Showing posts with label Kelly Wyre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kelly Wyre. Show all posts

Review: Breaker (Exile #1) by Kelly Wyre & A.F. Henley

In the wake of several near-cataclysmic events, humanity created the Cure, a DNA-altering antidote to death by disease and old age. But all cures come with side effects: a small percentage of the population develops a wide range of powers, some of which are lethal to others, and some which are lethal to the wielder.

These people are called the Estranged, hunted and shunned, safe only on the Island of Exile. It is here that Kaeva and Eddie meet—and where they set a prophecy in motion, quite possibly sealing their own demise, and even the end of Exile.








I have a thing for psychic abilities. I think it was created by my thirteen year old self reading Carrie for the first time, while on a backpacking trip with my school.

Authors who can dream up cool abilities, and how they can manifest rarely disappoint me.

This story was cool. There were a lot of fun abilities, and names for the abilities, and I became absorbed in this story from chapter one.

Kaeva is a loner on the island, Exile, and has been tasked with taking care of a new intake. Because of his unpredictable ability, he isolates himself to the farthest part of the island, and is not happy about having to take care of the new person, whom no one actually knows, but one of the island founders has dreamed about.

Eddie has dreams of ending it all. He has a plan and intends to play it out on an island home his uncle left for him in his Will. On his way, an emergency happens and he ends up on a journey to an unknown place. He has no issues with this, as it is a final adventure before the big sleep.

When Kaeva meets Eddie he is less than impressed, and with Eddie’s ability not obvious, and considered weak, Kaeva does not understand why Eddie wants to kill himself.

There is a fair amount of heaviness with Eddie’s suicidal ideations, and I caution readers who may be triggered by this. Eddie isn’t depressed, per se, but he is feeling useless, alone, and fearful. His mind picks things up that he cannot control, he has never been in contact with anyone else who Estranged, and he hasn’t been able to connect with anyone normal.

This story isn’t so much about Eddie’s suicide mission, as it is about Kaeva and Eddie learning to connect. Kaeva has had very few good experiences being around people, and it is difficult for him to be around Eddie without worrying he will kill him.

But as the story progresses, the connection and communication grows, until they are at ease with each other in a way they have never been with anyone else. I found that both had really lovely personalities, as different as they were, and managed to find some happy as they learned about each other.

I’m excited about this series. I enjoyed this book a lot. The world building was thorough, but leaving enough for more stories to follow. I hope the authors run with this, and that they have more to tell from this world.

This is not an action adventure, but more about a group of people living with abilities that can be harmful to themselves and/or others, and making a life for themselves, away from the rest of civilisation.

I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi, specifically genetic mutations, with psychic abilities.

Find on Goodreads!

Missed the Breaker tour stop? See here

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Breaker (Exile Vol. 1) by A.F. Henley & Kelly Wyre



Welcome A.F. Henley and Kelly Wyre to the stable for their Breaker (Exile Vol. 1) Blog Tour! The authors have jam packed today's tour stop with book info, an interview and TWO giveaways - comment on the post AND enter Rafflecopter! Good luck!




Welcome to the Breaker (Exile, Volume 1) Blog Tour and Giveaway! We're both super excited about this new release and thrilled to be able to share it with you. Throughout this tour, we're going to be introducing many of the characters within, and associated with, Exile's bizarre shores, as well as introducing Exile itself. Then we're going to top that off with a quick little teaser.


However, before we get into any of that we wanted to remind you that we've got a couple of awesome giveaways going along with the tour so be sure to read through to the end to find out how you could win either a Silver-plated Starfish Anklet (just by leaving a single comment!), or the grand prize of a signed, print copy of Breaker, a coordinates bracelet with the Believe. Seek. Prove. reminder so you can always find your way back to the island of Exile, and a $20 gift certificate to the Less Than Three Press book market.


Kelly Wyre: ‘sup, yo. Let’s do this.


AF Henley: Waaaay too much enthusiasm.


KW: It’s the coffee. All three pots of it.


AFH: I weep for your kidneys. Also? I’ll see your three pots and raise you one.


KW: ...go...you?


The Character Discussion


KW: ANYWAY… About ‘dem characters. Let’s see… who we got today… Oh yes. Lake Perricone.


AFH: That sounds so adorably like petticoat.


KW: Ah… well… I’m not sure he’s… Well. I mean… maybe if Oberon asked… nicely? And bribed him? With… I don’t even know. Let’s just get away from that mental image, now, yes?


AFH: Always with the wrecking of the fun...


KW: I’m here to destroy your dreams. One at a time. But yes. Lake is awesome. Fun fact: he and Oberon are two of what we call “Naturals.” Meaning, they had abilities BEFORE the Cure did funky things to their genome. And then the Cure happened and they got super-sized abilities.


AFH: So, like, magic, yes? That would explain his eyes. The cute smile. The--did I mention I really like this character?


KW: You may have… Maybe.


The Teaser


Oberon and Lake had already made names for themselves as men who'd help those people on the fringes of society. Now they had dozens of people from the sick, weak, and dying to the newly powerful and terrified showing up on their doorstep with nowhere else to go and a government recruiting van on their heels.
Desperately trying to cope with an angry, grieving lover while keeping his own power out of government sight, Oberon got in touch with a man he knew from the healing circles as Miracle Jones. Miracle was a rich, paranoid nut who owned an island and kept it heavily fortified. Miracle agreed to rent his island to people Oberon and Lake were trying to help in exchange for Oberon moving there too and keeping Miracle forever young. Oberon agreed, and he and Lake began transporting Estranged who were well enough to travel to the island.
They thought they were being careful. They thought wrong.
By the time the shelter got raided for "dangerous unregistered persons," Lake and Oberon had managed to get almost one hundred people to Miracle. There were still dozens of people in the shelter, and they, along with Oberon and Lake, were taken into custody "for their own safety."
While in custody, Lake was forced to take the Cure. He became Cure sick, and the guards watched, passively, waiting to see what would happen on the other side if Lake survived.
Oberon was similarly unlucky. The arresting officers had seen Oberon's skills at work when they'd raided the shelter that had spontaneously and specifically caught on fire. They suspected he was one of the rarest of the rare—an Estranged who could use his Estrangement without tiring. They did everything in their power to get Oberon to show them what he could do. Oberon still carried some of the scars, refusing to burn them away. "A constant reminder," he'd say if one asked and he felt like answering. "Of why I fight."
Eventually, Oberon and Lake were released into a type of protective custody that was similar to house arrest. It didn't last long. The guards thought they were protected from Oberon's power. They weren't. Oberon didn't talk about what he'd done to get them out, but the question was never if he'd killed his captors but instead how many had Oberon gone through to get himself and Lake out of harm's way.
They had fled south and had been the first two Estranged to make the swim to Miracle's island. By the time they had arrived, though, Miracle was already dying. He'd taken the Cure hoping it'd enhance his abilities. Instead, it killed him. Oberon did what he could, but the Cure's sickness was too strong.
Miracle had left the island and everything he had to Oberon in his will, and together with Lake, they founded Exile.


Breaker (Exile Volume 1)
Copyright © 2017 by Kelly Wyre and A.F. Henley



Blurb




In the wake of several near-cataclysmic events, humanity created the Cure, a DNA-altering antidote to death by disease and old age. But all cures come with side effects: a small percentage of the population develops a wide range of powers, some of which are lethal to others, and some which are lethal to the wielder.


These people are called the Estranged, hunted and shunned, safe only on the Island of Exile. It is here that Kaeva and Eddie meet—and where they set a prophecy in motion, quite possibly sealing their own demise, and even the end of Exile.


Genre: Gay, Urban Fantasy


Notes: contains some explicit content and includes thoughts and discussions of past and potential suicide








On behalf of the tour, please join one, or both of our giveaways.


Simply leave a comment below to be entered into a random giveaway for a silver-plated starfish anklet (and whatever else we can stuff into the envelope). Winner will be selected by random number at the close of the grand prize giveaway, one winner per blog post.


Also, enter the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win a signed, print copy of Breaker, a coordinates and message bracelet, and a $20 gift certificate to the Less Than Three Press book market.


For all the terms and conditions, please check out the t's and c's posted on the Rafflecopter.


** Please note the grand prize giveaway is being offered tour-wide and there will be one winner awarded for the entire event.





a Rafflecopter giveaway


A great big thank you to Boy Meets Boy Reviews for hosting us today, and another to you for joining in on the fun. Best of luck with the giveaway and we hope you enjoyed the post!


Until next time,


Kelly Wyre and AF Henley <3




About the Authors


Kelly Wyre enjoys reading and writing all manner of fiction, ranging from horror to romance. She used to work in advertising but is now happily chained to her writing desk and laptop. Kelly relishes the soft and cuddly and the sharp and bloody with equal amounts of enthusiasm. She's a coffee addict, a workaholic, a chronic night owl, and loves a good thunderstorm. Currently Kelly resides in the southeastern United States.


Connect with Kelly!


❧ Website ❧ Blog  ❧ Twitter ❧ Facebook ❧ Fan Page ❧ Google Plus
❧ Tumblr – NSFW! ❧ Pinterest ❧ Amazon Author Page ❧ Goodreads


Henley was born with a full-blown passion for run-on sentences, a zealous indulgence in all words descriptive, and the endearing tendency to overuse punctuation. Since the early years Henley has been an enthusiastic writer, from the first few I-love-my-dog stories to the current leap into erotica. A self-professed Google genius, Henley lives for the hours spent digging through the Internet for ‘research purposes’ which, more often than not, lead seven thousand miles away from first intentions but bring Henley to new discoveries and ideas that, once seeded, tend to flourish. Henley has been proudly publishing with Less Than Three Press since 2012.


Connect with Henley


♥ Website  ♥ Twitter  ♥ Facebook  ♥ Amazon Author Page

♥ Google Plus  ♥ Tumblr – NSFW!  ♥ Instagram  ♥ Goodreads

Guest Review: Blood Embrace Anthology


Vampires have become the ultimate erotic figure in paranormal literature, but the creatures in "Blood Embrace" are more than just pretty immortals who suck the blood from their victims or companions. This anthology showcases M/M short stories that have unique ideas in the vampire genre, taking them beyond their traditional settings and extravagance. No angst-ridden "sparklepires" or caped Transylvanians who "never drink... wine" here! These tales show off the new and wonderful things that can be done with this tried and true erotic theme.

Bryan is living a normal, suburban life, worried about his cholesterol and whether eating shredded cardboard cereal for breakfast is worth the trouble. Then came the visions. Horrific, bloody scenes pound his mind, and Bryan's life begins to crumble around him as he loses his grip on reality. Only when he has sunk nearly as low as a man can go does the demon, Jonathan, appear to him to tell Bryan that he has been the source of his ruined life, all in preparation for this moment. Now he must "Choose", become Jonathan's loyal sex slave and blood slut, or be sunk forever into the madness. Then, when the vampires rose to ascendancy, some humans fled into the wild, called Freemen among their communities and "Feral" by the vampires and those who stayed to serve them. Mouse is a feral, and when he breaks into house in the woods, he thinks he's getting nothing more than food to keep him going. What he finds instead is Orrin, a vampire whose seductive grace and unexpected kindness make Mouse want to be caught.

Mike is a starving artist whose popular fantasy art keeps him alive while he strives for his true goal: placement in a prominent gallery. And when he uses red lamps to create his "Red Filter" series, he knows he's more inspired than he's ever been. Unfortunately, he's also suffering, and as his art comes together, his health falls apart. It's all the fault of the creature who stalks his dreams and haunts the edges of his vision while he paints, and once Mike realizes it, he finds a way to pull David, a psychic vampire, into his own reality... and under his power. Finally, for years, Hyde has had one unassailable mission: find the demon that lured his twin and fellow Catholic priest, Samuel, away from God. But when the monster is finally within his grasp, even the power of God and His holy symbols may not be enough to save Hyde from the vampire's wicked words and seductive secrets "Of The Flesh".


Choose by Kelly Wyre - 2 Hearts
This started off strange and got no less strange as it went on. I wish I could give a comprehensive review of this story, but to be quite frank, I have no idea what happened or what I just read.

There are some small moments of great writing, and in general the writing isn't bad, it was just completely and utterly confusing. Toss in misspelling the MC's name early on and the fact that it left me without any impression, and that's unfortunately why I can't give this story in particular a higher rating.

Feral by Katya Harris - 4 Hearts
Mouse's hunger drives him to do some unthinkable things, like sneak into the house of a vampire lord not long before sunset. For years he's being trying to avoid being caught, but when it's Orrin who catches him, that all changes.

I actually really enjoyed this one. The story starts off with some great detailed writing and I felt a sense of place that is so important to me when reading. I also love the idea of the setting - a future where the world is ruled by vampires and there are humans who are still rebelling. My kind of storyline.

The one thing I was unsure about was Alex. As an individual character, I did enjoy him, but when put with Mouse... yeah, no. He bothered me then. But overall, a great read that I'd actually read more of.

Red Filter by D.K. Jernigan - 3 Hearts
Mike is a starving artist (sometimes literally) who has worked hard to get his art in a gallery and finally gets his big break. But lately he's been drained, exhausted and ill. Between seizures and startling dreams, there's more to what is eating his energy than meets the eye.

So this started off quite good. I love the idea of a vampire that feeds off of energy, and I thought it had a lot of potential. I also adored the description of Mike painting. It really gave a bit of insight into the tortured process of creating art. And there was a nice little dash of humor.

But, the ending lost me. Between David referring to Mike as his Maestro and the strange reaction David has to drinking coffee and such... I was just a bit lost. Also, I felt that the dream sequence was a bit too much like the one we had in the first story and it felt repetitive.

In general this was a good start, but it stumbled a bit toward the end.

Of the Flesh by S.L. Armstrong & K. Piet - 3 Hearts
Hyde's been desperately seeking his twin brothers corrupter for years, following the vampire from city to city. When he finally finds what he's been looking for, it may just be more than he planned for.

This is more of what I expected when I thought of an anthology of vampire stories. This was dark in some areas, much more of a horror theme than all the others. Unfortunately, it really was just pretty much one scene in a story that could grow into something so much more.

The writing was pretty good, but where this faltered for me was with the copious amount of scripture. It's not that I have a problem with it, but there was truly so much of it that I was just overwhelmed. I ended up skimming much of those sections, were quite a bit. Again, this was a good start, but it left something to be desired, which I think is just a common symptom of many short stories.

For more information on Goodreads or Booklikes!