Lenni Reviews: "Pathfinder: Exodus Book Two" by Gun Brooke

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In the wake of utter chaos on their home planet, the Oconodians are fleeing their world on a massive ship called Pathfinder. Due to riots caused by Changers; people who have developed various sorts of powers, this ship will take them on a long journey to a new world. Chief engineer and seasoned soldier Adina Vantressa has the responsibility of keeping all two million people aboard safe by overseeing the proper functions of all the systems keeping them alive. One of those millions is Briar Lindemay; a nurse who, along with her sister Caya, have boarded the ship in search for a better life. Briar joins the expedition as a nurse but also is hiding the fact that her sister is in fact a changer and Briar has illegally boarded the ship to protect her young sister from the violence at home. Thrown together by an obvious sabotage attempt, Adina and Briar become fast friends with a chance at something more. But the same sabotage that brought them together was not the first and with Caya's ability to see visions increasing in strength, Briar is forced to decide if her budding romance is worth risking her sister's safety or Adina's life as well.

The science fiction elements to this story are spot on and very interesting. This novel starts off running and doesn't stop for very long; even when the main characters are trying to get to know each other. What is gratifying about this book is since the situation is so dire, every character has no other choice but to be strong. Male or female; every character is a professional trying to ensure the survival of millions of people during a major interplanetary evacuation and resettlement so nobody is whining here. I know readers are sometimes on the lookout for strong female characters in particular and Brooke gives us an excellent balance of capable people where gender isn't important.

As for the romance, if you're looking for some steamy trash, this isn't the place. In  my opinion, this is a science fiction novel with romantic elements and a couple of steamy scenes here and there. And I mean mature rating steamy, so don't be shocked by some woman on woman sexytimes.

Coming into this series on book 2 makes it so I cannot comment on how this book relates to the first but Pathfinder does end with the promise of more. But since the romance was so secondary in my opinion, I would love to see more about how these adrift settlers manage when they get to their destination. This is not to say that the romance is not executed well, it's just the story surrounding it was very cool. Briar and Adina are a cute couple and your root for them to come through the chaos around them. Kudos so you, Brooke! I look forward to book 3.

Lenni Reviews: 'Rule of Three' by Lore Graham

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Ian is an adept magic user but his rival, Jae, always teases him that he doesn't take any chances with his work. Finally having enough, Ian does the research and summons a demon he can show off to Jae to prove he can do something risky. The demon Ian ends up with is an incubus named Alistair; and a sexy romp progresses from there.

This short novella gives you exactly what it promises; a smutty romp with two guys and a demon. It has the sort of pacing that occurs when you need to get three men in bed and naked in under 50 pages; rushed and dirty. But, yeah, that's the price of admission here, folks. You don't get short erotica for the character development. Alistair is my favorite by far, of course. He seems to have the most personality out of the three.

What made me stumble was the replacement of pronouns like "his" "him" and "he" with "ze" and "zir." I just rolled with it after awhile. If you are looking for a quickie with some magic and fun, 'Rule of Three' isn't half bad! A little short for $3.99, in my opinion; but if you are looking for a m/m/m fantasy short story, you may want to check it out.

Lenni Reviews: 'Just A Sketch' by A. J. Marcus

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Leo Caldwell leads a mundane life as a tech support operator at a call center. He doesn't date much and spends most of his time with his two best friends; Julie and Felix. The three of them decide to change things up by taking an art class together and that is where Leo meets Aud Sorenson, artist and owner of the Bright Thoughts Gallery. The two have an immediate attraction and under the guise of Aud wanting to sketch Leo, they begin to date; touching off a whirlwind of drama that tests their budding relationship to the limit.

This is a cute little love story but when I say whirlwind of drama, I am not kidding. The moment these two meet you are rooting for them but Aud gets a  stalker who threatens their lives and causes so much trouble, Aud and Leo simultaneously question if it's all worth it and knuckle down to stay together. It's all very sweet but as a reader, I had to wonder if these two got hexed or something because so much goes wrong so quickly. This male/male romance does end in a happily ever after (noted because some readers prefer their romances that way) but I think I would have liked to see the sketching featured a little more. It is in the title after all and that initial reason for them to meet up got lost a bit in my opinion. But that's me being very nit-picky.

In the end, this is a cute little story that was fun to read. Aud and Leo are almost too adorable and the smutty scenes aren't over done or silly. It's just spicy enough to make the book interesting but not tawdry. If you like your overly sweet couples in a tidy 200 page romp, Just a Sketch is worth the read.

This book will be available from Dreamspinner Press on December 4th, 2015.

Lenni Reviews: 'Into the Darkness' by A. M. Rycroft

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Aeryne Ravane, a sword for hire, has been on a mission to discover the treasures of the deceased hero Tynan Selvantyr. Having been raised on his tales, Aeryne is excited to explore The Black Caverns and learn her hero's secrets; but the treasures contained therein are so much more than gold as she discovers even heroes have their deadly secrets.

This book is more about the journey than the result, in my opinion. Aeryne meets a young thief, the ghost of her hero, a vampire, and magic priests on her quest to defeat evil and come to terms with her past. Clocking in at 467 pages, the final climactic battle is around the 400 page mark. I did enjoy watching the main party of this sword and sorcery novel come together and grow as a group, the settings are well described and fun (or scary when applicable) to read; but there were points that had me muttering the dreaded "are we there yet" because I wanted the bad guy to get what was coming to him. It began to drag towards the middle there, but it picked up and it was worth reading through to the end.

All in all, Into the Darkness is a pretty cool book with some interesting characters. Everyone is fallible and real, and the story is overall fun if you enjoy these types of fantasy novels.

Lenni Reviews: Three Days in April by Edward Ashton

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Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone rewrote The Happening and made it... Well, all around better and cool? Then welcome to the technothriller Three Days in April.

In this world, there Augmented people, non-Augmented people, AI's that can run your house, and NatSec watching through every connected device in the net as well as cameras everywhere. Augmented people can connect and download information right into their heads,  have increased speed and agility, or strength. Then one morning in April, most of the people in Hagerstown keel over and die. Then the town is turned into a smoking crater. Our main protagonist is Anders, a down and out Augmented who is perfectly happy in his mundane teaching job when his friend Doug asks him to decrypt some documents he "found" suddenly Anders is involved in a massive conspiracy against all of humanity; genetically modified or not.

When I tell you this is The Happening and Ghost in the Shell, I am not kidding. While not suicides, a bunch of people all of a sudden drop dead in a painful way and everybody understandably scrambles around like crazy people. But then we THANKFULLY flee from any Shyamalan-ian mistakes for some cyberpunk, government conspiracy goodness! Having read (and LOVED) the Avery Cates series, this novel is a tense ride that won't let you go, with an ending ripe for a continuation should Ashton decide to write one. The characters are dynamic, real, and fun in this fantastical setting. I'm glad I gave this book a read and if you like cyberpunk, I think you will too.

Three Days in April is available now as an ebook and in paperback on October 13, 2015.

Press Release: Marvel will release Official MCU Guide Book

image credit: Marvel
 

At long last, the Marvel Cinematic Universe receives its own guidebook! Beginning this October, go deeper than ever before in the very first GUIDEBOOK TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE! In the vein of the classic Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe, take a deep dive into the fan-favorite Marvel Studios films and Marvel Television series and see their genesis in the pages of Marvel Comics!

But this isn’t your daddy’s Official Handbook – the new MCU Guidebooks are completely overhauled. Sleeker, slicker and jam-packed with information about the people, places and things across the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chock full of “fast facts,” movie-to-comic comparisons and production stills – these comprehensive compilations are essential reading for hardcore Marvel fans!

Kicking off this October with GUIDEBOOK TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE – MARVEL’S IRON MAN – witness the rise of Tony Stark into the Armored Avenger from a new perspective, with an indispensable volume of information on Marvel Studios’ first blockbuster hit! Then, November brings the GUIDEBOOK TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE – MARVEL’S INCREDIBLE HULK/MARVEL’S IRON MAN 2. This second issue, in a fantastic flipbook format, shines a spotlight on the Jade Giant’s gamma-fueled feature film along with Iron Man’s second silver-screen outing!

Relive all the big-screen thrills of the Marvel Cinematic Universe this October, and build your library of reference books as the first GUIDEBOOK TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE comes to comic shops and digital devices everywhere!

GUIDEBOOK TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE – MARVEL’S IRON MAN
Written by MIKE O’SULLIVAN & THE OHOTMU TEAM
Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO
On-Sale in October!

GUIDEBOOK TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE – MARVEL’S INCREDIBLE HULK/MARVEL’S IRON MAN 2
Written by MIKE O’SULLIVAN & THE OHOTMU TEAM
Covers by MIKE DEL MUNDO & PASCAL CAMPION
On-Sale in November!
 

Lenni Reviews: A Demon Inside by Rick R. Reed

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In this novel by Reed, Hunter Beaumont finds himself alone in the world after the death of his grandmother. After his parent's mysterious deaths when he was only five years old, his grandmother kept him sheltered and with his only family gone, Hunter is the last of the Beaumont line. They were a well off family so a huge estate aptly named the Beaumont house is part of this inheritance, yet on her deathbed, his grandmother begs him to destroy it. Curious, naive, and frightened of being alone in the world, Hunter doesn't heed his grandmother's warning and makes this infamous estate his home. And the house is not happy about it.

As a character, Hunter can be a little whiny but as a sheltered person, I had to give him a little leeway. After all, he did lose his parents in a gruesome murder he blocked out as a kid. But it leaves him vulnerable to plain old horrible people before he even gets to being haunted. But when he finally makes the decision to move, things get really creepy really quickly. You get the feel of a standard horror movie where you're yelling at the book for the guy to get the message and get the hell out of poltergeist house; which is where some readers will get frustrated with Hunter. He swings from wide eyed innocent to obstinate brat to such a degree, it's to his detriment; putting him in danger. Reed did a great job showing how Hunter's poor experiences with people led to less than logical determination to battle a ghost who is trying to kill him where he may have once ran away. The book ends before we get to really see if Hunter finds a balance between being too innocent and too brave.

Again, like Clashing Tempest, the male/male romance is secondary to the horror story. The horror isn't bad but experienced horror fans may find it formulaic; more tense than outright scary. But I had fun reading it and I enjoy discovering LGBT books with real plots instead of bubblegum nonsense. Sugar has it's place, but Reed gives us more meat with our meal. I enjoyed it.

Lenni Reviews: Clashing Tempest by Brandon Witt

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This book by Brandon Witt may be superficially marketed as 'gay fiction,' it is more like a sprawling fantasy where some of the characters just happen to be gay. This is also the third in a series called Men of Myth.

If you are coming to this book looking for some man-love fluff piece, you will be disappointed. Prepare to get invested in the fantasy of this world. There are merpeople, werewolves, vampires, and witches; which all have a unique take on the mythos of each species. Since I haven't read the first two, I cannot tell you how the story arcs connect from them but I can tell you that the arcs built up in this book are lovingly and fantastically done and carried to the end with enjoyable creativity. Witt's writing will immerse you in this world to the point where you will feel damp swimming with mers or in deep trouble with the vampires. 

The characters can get a tad whiny sometimes and on a personal note I found myself skipping the smutty scenes to get back to the main conflict of the story (yes, be aware there's hot stuff in this book). But that's just me. I found the fantasy riveting enough. However, if you do want an interesting LGBT fantasy that doesn't drive the plot with smut, Witt does a great job. Totally worth 450 pages.

Cant get enough of Lenni's writing? Check out her site At The Quills Mercy.

Lenni Reviews: The Geeky Chef Cookbook by Cassandra Reeder

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The Geeky Chef Cookbook by Cassandra Reader has everything you'd need for your geek cooking needs. The "trouble" with reviewing cookbooks (in quotes because honestly, it was fun) is that you must try some of these to properly get a sense of the book. It's got some fantastic recipes for non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks, main dishes, and all sorts of desserts. And since my kiddo's birthday was coming and we are Portal fans, the first was the Portal Cake!

The only modifications we made were the lack of cherries and regular vanilla frosting. This cake was amazing and so a perfect birthday was had!

But of course, Mama had to try something for the grownups and as a Trekkie, the Romulan Ale was a must. 

Again, a modification was made because the mixers were sweet enough for me and thusly, I eliminated the blue soda and used plain seltzer. This was a good call as I think the soda would have been too much but feel free to try it out for yourself!

In this book there are dishes and drinks from Star Wars to Silent Hill, to Deadly Premonition (Sinner's Sandwich made me nerd-squee) so there's something for everyone here. Some of these require some decorating skills (that I do NOT have) so if you have skill with a blade and fondant, you'll have some fun here. 

I am so glad I got a chance to review this book and I look forward to trying out more from it. So if you're a geek and you like to cook, go ahead and nab this book. I don't think you'll regret it!

Lenni Reviews: Evolution by Lissa Kasey

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After seeing the sheer number of hits on my review of In These Words forever ago, I'm pleased to continue to review more m/m romances for you all!

Gene Sage wants to be a singer and hit it big one way but his band, Evolution, is virtually unknown. That is until a vision of ghost while he's driving causes Gene to hit a man with his car. But he's no ordinary man. Kerstrande is an undercover vampire and former rock star, and Gene's idol. One stray paparazzi catches them together and before Gene knows it, Kerstrande is managing his band and fighting an obvious desire for the young singer.

It is a nice male/male paranormal romance that's light on the heavy smut. The dynamic between Gene and Kerstrande is very much like Gravitation (between Shuichi and Yuki); the older jaded man and the younger more idealistic man. Yet Gene is a street smart, capable person with a likable personality and it's easy to see how his light and Kerstrande's darkness are attracted to one another. Kerstrande however, can be obstinate to the point of frustration; rightly fearing his more bestial nature will put Gene in danger yet unable to stay away. But if they wrapped everything up too tightly, the ending wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying or make sense for the characters. And I always say if a character annoys you; the writing is strong enough to illicit an emotional reaction.

The ending leaves you wanting more and I look forward to seeing how this couple will manage Gene's growing fame and abilities and Kerstrande's growing hunger. In the world Lissa Kasey has created, the public knows supernatural beings exist and there is a backlash against anyone not fully human. Evolution is a quick read but a fun one, and I can see this series having potential

Lenni writes more than reviews! Check out her site here.

Lenni Reviews: Veiled Empire by Nathan Garrison

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Sinking your teeth into a rich fantasy world can be like taking medicine or eating a decadent dessert. Veiled Empire by Nathan Garrison is most definitely the latter. You take the first bite and, wow. This world is well crafted, tense, beautiful, and of course filled with magic. 

The number of different races, characters, and places had me bouncing from text to glossary and my inability to remember large numbers of characters was blatantly apparent (why I never could finish Game of Thrones), but the gist of it all is The Empire is at war with rebels who are tired of magic only being for the ruling class and subjugating everyone else. The plot of this sword and sorcery epic (clocks in at 550 pages) is finely woven and smartly executed with battles that call back to Lord of the Rings; vivid and exciting. As it is the case with these types of novels, the ending is satisfying yet open and you want to know more. 

Over all, this book is a wicked ride and I had a lot of fun reading it. If sword and sorcery fantasy epics are your speed,  you will not be disappointed. If there ever is more, I'll be on the lookout for it!

This title will be released on July 7, 2015.

UDON announces Dark Souls II: Design Works

With its renowned difficulty and gripping gameplay, Dark Souls is the action-RPG franchise that gamers love to hate! While most games reward your successes, Dark Souls punishes you for your failures, making for a grueling yet intensely rewarding experience like no other. Despite most adventurers barely surviving the original game, players clamoring for more got their wish with the equally challenging sequel, Dark Souls II. Now, UDON Entertainment is also following up its hugely successful Dark Souls: Design Works art book with another equally gorgeous artwork collection – DARK SOULS II: DESIGN WORKS!

Dark Souls II: Design Works collects all the chilling and haunting fantasy artwork behind the critically-acclaimed game in a prestigious hardcover tome. Featured inside are armor and weapon designs, character concepts, enemies, locations, rough sketches, an exclusive interview with the game's creators, and more. Completing the book is a bevy of concept material from all three chapters of the game’s DLC trilogy, “The Lost Crowns”.

With Dark Souls III just announced at E3 for an early 2016 release, there’s no better time to immerse yourself in the chilling artwork behind this landmark series.

Dark Souls II: Design Works will be available in stores in October 2015. 

The Walking Dead Hardcover Ruled Journals

Based on AMC’s hit original series, The Walking Dead ruled journals embody the thrills and excitement of The Walking Dead. Each journal is themed around a popular character, including Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon and Michonne, and the Walkers who threaten the survivors’ existence. Along with debossed covers, the journal interiors also feature full-color photography from The Walking Dead. 

Along time ago before people put their thoughts on social media. There was something we did in the 90's and and years before that. We used something that is rarely used today and that's journals. Insight Editions is bringing back the journals in a big way with The Walking Dead. The cover and material is amazing in great detail. I got the Darryl Dixon journal which comes with pics of the character and  great design of his signature logo on his vest. The journal has a pages to make you're own story book. At a fair price of 18.00 dollars this is a great gift for kids, family and friends. Great things you can do with a journal. Practice creative writing, put your innermost thoughts instead on social media, even use as a data entry log. With The Walking Dead you can even think of making your own fan fiction. This is a great journal to pick up.