Talon P.S.'s Blog, page 36

BOOKS & COZY SPOTS BOOK REVIEWS ~ Keeping His Destiny by Princess so & Talon ps

 5 ~ Stars!
Review of ~ KEEPING HIS DESTINY by Princess so & Talon ps
(Copy was provide by Princess so for honest)

Post-Apocalyptic / Dark Fantasy / Graphic Content / 18+
Reviewed by Terry ~ for Books ‘N Cozy Spots Book Reviews, www.Talon-ps.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What does any survivor of a planetary holocaust want— but to survive.
Not long after Terra’s surface flipped, the Generals of Martial Law meant to protect, instead, declare themselves Lords, their gains carved out with a trail of blood, fear plays a price in surviving. That’s when the Keepers of Destiny came up with a plan—

The Symbiotai: an ethereal being more liquid light than body, brought knowledge and heightened skills to its host to help the survivor colonies to not just survive but rebuild. But what was meant to be hope was met with fear. For things meant for good can also be manipulated to become even worse weapons. And it was for this reason the call for their execution was made.
After the change, The Keepers saw the Symbiote created— the following generations saw to it they were exterminated. Now, only a few remain and Aari may very well be the last Breeder of their kind. So in order to protect her, They hid her, right under everyone’s noses— within the very military detail designed to hunt her kind down.
However it is not her destiny to bring down the Blood Lords. That destiny belongs to one man from the Northern Tribes, Tannin.

But he will need Aari’s gift and perhaps something else he wasn’t counting on to succeed.

Surviving in the ruins of a world long since turned on its ear, hope for change may be fable, but one man is destined to change that.

However, he needs the gift of one Symbiote woman to succeed, and the journey that will convince her to agree will not come easy—

—for either of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you think a story in the Post-Apocalyptic genre isn’t your thing think again. These stories contain action, adventure, suspense, paranormal and a touch of romance just like in the movies Dante’s Peak and True Lies. LOL This genre has something for everyone.

I can tell you if the world Princess SO built in this story comes to pass, I’m toast! Princess SO has used her skill and knowledge of the written word to create a world you can see as you read. Not just the physical world but the people who are living in it. Here is where I will let you know Princess SO has done her homework on not only the dark ages but the dark side of humanity. It is amazing the feats one can accomplish to survive. At the same time it is also mind blowing the things people will do to each other because of fear or because they feel they can get away with it. Don’t get me wrong here; this story is not all doom and gloom. It is about one mans destiny. A destiny foretold by a seer at the time of Tannin’s birth, one of change for the better. But destinies can be affected by choice, either your own or by those around you. So if your destiny is to obtain a read that will keep you on the edge of your seat and take you to an apocalyptic future, choose Keeping His Destiny.
Princess SO often gives us treats with her books; snippets from her other stories or something from the story – remembers some tasty cheesy popcorn. This time although her story takes us to the future her book takes us to the past. Do you remember the books that not only gave you a glossary but also a map of the terrain in the story? Yes that is our treat this time! I don’t think she will mind me spilling that tid bit. *grins* It isn’t like I’m spilling how Tannin escapes Skaddary Militia Base prison or what happen when Tannin and Aari meet up with some of the men of the Bedouin Tribes, or what happens to Aari when she is ….. , or what the Keepers of Destiny do to get……
Yep you want to read this story *wink*
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KEEPING HIS DESTINY also received the following ratings:
HEAT FACTOR ~ 1 Flames

TWIST FACTOR ~ 3 Gruesome Cringes and some eerie haunting beauty to boost
  
TWIST FACTOR ~ several choices and consequences this reader would prefer to never have to face.

 

Its Hhhhhhhhot with ManCandy Mondays

 

BOOKS & COZY SPOTS BOOK REVIEWS ~ Naughty Bits Part III: Bound to Please by Joey W. Hill

5 ~Stars!

Review of NAUGHTY BITS PART III: BOUND TO PLEASE, by Joey W. Hill

(Copy was provide by Joey Hill for Honest review however reviewer also Purchased on Amazon)

Reviewed by Jaycee ~ for Books ‘N Cozy Spots Book Reviews, www.Talon-ps.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After inheriting her sister’s North Carolina lingerie shop, Madison is discovering how delicious it can be to lose control…

thanks to her master’s exquisite skills. Logan is committed to awakening Madison’s long buried desires, and after he shows her the depths of ecstasy they can reach with a little bit of roleplay, he’s ready to take her to the next level.

But when Madison’s old fears resurface, Logan grows wary of pushing her too far too fast. He can sense just how deeply she longs for release from past regrets, but what surprises him the most is the intense yearning his innocent new sub is awakening in him. Now Logan must decide to what lengths he’ll go to convince Madison to give herself over completely…

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Madison’s journey continues:

Through open, honest conversation with Logan, combined with a couple of life experiences with customers, Madison is learning to parse through the white noise in her life and get to the substance that is in her heart; to trust it, to trust Logan and to trust herself.

Part of Logan’s therapeutic approach if you will, was to let Madison explore all of her sides, her curiosities about herself, so that she could finally see for herself the true nature of her character, and of her very being. Through a staged exploration of her control-side with Troy as her sub and Logan and Shale as her mentors, she discovered her thoughts and her very being were strongly associated with being Troy, with being in his place at that moment and all moments, and under the command and protection of her Master.

…“You wanted to try the other side, and you enjoyed it.” A rueful look crossed his face. “I won’t say it was enjoyable for me to watch you touch another man, though I did enjoy watching how you had fun with it, the revelations you made. But at a certain point, you crossed the line between fun and something deeper. I saw the click. You not only picked up on the deeper layer of what this means to Troy, but what it means to you. If it was all just fun and games, just a sexual adventure, you could have seen it through to a different end, but you sensed there was something more. And that was what you wanted, wasn’t it?” (p.57, NB-Pt.III-Hill, Joey W.)

And wouldn’t life be all peaches and cream if self-actualization were that easy? Bippity, boppity , boo and you not only are, you like what you are. While a reader can certainly enjoy Logan’s powers of persuasion, they can also identify with Madison’s tenacious, intrinsic self-doubt and the vagaries of finding insight.

As always, Ms. Hill’s characters, their lives and their hardships ring true. There is a core association, a visceral attachment to the feelings and fears that allow a reader to know that behind the fiction, there is also something tangible to take with them.

I’m looking forward to the magic and the conclusion in Part IV.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOUND TO PLEASE also received the following ratings:

HEAT FACTOR ~ 4 Flames

STING FACTOR ~ 3 Paddles

CLOTHING FACTOR ~ A tip of the hat, but tossed the clothes for Logan, ‘cuz… DAYYUM

Blog Tour Stop with Guest BRAD VANCE

Apollo’s Curse

Brad Vance

Author Bio:

Brad Vance is a popular author of gay romances, including the best selling novel, “Given the Circumstances.”

He blogs at http://bradvanceerotica.wordpress.com, and can be reached at BradVanceErotica@Gmail.com.

Author Links:

https://www.facebook.com/brad.vance.10 https://www.facebook.com/brad.vance.10 https://plus.google.com/u/1/+BradVanc...

Twitter: @BradVanceAuthor

Cover Artist: Brad Vance

Publisher: Brad Vance Erotica

All Dane Gale ever wanted was to be a successful writer. After a few sessions with his new friends Rose and Sherry at a romance book club, well, the more romances they read, the more they’re convinced they can do better. And do they ever! They join their creative forces to become “Pamela Clarice,” self-published romance novelist. When they look for a cover model for their first book, Dane sees the photos that will change his life.

Paul Musegetes is the world’s most popular romance cover model, and the most secretive. Dane soon finds himself obsessed with this supernaturally handsome man, and when he meets Paul at the Romance Writers’ Ball on the Summer Solstice, he and Paul connect for one night of passion…

After that night, Dane’s a writing machine. He can’t stop writing romances, and every story he touches turns to gold. But he also finds that he can’t write anything but romances. And soon he’s spending every waking moment of every day writing another after another…

Then Dane finds out that this Midas touch has a heavy price. After the next Summer Solstice, he’ll never write again. Not a romance, not a serious novel. Nothing. Not even a grocery list. And that leaves him with only one option – find Paul, and get him to break the curse. But before he can do that, he’ll have to track down Paul’s equally mysterious photographer, Jackson da Vinci…

Excerpt:

It wasn’t hard to find Paul again. And to find the “other images with this model” link. And click. And click. And blow up my browser window to 200%, so that when I zoomed the photos, his face, then his eyes, filled my screen.

And what surprised me was that there were not only so many images of him, but that he could be so many different men in so many different pictures, different settings – he was the tender lover with the rose, the snarling Viking, the cool guy in a band, the Miami Beach tool, the shifter/werewolf, the business man, the college kid, the gym rat, the outdoorsman, the poet, the drill sergeant, the soccer player, the swimmer… As I looked at each picture, I was totally convinced that I was looking at the real man, that that was who he really was…until I looked at the next.

And yet, always, he was clearly recognizably himself – Paul. It was those eyes, reminding you that he was in there, somewhere, behind the image, and you’d never know which one he really was, he was all of them, he was whoever you wanted him to be…

Tour Dates: 6/2 – 6/13

Tour Stops:

June 2: Prism Book Alliance, Dawn’s Reading Nook

June 3: Kimi-Chan

June 4: Elisa Rolle, Nephylim, Up All Night, Read All Day

June 5: Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves

June 6: MM Good Books, Jane Wallace-Knight

June 9: Parker Williams, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

June 10: Amanda C. Stone, Fallen Angel Reviews

June 11: Gay Guy Reading, Jade Crystal, My Fiction Nook, Talon SO

June 12: Love Bytes, It’s Raining Men

June 13: The Novel Approach, The Hat Party

 

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway



Rafflecopter Prize: 10 copies of ‘Apollo’s Curse’ ebook

Sales Links:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K...

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apollos-Curse...

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/apoll...

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

 

 

Don’t forget to take a look at the recent review for Apollo’s Curse here at Books ‘n Cozy Spots Book reviews

MMMMMMMMMmmmmmm-ManCandy Monday

With the book blast for  Their Plane From Nowhere  and the upcoming release of  Keeping His Destiny,  I slipped up and forgot to pass around the ManCandy last week.  So I will be sure to make it extra FIIINE this week….  You may want to ell the boss you’ll be taking a long lunch.

JUST SEVEN MORE DAYS !! Get ready to One-Click KEEPING HIS DESTINY by Princess so & Talon ps

JUNE 14th
Exclusively at Amazon
The twins: Princess so & Talon ps will be making  their  debut into the world of Post-Apocalyptic Dark Fantasy

KEEPING HIS DESTINY

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

Keeping His Destiny
Princess so   and   Talon ps
Post-Apocalyptic / Dark Fantasy / Graphic Content / 18+

 

AVAILABLE JUNE 14th

(in both: eBook and print)

 

Surviving in the ruins of a world long since turned on its ear, hope for change may be fable, but one man is destined to change that.
However, he needs the gift of one Symbiote woman to succeed, and the journey that will convince her to agree will not come easy —
— for either of them.

 

CAN’T WAIT or not sure your ready for the wastelands?

 

Then get your FREE (Free promotion starts Monday June 9th) copy of

 

KEEPING HIS DESTINY ~ Extended Preview ~ First Three Chapters

 

 

EXCERPT

Tannin left the bathhouse, taking only his sword and the hunting knife he kept on his side. Keeping to the back alleys as he circled back around to the thatch house where they were staying. The stench alone from the raw sewage that was dumped from overhead balconies masked any scent he was carrying. Still, while tracking one without any, he preferred to keep to the shadows as he moved. He’d only gone down a few blocks when the hairs on his neck bristled. Tannin felt him. His tail was close-by. Tannin paused beside a tree, his eyes searching the dark recesses of the surrounding buildings. Then he closed his eyes and listened— There. Tannin leaped up, reaching into the branches of the fir tree, his fingers finding its target and  wrapped around it, yanking a man out with him, as gravity pulled them both down. The second Tannin’s feet touched the ground, his arm grappled his prey around, slamming him against the wall and set a blade to the man’s throat, “State your business, old one.” Tannin growled. A man of his late ages stared back at him with muted surprise but only a vaguely relevant amount of concern for his throat. His clothes seemed light, soft to the touch, and matched the color of the playa of the surrounding barren wastelands. Clean but looked as if covered in the dust. “The child. We always watch over the child.” Tannin blinked a moment, “You mean the woman with me?” “Yes, of course.” The movement in his eyes begat the motion of a head bow which could not comply for the blade. “She was directed to free you, but we did not expect her to disappear after succeeding.” Tannin thought about the man’s answer a moment. What was it she had said that first time in his prison cell?   ~~ They want you freed. ~~   She said —They—“Why would you send her to free me?” “We are the Keepers of Destiny. You are of greatest concern for us.”  

 

 

   

BOOK BLAST with Out of the Gate by EM Lynley

 

 

 

OUT OF THE GATE
by
EM Lynley

 

Author Links:

https://www.facebook.com/emlynley?ref...,

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author... ,

http://www.pinterest.com/emlynley/

Twitter: @emlynley

Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

 

British actor Wesley Tremayne thinks he’s close to hitting the big time—a film career—with his role as a hunky explorer on a popular American TV show. Success should be just around the corner, as long as he keeps his sexual orientation a secret. Wes’s best friend and beard, Julia Compton, forms the other half of a glamorous Hollywood couple that’s merely a façade.

Evan Taylor left his acting career behind five years ago without looking back. He’s always been more comfortable around horses than people—especially Hollywood types. His new life training racehorses is a dream come true, but increasing financial problems and an abusive boyfriend have him doubting himself and his choices.

Then Wes and his friends buy a third-rate racehorse—partially for publicity—and send him to Evan’s stable. Wes’s friendship with Evan soon develops into an overpowering attraction he can’t act on. He’s never met a man like Evan, but if there’s any chance for a future together, Wes must choose between a career he loves and the man he adores.

EXCERPT:

“I’m heading down to watch them saddle the horses so I can decide which one to bet on.” Vanessa gave them a dangerous wave of her talons and left Wes and Julia alone in the private grandstand box at Los Alamitos race track.

Julia gave the binoculars back to Wes. “He’s gorgeous.” She winked.

“Which one do you like?” Wes asked, again looking through the binoculars.

“I thought we were talking about which one you like?”

“Number four.” Wes glanced down at Julia’s head. She was a good six inches shorter, and it was the view he often had to settle for.

“Oh, really? I thought you’d go for one. Or at least his trainer.” She gave a silvery laugh and put her arm around his waist again.

Wes kept the glasses focused on runner number one’s trainer as he reached up to adjust the horse’s bridle. His navy sport coat rode up, giving Wes—and anyone else looking—a nice view of his arse in well-fitting dark-blue jeans. Wes held in the smile the sight induced and resigned himself to admiring the good-looking man from a distance. His light-brown hair fell in wavy curves and the full-lipped smile made Wes want to lick his own lips. Something about the chiseled chin and the shape of the man’s nose twigged a hazy memory Wes couldn’t quite bring to the surface.

REVIEW FOR  ~OUT OF THE GATE~ HERE AT BOOKS ‘N COZY SPOTS

Tour Dates: June 6th, 2014

Tour Stops: : Talon ps, Love Bytes, MM Good Books, My Fiction Nook, Prism Book Alliance, Top2Bottom

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway



Rafflecopter Prize: $10 Etsy Gift Card

 Sales Links:

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Out-Gate-EM-Lyn...

Are

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...

B&N

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/out-o...

Print Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Out-Gate-Em-Lyn...

Print B&N:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/out-o...

 

Books ‘n Cozy Spots ~ Out of the Gate by EM Lynley

4 Stars !
Review for Out of the Gate by EM Lynley
MM Romance / Contemporary
Review by Terry for Books ‘n Cozy Spots Book reviews at http:/talon-ps.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

British actor Wesley Tremayne thinks he’s close to hitting the big time—a film career—with his role as a hunky explorer on a popular American TV show. Success should be just around the corner, as long as he keeps his sexual orientation a secret. Wes’s best friend and beard, Julia Compton, forms the other half of a glamorous Hollywood couple that’s merely a façade.
Evan Taylor left his acting career behind five years ago without looking back. He’s always been more comfortable around horses than people—especially Hollywood types. His new life training racehorses is a dream come true, but increasing financial problems and an abusive boyfriend have him doubting himself and his choices.
Then Wes and his friends buy a third-rate racehorse—partially for publicity—and send him to Evan’s stable. Wes’s friendship with Evan soon develops into an overpowering attraction he can’t act on. He’s never met a man like Evan, but if there’s any chance for a future together, Wes must choose between a career he loves and the man he adores.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hollywood has the bright lights and is the big city where dreams come true, but at what cost? Wes Tremayne has crossed the pond to make his dream come true. He has a starring role on a television show, good friends and a lovely starlet on his arm. Julia Compton is not only Wes’s co-star but the one woman he can share his true self with, all of his secrets. Love, after all, should start with friendship without it it is usually just lust. There is nothing wrong with a little lust but in Hollywood lust can be as damaging to a person and their career as being seen with the wrong person.
Evan Taylor knows too well about the lust of not only the dream of stardom but of the less than honorable people of Hollywood and of the damage it can do. Evan was one of the rising stars in this industry but after some of his experiences he left that world and now he wants nothing to do with it or the people in it. Evan is now living has his real dream, he owns a stable where he trains racing horses and shares his home with Gary, a man who knows his past and doesn’t judge him for it. Now his past and present collide when he lets a friend talk him into training Mister Twister for a group of Hollywood stars.
EM Linley has given us some wonderful characters, main as well as secondary, all with dreams of professional and personal happiness. The problem with dreams is sometimes that is all they are and you just wake from them but they can also come true or become nightmares.
I enjoyed this story for a few reasons. EM Linley gave me characters I could enjoy and picture in the setting of our story. She obviously did her homework where horse racing was concerned as well as the acting field where perception of what the minority thinks rules. I was a little unhappy with the prolonged angst between our main characters but as their back story and present situation unfolded it was understandable and appreciated. I liked that our characters had morals and stuck by them, well some of them did. There are also a few twists and turns you will enjoy and/or get angry about, at the characters not the author. *wink* This is one of the things that makes or breaks a story for me, if the characters don’t make you feel something it is only a book. This is a story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OUT OF THE GATE also revieved the following ratings”
ROMANCE FACTOR ~ 3 Hearts

TWIST FACTOR ~ A turn of events between friends & criminal

TWIST FACTOR ~ “And they’re off!” {you’ll get the idea}

Get a sneak-a-peek with this Extended Preview of Keeping His Destiny ~ Available now

KEEPING HIS DESTINY ~ Extended Preview ~ by Princess so & Talon ps
Full Novel Coming out June 14th Exclusively at Amazon
Can’t Wait? Get a sneak-a-peek into the Post-Apocalyptic Dark Fantasy world of KEEPING HIS DESTINY with the Extended Preview for only .99cents.
 
Surviving in the ruins of a world long since turned on its ear, hope for change may be fable, but one man is destined to change that.
However, he needs the gift of one Symbiote woman to succeed, and the journey that will convince her to agree will not come easy—
                                                                        —for either of them.

// ]]>

Amazon.com Widgets

Book Tour Stop with Guest Angel Martinez

Finn: Endangered Fae One

Angel Martinez
Author Bio:
While Angel Martinez is the erotic fiction pen name of a writer of several genres, she writes both kinds of gay romance – Science Fiction and Fantasy. Currently living part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware, (and full time inside the author’s head) Angel has one husband, one son, two cats, a changing variety of other furred and scaled companions, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.
Author Links:

https://www.facebook.com/amartinez2

https://www.facebook.com/Angel.Martin...

http://www.pinterest.com/angelwritesmm/

http://angelmartinezbooks.tumblr.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AngelMartinezrr
Cover Artist: Lex Valentine

Publisher: MLR Publishing

Finn: When Diego rescues a naked man from the rail of the Brooklyn Bridge, he just wants to get the poor man out of traffic and to social services. He gets more than he bargained for when he discovers Finn is an ailing pooka, poisoned by the city’s pollution. To help him recover, Diego takes him to New Brunswick where Finn inadvertently wakes an ancient, evil spirit: the wendigo.
While they struggle to find a way to destroy the wendigo before it can possess Diego or kill nearby innocents, Diego wrestles with his growing feelings for Finn. Kill the monster and navigate a relationship between a modern man and a centuries old pooka. Piece of cake.

Finn and the Shifter Question
Bright sun, just a few high clouds, everything in spring bloom—these are normally perfect pooka spotting conditions. Odd, though. I don’t see Finn anywhere, not stretched out on the chaise in the yard, not napping in the violets.
“Here, pooka, pooka, pooka!” Is there a pooka call? I don’t think anyone’s ever cleared that up for me. Maybe if I got out the catnip container and shook it like I do with the cats? No, wait. I have a better idea. “Finn! Do you want mole sauce with your chicken for dinner?”
“Yes, please.”
That lovely baritone is coming from somewhere…there. A foot dangling below one of the branches in the largest pine. When I reach it and tip my head back, I spot him, all six and a half feet of him sprawled in the crook of a thick branch. It looks like he had his hair in a braid at some point, but most of it’s come undone, blue-black strands falling to his waist.
“Why do you look like you’re sulking?”
“I am assuredly not sulking.” His words are sullen and growling.
“All right, but you’re not happy about something. What’s upset you?”
“I was reading in the park.”
Reading. I wait. This has to be going somewhere. “Finn, you can’t read.”
“Fine. The nice man on your little pod was reading to me.”
“The IPod?”
“Yes, that’s what I said. Please stop interrupting. A girl asked me about the story I was listening to and I told her it was a story about me. When she asked what a pooka was, I told her that I’m a shifter.”
“I’m not sure you should be telling this to strangers at the park.”
“She wasn’t a stranger. Her name was Emily. She asked who my Alpha was and where my pack was located and whether I could control my shifts at the full moon. When I explained how none of these things applied, she told me I’m not a proper shifter.” Finn sniffs, possibly angry or close to tears or both.
The clueless cruelty of some people. “Of course you’re a proper shifter, dear. You are a being who shifts from one form to another. In fact, you’re a better shifter than all those pack types, since they only have two forms, generally.”
“Do you think so?”
“I do. Come inside. Diego should be home soon and I have pie.”
“Apple?” He pushes off from the branch, falling fifteen feet to land cat-soft beside me.
“Yes.”
“Is there ice cream?”
“You’re going to eat yourself into a food coma, aren’t you?” The things I do for my characters.

Excerpt:
The ordeal of the shower seemed cruel, but Finn was filthy and smelled like a dumpster during a garbage strike. Diego placed one of his plastic kitchen chairs in the middle of the shower and installed Finn there, but he only slumped against the chair back, eyes closed, face turned into the spray.

Too exhausted to even flinch.

Diego fought down the little shiver of revulsion at the stench, stripped to his boxers, and stepped into the stall with him. He attacked the tangled mass of hair first, positioning Finn so his head hung back over the chair. No lice—a good sign. He might have been homeless, but he probably hadn’t lived on the streets too long. The nest of midnight snarls unwound under the caress of water and shampoo. If Finn stood, his hair would reach at least to the top curve of his butt. A strange blue-black iridescence shone in it, his natural coloring as far as Diego could tell rather than bottled special effects.

The rest Diego washed with a loofah, shoving away modesty out of a need to get Finn to his rest. An ache lodged around his heart to see how malnutrition had ravaged what probably had been a lean-muscled frame. An athlete, perhaps, before he went off the deep end, an impression reinforced by the absence of almost all body hair. Waxed or electrolysis-denuded—only Finn’s crotch sported a black thatch of soft hair. Swimmer, perhaps. The Olympic competitors often shaved it all off for every small gain in streamlining.

He turned off the water and tugged at Finn’s arm. “Come on. Let’s get you settled. You can’t sleep in the shower.”

Finn staggered to his feet and Diego all but carried him to Mitch’s room. The spare room, he corrected himself. He usually kept the door closed so the stark, unfurnished space wasn’t glaring at him.

He sat Finn down against the wall, brought him a pair of flannel pajamas, soft with age, and went out to the front closet to retrieve the air mattress and vacuum. Six boxes lay stacked against the wall; all that remained of Mitch’s things. Diego ran a hand over one, and then shook his head against the temptation to open the top and look at its contents. When he returned, Finn hadn’t moved from where he sat, naked and dozing in a patch of sunlight.

“You might want to put those on.” Diego toed the pajamas closer as he dragged the air mattress into place. When Finn’s only response was a long sigh, he added, “We need to get you warm. I don’t want to have to take you to Emergency.”

With a puzzled frown, Finn unfolded the material and managed, after looking back and forth between the pajamas and Diego’s jeans a few times, to pull the bottoms on. His efforts with the top, though, were sabotaged when the vacuum roared to life. He startled and scuttled sideways, wide-eyed and panting.

Diego hurried to switch it off. “Sorry. Should have warned you.”

“Is it some sort of small dragon?”

For a moment, Diego stared in blank surprise before he caught himself. At least the nature of Finn’s delusion was becoming clearer. He might even share his history later when he had the energy, perhaps some tragic story of an exiled prince. For now, Diego thought it best to play along.

“Not a dragon. Just a machine. It blows out and sucks in air with great force.”

“Ah.” Finn seemed disappointed, but waved a hand for him to continue.

Mattress inflated, Finn dressed and installed in bed, Diego thought he should get something in him before he drifted off. He tried tap water first but Finn jerked his head away, the color draining from his face.

“Tainted,” he gasped. “Great Dagda, it reeks.”

Diego sniffed above the glass, puzzled. New York City water, piped in from the mountains, was cleaner than most but it was treated. Chlorine. Fluoride. Maybe Finn had an allergy to one or the other.

Bottled water produced a less violent reaction. Finn smelled it, nose crinkled, but he downed half the bottle in desperate gulps before Diego could take it back from him. Hydration, at least, wouldn’t be an issue.

The hurdle of food remained. Starvation often did terrible things to the body’s ability to accept nourishment. Not the best time to offer a hamburger and fries. Diego decided he should start with the foods one was supposed to give sick kids: bananas, rice, applesauce and toast, minus the applesauce, since he didn’t have any.

Finn wouldn’t touch the boiled-in-tap-water rice. He nibbled a corner of the toast and set it aside with murmured apologies. The banana completely stumped him. He turned it over and over in his hands and finally tried to bite through the skin.

“You eat these?” He handed it back to Diego with a grimace.

All right, so his reality doesn’t include New World fruit. Diego peeled the banana for him and handed it back. “You don’t eat the skin. Try the inside.”

Finn took a careful bite and his eyes widened. “That’s not bad.”

Diego could only watch anxiously, praying his guest wouldn’t choke, as the rest disappeared in three bites. With a contented sigh, Finn handed the peel back, gathered the covers into a circle in the center of the mattress, and curled into a tight ball inside his nest. By the time Diego brought an extra comforter to cover him, Finn was fast asleep.

Clean and at rest, his face had a childlike quality with his hair tucked behind one finely-curved ear. Diego wasn’t certain it was a handsome face, almost unearthly in its delicacy, and though Finn stood six inches taller, he had the odd feeling he could scoop that long frame up in his arms without much effort.

He backed out and closed the door as quietly as he could, confident Finn wouldn’t die on him. Tomorrow he would see about finding the right agency to take his guest, preferably one that wouldn’t hand him right over to immigration.

A few hours of peace while Finn slept should let him at least get through the current chapter he was writing.

The moment he sat ready at his desk, fingers poised over the keys, the phone rang.

Tour Dates: June 2, 2014 – June 13, 2014

Tour Stops:

June 2: Tara Lain

June 3: Parker Williams

June 4: Kimi-Chan, Jade Crystal, Talon SO

June 5: Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, MM Good Books

June 6: Nephylim, Hearts on Fire

June 9: Prism Book Alliance; Dawn’s Reading Nook

June 10: Love Bytes, My Fiction Nook

June 11: Fallen Angel Reviews

June 12: The Novel Approach, Rainbow Gold Reviews

June 13: Amanda C. Stone, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words


 
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Rafflecopter Prize: E-Copy of Finn
Sales Links:
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DON’T MISS THE REVIEW FOR FINN: ENDANGERED FAE ONE RIGHT HERE FROM BOOKS ‘N COZY SPOTS BOOK REVIEWS