And the mysterious Order of the Golden Dawn have big plans for their newest ankou and his deathly bandalore.
Life as a servant of death has its challenges.
But the biggest one of all is Silas’s daemonic guardian, Pitch.
He may look like heaven, but he’s making Silas's life all kinds of hell.
The daemon is arrogant, egotistical and his appetite for violence and tea cakes is fast outgrowing the small village where they have been recuperating since their run-in with Black Annis.
Now, the increasingly unstable Blight is causing new havoc, and fresh monstrosities are emerging.
Pitch and Sickle are back in the saddle, and on their way to the haunted Forest of Dean.
But can Silas rely on his guardian’s protection?
Or will Pitch prove to be the most dangerous encounter of all?
The second installment pretty much picks up where the first book ended. Silas, our reluctant hero, a newly arisen Ankou, who can see troubled spirits and lay them to rest, is slowly healing from his most recent battle. His relationship with his guardian, daemon Tobias, is still quite fragile, often with Silas being the whipping boy for Tobias foul mood.
Overall, I enjoyed this second installment as some questions were answered, mainly dealing with Tobias’s mysterious past and why he’s been banished to the human realm, but also in the works is a greater conspiracy that involves evil causing trouble in the unlikeliest of places. Just know that everything about this series is S-L-O-W. The reveals, the character development, the romance (still just anxious lusty feelings that one tries to deny while the other tries to aggressively incite). Silas is very much tentative in his role of fighting evil spirits, but he’s sticking up for himself a bit more despite being stymied often with the mysteries of his unknown former life and his irrational fears. Tobias continues to be an absolute unapologetic profligate, but one can see that his sharp, often antagonistic caustic personality is just his protective mechanism, and it will be quite interesting to see how his walls crumble.
This is labeled as gaslamp fantasy, but it’s literally historic paranormal horror intermixed with all sorts of creatures who have villainous hidden agendas who treat humanity as their playthings, while the still mysterious Order of the Dawn tries to mitigate this sinister manipulation. Mix that with the slowest of all slow burns and you’ve got a solid, rich AU with plenty of flawed characters who fight the good fight and who hopefully will find redemption and happiness along the way!
Life as a servant of death has its challenges. But the biggest one of all is Silas’s daemonic guardian, Pitch.
Blurb
Silas Mercer is a dead man walking.
And the mysterious Order of the Golden Dawn have big plans for their newest ankou and his deathly bandalore.
Life as a servant of death has its challenges.
But the biggest one of all is Silas’s daemonic guardian, Pitch.
He may look like heaven, but he’s making Silas's life all kinds of hell.
The daemon is arrogant, egotistical and his appetite for violence and tea cakes is fast outgrowing the small village where they have been recuperating since their run-in with Black Annis.
Now, the increasingly unstable Blight is causing new havoc, and fresh monstrosities are emerging.
Pitch and Sickle are back in the saddle, and on their way to the haunted Forest of Dean.
But can Silas rely on his guardian’s protection?
Or will Pitch prove to be the most dangerous encounter of all?
BOOK 3
Book Title: The Skriker - Pitch & Sickle Book Three
Length: 369 pages
Release Date: October 20, 2021
Genres: MM Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Silas Mercer has faced wily boggarts, mad faerie queens and enraged forest spirits. But can he withstand a daemon who is losing his mind?
Blurb
Silas Mercer has faced wily boggarts, mad faerie queens and enraged forest spirits.
But can he withstand a daemon who is losing his mind?
Pitch and Sickle are left bruised, battered and reeling after their confrontation with the Verderer.
They have learned a startling truth behind the arrowhead that wounded Silas, a truth that must be taken to the Lady Satine and the Order without delay.
But his encounters in the Forest of Dean have effected Pitch in alarming ways. The daemon’s body may have healed but his erratic behaviour and wildly unpredictable temper grow ever more concerning.
Silas owes his life to Pitch. Their experience in the forest has brought them a closeness he could not have imagined possible.
But what can he do for a daemon who is losing his way?
And how long will Silas survive, if he must ride alone?
BOOK 4
Book Title: The Greensward - Pitch & Sickle Book Four
Length: 412 pages
Release Date: April 13, 2022
Genres: MM Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
The Lady’s Horsemen are riding out once more. Carrying death’s scythe to where tormented souls linger.
But what awaits them in a world where divine magick has returned?
Blurb
The Lady’s Horsemen are riding out once more. Carrying death’s scythe to where tormented souls linger.
But what awaits them in a world where divine magick has returned?
Pitch is recovered from the injuries he received in the Forest of Dean, and Silas won’t soon forget the part he played in setting his guardian back on his feet.
The ankou and the daemon have been reunited in a most unexpected and intimate way, but barely have they caught their breath when a new threat arises.
A tortured spirit is frightening both the living and the dead along the roads of Devon.
But is this soul a monster that must be stopped, or another pawn in the necromancer’s mysterious game?
With Azazel’s magick re-emerging after hundreds of years, maleficium plagues the world once more. But who is wielding the forbidden arcane magick of the angels?
Do they work alone?
And why are they so intent on harassing the Lady’s Horsemen?
Silas has never felt stronger, or more determined to live up to the Order’s high expectations. He’s faced the walking dead, outwitted the enchanted Hall, and gained an ally in the skriker.
But he’s not sure he’s equipped to handle his growing attraction to a troubled daemon.
And Silas fears that getting any closer to Pitch and his tragic secrets may prove as dangerous as the monsters they are riding to face.
Excerpt from ‘The Bandalore-Pitch & Sickle Book One’
A rather pretty gentleman, sharp featured, pale and fine, stepped into the room with a flourish of raised hands. His tousled light brown hair was wild about his shoulders, and his eyes so green it was as though emeralds had been pressed into the sockets. ‘Let the amusements begin…or should I say…continue.’
His velvet coat, a red almost as bold as the woman’s lips, was unbuttoned, revealing a black shirt with a silver brocade of Chinese dragons upon it. An elaborate ruffling of silk tumbled from the collar and covered a good portion of his chest. His choice of trousers was equally curious, a rather outdated fall-front style in black silk.
The baron groaned, but his smile was ever-present. ‘Good god, man, we thought you two would never be done.’
‘Perfection takes time, does it not?’
‘Take your seat, you rascal, and stop your showmanship, at least just for a moment.’
Silas scratched his right palm absently, attempting to stymie the prickle. Like many things about himself he wasn’t certain of his age, his late twenties was likely, much the same as the man who had just swept into the room.
Mr Astaroth tilted his head, pursing lips that held a near-perfect Cupid’s bow. ‘Am I to stand aside so another showman can perform?’
‘Exactly,’ the baron declared.
As Mr Astaroth made his way to his seat with his companion, he had a notable effect on those in attendance. The ladies all at once seemed incapable of deciding how they should adjust their gowns upon their seats, and the men were equally as fidgety. All of them were fixated on Mr Astaroth’s procession across the room. The man had not spared Silas a glance yet, even when he was deriding him, and Silas had no issue with that at all. He was not sure he’d enjoy the pierce of those green eyes upon him. But he could not deny there was indeed something mesmerising about the lad, the sway of his hips, the coiled tension in his body that gave the impression he might suddenly leap unannounced in any direction.
Mr Astaroth stopped to take a glass of champagne from the tray offered by a somewhat flustered young footman. The liquid wobbled in its crystal confines, and the boy’s eyes darted so quickly between the floor and the man before him, it was as though he’d lost control of his eyeballs.
‘Thank you, kind sir. What a wonderful job you do.’ Mr Astaroth’s smile was discomfortingly suggestive, his whispered appreciation of the boy’s offering far too intimate, and the serving boy nearly stumbled over his own feet to move away.
Mr Astaroth was slender, not remarkable in height, and the angles of his face were delicate to the point of being feminine, but he held a presence that quite overwhelmed the room. Silas’s gaze moved down the length of the man’s body to his feet. He wore heeled boots, which meant he was shorter than first impressions allowed. The glean of polished leather distracted Silas from what became startlingly obvious a moment later. He tensed and closed his eyes a second, as though that might change things. But alas it was not to be.
The ground at Tobias Astaroth’s feet held no shadow.
Whoever this man was, he was not, for all intents and purposes, human. Silas took hold of the arms of the chair, filled with the sudden desire to depart. No one had thought to instruct him on an encounter such as this.
‘Stop frightening the help and get your arse on a chair,’ declared the bespectacled man at Silas’s left. ‘We know how you hate to have attention diverted from you, so do try and behave, Pitch old boy.’
Evidently the group knew the man well enough to have endowed him with a nickname. Silas could only imagine its origins.
‘Oh Brenton,’ Victoria, Mr Astaroth’s companion, said. ‘As far as I’m concerned, Tobias has been on his best behaviour all evening.’ She had taken her seat and leaned her elbows upon the table, utterly at ease.
‘Thank you, my dear,’ Mr Astaroth said. ‘You are as sensible as you are extremely talented in the art of, what were we calling it? Tarot reading.’ He tilted his glass towards her before turning to Silas. The air quite vanished from Silas’s lungs beneath the daggers of his emerald stare. ‘How very nice to make your acquaintance, Mr Mercer. I do hope we are in for a wonderful show.’
Book 5 - Coming Soon - October 20, 2022
The Fulbourn - Pitch & Sickle Book Five: The Diabolus Chronicles
When the King of Daemonkind comes to call, be ready for hell to follow.
After Lucifer’s disturbing visit, the quest to destroy the Blight takes on a desperate urgency.
Finding Lieutenant Edward Charters is paramount.
But what role does a mortal man play in Seraphiel’s dangerous game?
The angel has sent Pitch a talisman from beyond the grave, a seemingly innocuous watch that may be the key to ending the Watcher King’s dark legacy. But to learn its secret Pitch and Silas must find the man intended to carry it.
As the search for the lieutenant begins, the Horsemen find themselves gifted with something more precious than any angelic token. An evening of unexpected freedom. A night that will deepen their intimacy and bring long-stifled feelings to the fore.
But what price will they pay for choosing breathless pleasure over rigid duty?
The Morrigan have not forgiven the destruction at the greensward. They are prepared to do whatever it takes to rid themselves of the Horsemen and heed the Watcher King's ghostly call.
The Fulbourn is Pitch and Silas's greatest threat yet. A place that will drive them into the depths of their most terrible fears and seek to tear them apart.
They are closer than ever before but will that fragile new bond be enough to save them? Or have the daemon prince and his ankou found the nemesis that will destroy them once and for all?
The Diabolus Chronicles is a slow-burn MM Gaslamp Fantasy series that contains on-page sex scenes, gore and violence, and rather a lot of cursing.
This is the fifth book in the on-going series.
About the Author
Danielle K Girl is an Aussie who lives in stunning Tasmania with her three furkids, cats Luffy, Sweetie and Ren.
Her idea of heaven is a farm full of rescue animals, with a vegie garden that sprouts peanut M&M’s and chocolate wheaten biscuits.
When she’s not keyboard-deep in mysterious, beguiling worlds, she is binge watching K-Dramas, listening to K-Pop or hiking through the beautiful Tasmanian wilderness.
1885 London, England
Silas Mercer died once. He’d rather not do it again.
On his return to the world of the living, Silas finds himself in the hands of the mysterious Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
The Order has London society clamouring for their services, with tarot readings, seances and exorcisms among their arcane specialities.
Now they seem intent on making Silas their newest recruit.
But they want far more from him than cheap parlour tricks.
When the Order partners him with the scandalous rake, Tobias Astaroth, Silas's new life is turned on its head in more ways than one.
Tobias is quick-tempered, dangerously charming, and far more than the man he seems.
For Silas, surviving what the Order has planned for him will be a challenge.
But finding a way to survive Tobias Astaroth could prove impossible.
This is my first official gaslamp fantasy - a trope that’s typically set in Victorian or Edwardian times and where the existence of the supernatural is known. I liken it as a fancy term for magical historical alternate universe. Regardless, if this sounds enticing to you, I doubt this story will disappoint.
This starts out with Silas, newly awakened from the dead with no memories of his past life. All he knows is that he’s technically been given a second chance by the Order of the Dawn, a mysterious group that supposedly fights supernatural evil. Silas has officially been promoted to a member of this exclusive “club”, but no one is telling him anything, and he’s pretty much thrown into the deep end to see if he sinks or swims when it comes to manifesting any abilities.
Well… it looks like the guy can see, interact, and put to rest spirits, and Silas is quickly put onto the Order’s roster of appointments to investigate and handle potential nefarious situations.
There’s just one snag. Silas finds himself unceremoniously paired with Tobias Asteroff, blatant unapologetic hedonist who has a very mysterious past, along with unclear reasons why he’s saddled with the Order and why he must do as they bid. It’s an incongruent and unharmonious pairing, but neither has a choice in the matter.
What I will say about this book is that it has an intriguing start. The Order and its objective remain to be seen. There’s religious undertones that have been given new meaning, and this promises plenty of magic and supernatural beings that all have yet to be fully revealed. I will also say that this develops at quite the slow pace with only a few scenes of intense action with a good dose of horror at the end. Silas truly is a fumbling insecure gentle giant which might endear most but also aggravate others, and I often found him lacking in ”oomph” where Tobias is all bad boy brimstone with an undeniably charming facade and a mean streak of carelessness to go with it. Such a contrast between two people forced to work together is admittedly, interesting enough to see how this develops into love. Be forewarned, there’s not a hint of romance in this first installment yet - only snippets of lusty thoughts.
Overall, well written with character flaws that subtracted some points from me personally. However again, if you like supernatural historical MM, then I do think this garners checking out. Hope you enjoy!
Author D.K. Girl and Gay Book Promotions make a blog tour stop for The Bandalore (Pitch & Sickle #1) from The Diabolus Chronicles 1! Read more and enter in the $10 Amazon gift card giveaway!
BLOG TOUR
Book Title: The Bandalore - Pitch & Sickle Book One
(An MM Gaslamp Fantasy Series) (The Diabolus Chronicles 1)
Author: D K Girl
Cover Artist: Deranged Doctor Designs
Release Date: February 25, 2021
Book 4 in the series is due out April 13
Genre: Historical MM
Tropes: Slow, slow burn, opposites attract
Themes: Loneliness and friendship
Heat Rating: 2 flames
Length: 285 pages
It is not a standalone book. This is the first book in the Gaslamp Fantasy series, The Diabolus Chronicles.
It has an unresolved storyline, rather than outright cliffhanger.
Silas Mercer died once. He’d rather not do it again.
Blurb
1885 London, England
Silas Mercer died once. He’d rather not do it again.
On his return to the world of the living, Silas finds himself in the hands of the mysterious Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
The Order has London society clamouring for their services, with tarot readings, seances and exorcisms among their arcane specialities.
Now they seem intent on making Silas their newest recruit.
But they want far more from him than cheap parlour tricks.
When the Order partners him with the scandalous rake, Tobias Astaroth, Silas's new life is turned on its head in more ways than one.
Tobias is quick-tempered, dangerously charming, and far more than the man he seems.
For Silas, surviving what the Order has planned for him will be a challenge.
But finding a way to survive Tobias Astaroth could prove impossible.
A slow-burn MM Gaslamp Fantasy series.
Contains: Sexual content, violence and rather a lot of cursing.
This is the first book in the thrilling Gaslamp Fantasy series, The Diabolus Chronicles
Excerpt
Mr Astaroth was clearly drunk. Reason perhaps why he failed to be wearing any shoes. Silas noted the large brown stain upon the white of his linen shirt with great consternation. The mark appeared not dissimilar to blood. His dark trousers bore a tear at his right thigh, and the material at his knees was notably caked with dirt.
Gilmore cried out, more pain in the sound this time. ‘You’re breaking my leg, you bastard.’
Silas looked to the bandalore, hoping there might be a musical direction sung to him. But the wood was quiet. He should go to the man’s assistance, Silas needed no magical trinket to tell him so. Man, or gnome, Gilmore was in clear distress. But Silas hesitated.
‘Dear me, do you think I would truly do such a thing?’ Tobias’s words got away from him, slipping and sliding from his intoxicated tongue. A shadow curved around his right eye, a rising bruise.
‘I know you would,’ Gilmore hollered. ‘You crave harm more than your cock craves fucking.’
With no warning, Tobias landed a punch against Gilmore’s belly. Half-hearted as it was, it at last spurred Silas from his reticence. He took a step forward.
‘Now, see here-‘
‘Tobias! Set him down, now.’ Jane moved across the green, clad in a nightgown of the most delicate white lace. Combined with her airy way of moving, it was as though a ghost rushed towards them. ‘Now, Pitch. I will not ask you again.’
The man’s smile was a cruel slash across his damaged face. ‘As you wish. Catch him if you can.’
He lowered Gilmore and seemed certain to set him down, albeit on his head, but at the very last moment, he drew back his arm and swung the frantic Gilmore straight up into the air. Without an ounce of effort apparent, Tobias’s throw sent the screaming, kicking man skyward. Soaring higher even than Silas’s cottage roof.
‘Help me!’
Gilmore seemed to hang in the air for a moment. His scream curdled the blood.
‘Gilmore!’ Silas dashed in beneath the unfortunate gnome, seeking to position himself so he might catch Gilmore when he fell. A dangerous notion, considering the speed of descent, but the man would surely suffer grievous injury otherwise. Silas glanced at the grinning man at his side. The viciousness that simmered within Tobias Astaroth’s emerald eyes was breathtaking.
‘Stop!’ Jane’s command came with a rush of violent wind. A great force swept past Silas, lifting the hairs on his head. The gust swept in beneath the tumbling Gilmore, and at once his downward journey halted in a dead stop in midair. The gnome sobbed, hanging limp against his invisible support, drifting slowly down, a leaf upon a gentle breeze.
‘Why must you ruin my fun?’ Tobias folded his arms, staring hard at Jane as she approached, a pout upon his full lips.
The sun drifted from behind a cloud, its rays setting his eyes alight once more, and marking the pronounced angles of his face. Despite his notable injuries, his odd beauty, accentuated by bowed lips and long dark lashes, was still evident. Rather captivating, if Silas were honest, but he’d just now glimpsed a ferocity beneath the delicate exterior which lent it a certain ugliness.
About the Author
Danielle K Girl is an Aussie who lives in stunning Tasmania with her three furkids, cats Luffy, Sweetie and Ren.
Her idea of heaven is a farm full of rescue animals, with a vegie garden that sprouts peanut M&M’s and chocolate wheaten biscuits.
When she’s not keyboard-deep in mysterious, beguiling worlds, she is binge watching K-Dramas, listening to K-Pop or hiking through the beautiful Tasmanian wilderness.
