Getting sent home was the least of her worries. Maybe if it had been a real person, she would have understood. We hadn’t been working together long enough for me to even know her name, and by the third audit she missed in two weeks, she was fired, so I never really got to know her anyway.

I don’t switch off when I’m working. I can’t. You never know who the hell might end up drowning on your watch, and I wasn’t about to have a death on my conscience. I couldn’t fathom the idea of telling someone’s mom, “hey, your kid drowned because I wasn’t paying attention,” or somehow having to deal with the consequences there, the nightmares or whatever else. It’s stuff like that making the job literally the worst in the world. If I looked away, who knows what might have happened? Maybe someone would have died. I don’t know. Maybe I was just fucking paranoid. Maybe I still am.

Or maybe it’s the way my section always attracted the biggest jackasses on the planet. The entire time I was working the first few days, regardless of the section I was in, there was this one guy. One damn kid who had to show off, basically. He and his buddies were there to break every rule, doing flips off the high dive, trying to play chicken. They were old enough to know better and old enough also to set a bad example for anyone younger—if they could do it, the younger kids thought it was safe to do too. It was impossible to watch everyone in my section when he kept pulling my focus, making me watch him and his friends carefully so nobody got killed.

He was there when I was manning the diving boards, attempting cannonballs and flips far beyond his skill level. When I moved on to the wide slide typically reserved for kids to slide down with his parents, he and his friends were shoving each other down and trying to launch themselves off. I’d tell him to sit on his ass (in nicer words) and not on his stomach, but halfway down he’d spin, flipping to skid down headfirst.

“He’s cute, isn’t he?” I can still remember James asking me that question and even now, a huge part of me wants to slap him over it.

“The one with the death wish? No, he’s not.” I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand how half of the guards at this pool could think he was hot. I was there trying to watch, trying to keep track of everyone, and it felt like everyone else was simply there to gawk at the patrons. Being the only one actually there to work sucked, even if I got that they were just kids. You know, whatever, but some of us didn’t need the added distraction.

“You have to admit he’s at least a little bit cute,” James said, elbowing me in the ribs. I was half tempted to break his arm over the way he jabbed me.

“I don’t have to. He’s not being cute. He’s trying to crack his head open on the side of the pool. What are you doing over here anyway?” This wasn’t James’s section right then, not where I was, and I couldn’t understand why he was even where I was at, to be honest. Last I saw, he was supposed to be over by the lazy river, not close to me in the deep end.

“I’m on break,” he told me.

“Oh, so you’re over here lurking and trying to stare at him and everything else, getting in my way when I’m trying to do my job? Cool. Thanks.” I was only half joking. I tried to make myself seem as pleasant as possible, but a large part of me was really annoyed. The last thing I needed was James near me, trying to talk while I was taking this seriously. James was the only other openly gay guard there, and not even a small part of me was surprised he was interested in a dumbass like that one. I never tried to hide who I was, and if a girl at the pool flirted with me, she usually figured out she wasn’t my type pretty quickly. But James? He couldn’t hide it. Anyone could’ve clocked him from a mile away. He wasn’t subtle and it was okay, but it also got him in trouble. The town wasn’t the most open-minded place ever.

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Meet the Author

J R Hart is a queer 30-something novelist passionate about telling romantic and erotic stories about LGBT+ characters. When J R isn’t writing, you can find her at the science museum with her son, cheering for her favorite soccer team, or at The Bean Coffee Co plotting her next work.

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Guest Review: The Assistant by John Tristan

Burned out ex-soldier Nick Kurosawa has drifted from job to job since he lost his family in a car crash. Lately, he’s been working on and off as a bouncer, barely managing to cover his bills; an opportunity for steady, well-paying work is just what he needs to get his life back in order.

Jacob Umber, a secretive philanthropist, gives him that opportunity. Umber has fibromyalgia and needs a personal assistant to help him with the tasks of daily living—someone strong, adaptable, and, most of all, willing to let Umber take the lead.

It seems a perfect opportunity for Nick. More than anything, he craves guidance and a purpose, and Umber gives him that in spades. When Nick starts craving more, it seems an impossible complication, but even the reserved Umber can’t deny Nick’s talent—and need—for following his orders. But Umber’s shadowy past holds secrets that could undo their fragile new relationship and any hope Nick has of a normal life.


Reviewer: Annery

This is my second book by this author and I can confidently say that if you’re wanting an OwnVoices story, one that treads outside the beaten paths of mainstream M/M, and populated by diverse characters, John Tristan is your man.

Nick Kurosawa was discharged from the army for medical reasons, mainly psychological ones attributable to devastating familial loss. Since then he’s been flailing through life, from one meaningless job to another, seeking the guidance he needs through sexual relationships that never coalesce into anything true or lasting. A job offer from the mysterious Mr. Umber is about to change all that.

Jacob Umber is a 40-something businessman in need of an all around dogsbody with potential for more. He’s a bit cryptic about what his business is and what he needs. Nick is entranced and hooked.

What develops, over time, is a D/s relationship, one that initially leans heavily toward servitude and which Nick hopes (it does) develops into one that includes physical discipline. I’m reluctant to call any of this “impact play” or any kind of play at all because what Nick wants or needs is more of a lifestyle thing and Mr. Umber is willing to provide it.

The relationship between Nick & Mr. Umber is one that likely will be outside the comfort zone of the general M/M reader. Romance in its standard iterations isn’t present, there’s a pretty heavy caning scene, and the regular beats of “meet cute”, separation due to misunderstanding/airing of issues, final confessions of LOVE etc. are nowhere to be seen. Even so I loved Nick and understood his needs, while not always agreeing or hoping he could assuage his emotional needs in a different manner. It was clear to me that Nick’s kinks were more than about sexual gratification. That’s fine. We all do what we must. So why wasn’t this a 5 star read for me? Jacob Umber.

Throughout the book we get to know Nick pretty well, his history, his wants, his friends, his sense of humor etc but about Jacob Umber we know close to nothing. He remains an opaque presence whose personality & desires remain unstated or even hinted at. What he does for Nick, relationship-wise (and I use the term generously), is almost begrudging and mostly at Nick’s request, almost begging. Does he get off on it? Did he feel anything for Nick beyond some affection and appreciation for services rendered? I wasn’t sure. This made the denouement a bit unsatisfying. I wanted Nick to get a bit of his own and for Umber to deserve him.

Regardless of my tiny gripes I’d wholeheartedly recommend this story between a young Japanese American man and an older trans man where neither one of those things take center stage but aren’t window dressing either. How novel.






Release Blitz + Giveaway: Time Lost (Out of Time #2) by C.B. Lewis


Author C.B. Lewis and IndiGo Marketing return with the Time Lost (Out of Time #2) re-release blitz! Find out more about the sci-fi romance and enter in the $10 NineStar Press credit giveaway!



Title: Time Lost
Series: Out of Time, Book Two
Author: C.B. Lewis
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: September 7, 2020
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 114600
Genre: Science Fiction, LGBTQIA+, science fiction, gay, British, detective/police officer, law enforcement, crime procedural, engineer, programmer/decoder, murder, mystery, age gap, interracial, dirty talk, spanking, outrageous flirtation

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Synopsis

A dead intruder. A missing scientist. A terrified child.

No one wants a dramatic case first thing on a Monday morning, but that’s exactly what Detective Inspector Jacob Ofori got. It should be open and shut, but scientist Tom Sanders is nowhere to be found, a dead man seems to have appeared from thin air, and the Temporal Research Institute—Sanders’s company—is strangely uncooperative about assisting with the case.

Jacob’s only source is TRI engineer, Kit Rafferty. He clearly wants to help, but there’s only so much the man can and will tell him. As more and more impossible questions mount up, Jacob finds himself facing a reality that could change his world.

Excerpt

Time Lost
C.B. Lewis © 2020
All Rights Reserved

Chapter One
At first, everyone assumed it was a burglary.

The postman was the first on the scene. He’d arrived early in the morning to make a delivery to the house in question and found the front door wedged open. No one answered when he rang the bell, so he called the police. The two constables arrived to investigate, and they were the ones who found the body.

It escalated after that.

Not even noon, Jacob thought grimly. Hell of a way to start a Monday.

His autopod shuttled along, arcing off from the main highway. As much as he missed manual controls of old-fashioned cars and early autocars, he appreciated the driverless function of the pod because it gave him time to skim through the images from the crime scene en route.

He wouldn’t get a feel for the scene until he got there, but the images let him know what he was about to walk into. There were signs of a struggle in the room where the body was found, and plenty of blood, but the rest of the house seemed undisturbed.

“Control to Delta Seven. ETA to destination?”

Jacob leaned forward and cleared the images from the display on the windscreen, bringing up his location on the map. Beyond it, he could see the country roads through the glass.

“ETA fifteen minutes, Control,” he replied, then muttered under his breath, “Into the backside of nowhere.”

It was half an hour beyond the miles of sprawling suburbs of the city in the middle of green fields and close to a forest. The nearest amenities had to be at least four miles from the building. He shook his head. What kind of person chose to live all the way out there anymore? It wasn’t as if there were a shortage of housing in the city.

A chime indicated another image had been received.

Jacob opened it up and leaned forward, frowning.

A door, barely visible, blended into the pattern of the wall. No handle, no visible hinges.

“You seeing this, sir?” Constable Foley’s voice rang through the speaker.

“I am indeed, Foley,” he said, widening the image. “Is that a safe room?”

“Looks that way, sir,” the constable replied. “The dust in front of it suggests a box was moved and recently. Looks like someone might be in there.”

Smart girl, Jacob thought with approval.

“Any response?”

“Not yet, sir, but if they were attacked—”

“They might not be capable of replying,” Jacob finished. “Keep trying.” He minimised the image and looked out through the windscreen. “I have visual on you, Foley. Be with you soon.”

Ahead of him, the house was visible between the trees. The red brick structure had to be at least two centuries old, but even from a distance, the modern touches were obvious. The windows were thick and secure. The roof had been replaced with faux slate.

The autopod purred to a halt beside the four other vehicles lining the gravel courtyard, and the door slid aside. Jacob stepped out and glanced at the other vehicles. He recognised the coroner’s transport pod, and the standard blue-and-white- patterned squad pod, but the other two were probably the homeowner’s.

Foley opened the front door to greet him.

Half his age, she hadn’t been with the force long enough to be as jaded as him yet. She smiled in greeting. “Morning, sir.”

He winced. “Say afternoon. It makes it a little more bearable.”

She laughed. “You want a summary, sir?”

“I read up on it on the way over. Any word on the owner?”

“Thomas Sanders,” Foley said, leading him toward the house. “Forty-eight. Widower with one young son. He’s a well-reputed scientist and engineer. High up in some kind of historical and scientific research program in the city, the Temporal Research Institution.”

“Have you been able to make contact with him?”

Foley shook her head, her sandy ponytail swinging. She offered him overalls to cover his suit. “We’ve tried his business and private numbers. His colleagues said he’s been on a leave of absence for health reasons for several weeks. Our best bet is the safe room.”

“Any sign of the son?”

“We assume he’s with his father,” Foley replied.

“Do we have an ID for the body yet?”

She hesitated in the hallway. “That’s the strange thing, sir. We can’t find anything on him. His prints aren’t in the system. No DNA trace either. We still need to run facial recognition, but so far, we’ve got nothing.”

“That’s not unusual.”

Foley looked at him. “There’s something off about it all. I’ll show you.”

The house was spacious inside. The lower level was split into four rooms, all branching off from a wide, sunlit hall. Foley led him down the hall and to one of the rooms at the back, her covered boots thumping on the wooden floors.

Jacob stopped in the doorway, taking a moment, then stepped across the threshold. The crime scene team was still at work.

The room appeared to be some kind of laboratory with workbenches running along one wall. Another wall was covered in old-fashioned whiteboards with all kinds of incomprehensible text and codes marked on them in half a dozen colours. Jacob studied all of it for a moment, but whatever Sanders was working on, it was far beyond Jacob’s barely adequate physics A level.

There were little machines here and there, suspended from the boards by wires. Spools of wire and gears were scattered across the floor. Several boxes had been upended from shelves and lay on their sides.

In the middle of it all, the body lay face down on the floor, a bloodied hammer close at hand.

Danni Michaels was working on the body and glanced up with a nod. “Sir.”

“Cause of death?” Jacob said, keeping his eyes off the dead man’s face.

“Looks like blunt force trauma,” Danni replied, nudging her magnifying glasses up her nose with her knuckles. “I don’t think it’s a wild guess to say the weapon was that hammer. It was a single blow, landed here.”

Jacob gritted his teeth and looked. The left side of the man’s forehead was ruptured. His eyes were open, and he had an expression of surprise on his rigid, bloody face. He was young. Maybe thirties. Dark-haired. His eyes were dark, the pupils flared wide open, but death sometimes did that. Blood had spread in a wide, sticky pool around his body. Jacob swallowed down the familiar rising acid.

Christ, he hated the messy ones.

He glanced around the room.

A pair of slippers, several steps away from the blood pool, had left bloody prints on the polished floor. The owner must have kicked them off, and they’d ended up at least three feet from each other. Not good shoes for running, slippers. If he—men’s slippers, size nine approximately—had already knocked down the man on the floor, then there had to be another assailant whom he was running from.

“Any sign of this man’s accomplice?”

“Accomplice?” Foley asked.

Jacob gestured to the slippers. It was easier than looking at the body. “You don’t try and run from an unconscious, nearly dead man. There was someone else here.”

“We haven’t seen any sign of anyone else,” Foley replied. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t even notice that.”

He offered her a brief smile. “That’s why I’m a DI, Foley.” He motioned to the body. “You said there was something off?”

Foley nodded, crouching by the body. “Take a look at his right eye.”

Jacob went down beside her, propping his forearms on his knees. It took him a moment, but then he saw what she was pointing out: The pupil wasn’t blown. There was no iris at all.

“What the hell…” He leaned closer. “Michaels, can I borrow your magnifiers?”

She handed them over and obligingly shone the torch over the man’s eyes. “Clever, isn’t it?”

Jacob peered down and frowned. “A synthetic bionic eyeball? Is that even possible?”

Michaels shook her head. “I’ve heard of people developing them, but I’ve never heard of any successful trials.” She squatted by the body and grinned. “I can’t wait to get it out and see what it’s made of.”

“And there’s one of those images I didn’t need,” Jacob murmured, peering through the magnifier again. The pupil seemed to be a focusing lens. High-quality, high-end technology. “Foley, have you checked anywhere that might carry tech this advanced?”

“We’re putting together a list,” she said. “But from what we’re hearing back, this is off the charts, sir. No one has heard of technology like this before, or if they have, they’re not telling us about it.”

He straightened up. “You said this Sanders was a scientist?”

“Doctor in physics and engineering,” she confirmed.

“Could he have made something like this?”

She hesitated. “From all accounts, he didn’t deal in human biology or bio-artificing.”

“Doesn’t mean he couldn’t.” Jacob ran a hand over his face. “Well, if we can’t find this man by standard identification, maybe we can find him by the eye he doesn’t have. Danni, we need all the information you can get us as soon as possible.”

“Sir,” Danni said at once.

Jacob turned to Foley. “Where’s Singh?”

“Still trying to get into the safe room.” She jerked her head. “This way.”

The safe room was up the stairs in what appeared to be a playroom. Windows lined one of the walls, the others covered in posters and drawings. Kids’ toys and games were scattered all over the place. Singh was working his way along the one blank wall with a scanner.

Jacob took in the mess. “You said Sanders has a son?”

“Ben,” Foley confirmed.

“About eight?”

Foley looked at him in surprise. “Seven and a half. Is this another one of those detective things?”

Jacob chuckled. “This time, it’s one of those dad things.”

Singh glanced over his shoulder at them, sighing in frustration. “Foley, I know you said to scan for a high intensity of fingerprints on the wall, but this whole wall is fingerprints.” He nodded at Jacob. “Afternoon, sir.”

“Singh.” Jacob approached, studying the wall. “It’s very smoothly done, isn’t it?” He rubbed his short beard thoughtfully with his fingertips. “No visible buttons or latches anywhere?”

“None we could find,” Foley said. “I thought it might be a pressure-point system, but seems not. We requested an expert, but they’ve been delayed.”

“I think we need to un-delay them,” Jacob said, touching his earbud to activate it. “If Sanders is wounded and inside there, we need to get him out. If not, we need confirmation, because this could be an abduction.”

While they waited, Jacob had gone down to the laboratory to take another look at the whiteboards. He didn’t see what it had to do with Sanders’s work at the Temporal Research Institution. A quick search suggested the institution specialised in identifying historical discrepancies and confirming historical events. It could be something to do with locating old records and creating algorithms, he supposed. You would need a specialised engineer to do that.

“Sir?”

Jacob turned. “Foley?”

“The smith is here. I thought you might want to be present if he can open the door.”

They headed back up the stairs to the playroom. The body had been removed in the hour before the locksmith arrived, the crime scene unit now working their way out from the house across the grounds, searching for trace evidence of the intruders.

The locksmith was already working on the wall with a scanning device.

“Apparently,” Singh said, joining them, “all safe room doors come installed with a registration chip, in case the mechanism needs to be deactivated in an emergency.”

“Not unlike this,” Jacob observed. “Useful.”

The locksmith glanced over. “It’s a recent make. Give me two minutes.”

In the end, he took less than thirty seconds, and the door swung outward.

Inside, there was a room big enough for a family, but only one person was there. A small tawny-haired boy shrank back into the corner of the room, his arms wrapped around his legs, his face bone-white.

Jacob motioned for the smith and the two constables to back off, and crouched a couple of feet away from the door.

“Hey,” he murmured.

The boy was shivering, and tears rolled down his face from swollen, red-rimmed eyes.

Jacob took out his badge, laid it on the floor, and slid it across to the boy. “It’s okay. I’m a policeman. My name’s Jacob.” He watched as the boy tentatively leaned forward and looked at the badge. “Are you Ben?”

The boy nodded. “Where’s my dad?” His voice shook as much as he was.

“We’re trying to find him now.” Jacob offered a hand. “Do you want to come out? You don’t need to stay in there.”

“Dad told me to stay here.” Ben wrapped his arms tighter around his legs. “He told me to, until he came to get me.”

“I know.” Jacob knelt and sat back on his heels. “We want him to come and get you, too, Ben, but right now, I think he’d want you to be safe, don’t you? How about we keep you safe?”

“P-promise?”

Jacob nodded. “Promise.”

Ben got unsteadily to his feet. His trousers were sodden, and there was vomit on the front of his shirt. The poor kid must have been terrified. Jacob knelt up, offering both his hands, and Ben’s icy fingers wrapped around his.

“There you go,” Jacob said as gently as he could, drawing Ben back out. “You’re safe now.”

The little boy gave a sob and stumbled forward and wrapped his arms around Jacob’s neck, clinging to him. Jacob scooped him up and rose to his feet with the boy in his arms. He rubbed his hand in circles on Ben’s back.

“You’re okay,” he murmured. “You’re okay.”

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Meet the Author

C.B. Lewis has been making up nonsense since she was able to talk. Now, she puts it into computers and turns it into books. She is chuffed to bits to officially be yet another one of the collective of authors from Edinburgh. Find C.B. Lewis on Facebook.

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