Read "Closer than Blood" by Jayne Lockwood

Blog Tour

Closer Than Blood

Jayne Lockwood

Forbidden passion, blackmail and murderous intent in the cold, glittering heart of Manhattan.

Against his better judgement, slick hitman Frank Mancini falls for the sultry sister of his latest client. He is also hiding a dark secret, but can he get her into bed before his past is revealed?

Tony Freemantle is diseased, dying and desperate. His last wish is to seek vengeance on the half-brother he blames for his misfortunes. He’s never met him. He doesn’t even know what he looks like. All he knows is that he wants him dead.

Pagan Freemantle is the innocent woman who has been unwillingly caught up in her sibling's deadly plan.When she discovers she has to pay for the hit, her attempts to make a deal throws her headlong into a dangerous attraction with a man who is patently bad news.

And can she trust Richard Mason, the elusive millionaire half-brother who is just a seductive voice at the end of a telephone? When a road trip to California ends with shocking revelations, it seems she can trust no-one but herself.

Amazon | Amazon UK | B & N | Kobo | Smashwords

I read this a while ago, and thought I had posted a review, but I can't find it anywhere. So I'll give the quick and dirty version of it. Closer Than Blood is a dark romp through forbidden territory. There are twists and turns, drunken nights and passion-filled trysts. I don't want to give anything away, but suffice to say, if you like dark-ish reads with a taste of the forbidden, with plenty of spicy sex - and you don't mind a bit of violence or rough language - you will enjoy this book. Very well written and the plot is thoroughly thought out. Read it today!

I've been writing for many years, starting out at County College of Morris in New Jersey with a course in Journalism. Since then I've published five novels for Black Lace Books under a pseudonym (Savannah Smythe) and one ghostwritten book for glamour celebrity, Abi Titmuss, in 2005 (10 Fantasies.) Also, I've published two M/M erotica stories as S. A. Smythe, Lexington Black and Docklands Diamond, both available on Amazon and Smashwords.

Since then I’ve published The Cloud Seeker and Closer Than Blood, both romantic suspense novels under Hollow Hills Publishing. At the moment, I'm and I’m working on my third Jayne Lockwood novel. I draw from my experiences as an Englishwoman and my time in New Jersey. The area of the Chilterns where I grew up and where I live now is rich in inspiration, secrets and tales from the past. As an author, I have more stories inside me than time to write them!

Finally, I also write book reviews for WROTE Podcast (http://wrotepodcast.com.) WROTE stands for WRitten On The Edge, and features authors and other creatives from the LGBTQ community. I’m very proud to be a part of this venture, which was started in 2014 by myself, S.A. Collins and Vance Bastian, both terrific authors and friends. The podcast is going from strength to strength, and is a great way of getting to know some fantastic LGBTQ writers and artists.

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My Stop on the Blog Tour for Beast, by AJ Adams

Warning!

Beast by AJ Adams is a dark romance.
It contains graphic scenes of sex and violence.

It is for adults only!

Beast by AJ Adams

A self standing novella 42,000 words

Price US$2.99

Blurb

Falsely accused, Wynne is determined to clear her name. However, a trip to petition the Steward at Brighthelme turns disastrous when the Beasts, fearsome warriors from the frozen north, raze the city. When Wynne is carried away, she's determined to regain her freedom but Rune, her captor, has other ideas.

Beast is set in Prydain, an imaginary place that combines Anglo-Saxon England with Medieval England, the Teutonic Kingdom and the Viking Age. This story contains kidnapping, rape, dubious consent and graphic violence, however, it is a love story rather than a dark romance. It is a standalone novel; no cliff-hangers.

Buy Links

1-click Beast by AJ Adams on Amazon

1-click Beast by AJ Adams on Amazon UK

Buy Beast by AJ Adams on Barnes and Noble

Buy Beast by AJ Adams on Smashwords International

Buy Beast by AJ Adams on iTunes

Teasers

Excerpt

He stuck the knife in the ground and stripped off his leathers. The tunic came off, revealing a long, lean, muscled torso, covered in tattoos. Snakes ran up and down his arms, his pecs and his shoulders. A skull blazed on his chest.
Then he was pushing apart my legs, settling between my thighs, leaning over me. He smelled of smoke, leather and musk. It was terrifying, like being at the mercy of an animal.

Here's a link to my review of Beast,
and my interview with Ellen Whyte, the genius behind A.J. Adams

Buy Links

1-click Beast by AJ Adams on Amazon

1-click Beast by AJ Adams on Amazon UK

Buy Beast by AJ Adams on Barnes and Noble

Buy Beast by AJ Adams on Smashwords International

Buy Beast by AJ Adams on iTunes

About the Author

AJ Adams is a Scottish-Dutch author currently living in Malaysia. In her regular life she is a columnist and feature writer. She works from home, where she is closely snoopervised by cats, Target and Guido.

Stalker links

Books by AJ Adams

Crime, Romance, Passion, Fantasy - AJ Adams mixes it up in explosive stories.

Interview with Ellen Whyte, aka AJ Adams & Storm Chase

My first official interview is with Ellen Whyte, who writes as AJ Adams and Storm Chase. She was kind enough to answer all the questions I threw at her, many of which I'm posting here. (The remainder will be posted in my Newsletter. Be sure to SIGN UP so you can read them all.)

Without further ado, the interview follows:

KCBooks: Tell us about you in a nutshell. What makes you tick as a writer?

Ellen Whyte: I start off quite organised, writing a three or four line plot idea.  Then I flesh it out, which takes me a day or so, and it’s all neat and tidy with events and chapter divisions. 

Then the characters begin to breathe.  

I think I’ve got it sussed, because I’ve got that detailed outline, right?  It’s all tidy and it works, right?  But then the characters take over and before I know it my lovely outline is in smithereens and my characters are rampaging all over the place. 

At that point I’m loving it because the story starts to write itself.  Very often I don’t know what will happen next, so it’s an adventure.

That’s what I love about writing. It’s romance and adventure.

KCB: Pets – What do you have? Which is your favorite? If you could have any pet on the planet which would you have, and why?

   

EW: I am ruled by two cats, Target and Guido.  They are kampung kuching, which means village cats in Malay. It means they are street moggies, rescue cats who are now spoilt home kitties.

Target is a drama cat. He’s constantly in trouble, up to trouble or causing trouble.  When he’s not doing something wicked, he’s at my side - clicking the escape key and changing the language on my keyboard.

Guido is relaxed. He’s absolutely huge, more a tiger than a cat, and it’s current ambition to climb the tree in the garden.  He’s not getting very far and he’s hinting that he’d like me to help him up.  I’m not because I don’t want to have to call the fire brigade to get him back down again!

KCB: Describe a typical day in your life.

EW: I get up around 630AM and I start with a coffee and checking my book sales (I know!)  I go through my Facebook private messages, catch up with friends and do my book promos.

By that time it’s usually about 730AM. Then I write for an hour or sometimes two.

Around 9AM or 10AM I start work (day job) writing for newspapers or magazines.  At the moment I’m also starting a new business, as a counselling psychologist, so I’m doing paperwork, writing proposals, seeing clients and so on.

At about 5PM I go downstairs and start dinner.  I love to cook so that’s fun.  Tom comes home around then, so we catch up on the gossip and we hang out for a while - him catching up on news and me writing.

We eat between 6PM and 8PM.  We watch old TV series, binge watching really, because the mindlessness helps us unwind.  We usually talk through it and if Tom’s got a yen to watch sports (he’s got a thing for baseball) I write. (all sport bores me to tears within two seconds)

After 8PM I write.  I stop around 10PM - 11PM and sometimes it’s a bit later. 

We go out twice a week, hitting our local pub around 5PM.  We’re home by 8PM latest and then I go to sleep early, but usually after writing an hour. Sometimes two.

KCB: Describe your ideal vacation—if money were no object and you had no obstacles holding you back...

EW: I would love to spend time in a small walled villa with it’s own pool.  Anywhere really: Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia. I’m looking for peace and tranquility. I want to spend the whole day just being - with Target, Guido and Tom (the non-furry companion).  But at night I’d like to go out and see people. So probably Bali or Siem Reap or somewhere a bit touristy.

KCB: If you could live anywhere on the planet, where would you go and why?

EW: If I had a teleporter, I’d spend most of my time in Malaysia because it’s my home and I love it.  But I’d go to Spain for weekends so I could go see my mum.  Also, I sometimes miss fresh, cold air, Spanish food, Spanish wine and just being in a non-tropical place so probably I’d spend some time in Spain during the spring and autumn too.

Also, I miss Fay, one of my best friends.  We see each other just once a year, so it would be nice to be in the same continent again.

KCB: How do you find balance between work, family, and writing?

EW: Hahahahahaha! Brilliant!  You’ve seen my typical day so you know I spend most of my time working.

I write during the day, when I watch television at night, when I’m in the hairdresser, when I’m waiting for someone to come to a meeting - I work about 14 hours a day, every day.

It’s unsustainable but having spent the last three years studying part time, I have to get back to work so 2016 is just crazy.  Hopefully that balance thing will kick in next year!

Be sure to sign up for the newsletter to see the answers to these questions:

What inspires you to write strong female characters?

If you could lump all your books in a single genre, what would you call it?

What is your favorite food? Describe it so we want to eat it, too.

About the author

AJ Adams is a Scottish-Dutch author currently living in Malaysia. In her regular life she is a columnist and feature writer. She works from home, where she is closely snoopervised by cats, Target and Guido.

Stalker links:

Amazon author page http://www.amazon.com/AJ-Adams/e/B00PTL6BNK

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2883330.A_J_Adams

FB https://www.facebook.com/ewhyte

Twitter https://twitter.com/KatzTalesTweets

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/Author_AJAdams/

Books: 
The Bonus by AJ Adams
My first AJ Adams novel and one of my favourites! It’s unusual but Chloe and Kyle are unusual people.

Beast by AJ Adams
If you like darkish romance, and don’t mind a bit of kidnapping and rape, this is the story for you!

The Degas Girl by AJ Adams
Zachary is not nice and neither is Serenity.  Together though, they are dynamic.

Songbird by AJ Adams
What I love about this is that Arturo is a monster but he’s also thoroughly human. I’d love to meet him for dinner - as long as Solitaire isn’t cooking.

         

Review of Beast, by AJ Adams

I loved this book, but it fell just short of amazing. I'm at about 4.5 stars.

I loved this fantasy world of Prydain. (I cut my reading teeth on Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain. Which is neither here nor there, since this Prydain is nothing like Alexander's...I digress.) I loved it precisely because there isn't much to love about the situation in the 9 cities and the people in them. They're messed up. They're at war with each other. They judge each other, fail to listen to each other, and they're greedy jerks to each other. Especially to their women. It feels awfully in tune with current times.

Then we put all these folks into a mish-mash of cultures and watch what happens.

Wynne is a fascinating woman. She's an innocent, but she's seen the worst of people. She doesn't take any guff lying down (unless she's literally being sat upon) yet she doesn't sit idly by while others are in danger. She's a fighter, she's tough, and she's smart.

The author asked me to suspend my disbelief for this fantasy, and for the most part I could. The thing that I just can't seem to get around is Wynne's physical reaction to Rune. I don't like to give spoilers, so you'll just have to know that I have just enough doubt in that scenario, that this is where most of that lost half star comes into play.

Rune was tricky for me. As are many of this author's male main characters. It is hard to get around the fact that...well, if I said it here, it would be a spoiler. I'll just say (since it's in the description of the book) that the 'dubious' part of dubious consent is imho a big understatement. Consent is non-existent through most of the story. And it's pretty hard for me to forgive. He has his reasons, and I love a lot of the things about him. He's smart, gentle and levelheaded, but also a great warrior who is respected by his tribe. He's a forward-thinker, and uncompromising when it comes to his people's safety and survival. But there's that 'but', and it's a big one. That is where the rest of the lost half star comes from.

I thought the other characters were pretty well developed--as developed as they can be when seen through the narrow field of vision of a hostage. As Wynne relaxes more and begins to focus on more than just escape, the minor characters come to life, so the POV--while limited by her focus--is true to the circumstances.

The story was a steady build to a conclusion that was somewhat predictable, but still enjoyable, with a slight twist or two that kept it from being run-of-the-mill. I'll be curious to find out if there will be more stories set in Prydain. I will definitely read them.

Review of Hell, Texas, by Tim Miller

So, the first thing to know about this review is that this is the very first horror novel I've ever read. I was told it was a pretty rough place to start, so I was expecting to be grossed out. Now, yes, the things that happened in Hell, Texas were disturbing and horrific, but I wasn't especially shocked or even upset. Maybe I'm damaged, or I was able to shut off the "plugin" necessary to bring it home, but I thought the descriptions were too clinical to get me emotionally invested in the characters. And I have to be emotionally invested for the horror of a situation to really hit me. Not that I really wanted to be invested in these characters, given what happens to them.

That being said, I thought the story was well constructed. There were twists and unexpected outcomes for predictable escape attempts. There were just enough incidences where hope for survival unfolded and yet the ultimate outcome of the story was not what I expected. The backstory as to how the town came about was interesting, and the main characters were sympathetic enough that I was rooting for their survival. I was pleased when certain of the baddies "got theirs" toward the end.

Other than the clinical nature of the writing, which I think stems from more telling than showing, the writing was strong. A few narrative tense issues, and the consistent misuse of the form of "lie", but no errors distracting enough to make me want to throw the book in frustration, just shake my head a few times.

In summary, I liked this story - more than I expected to, honestly - but I can't say I "really liked it" so it gets a solid 3 stars on Goodreads, and 4 on Amazon. 

Review of King, by T.M. Frazier

I'm not sure what I think about this book.

I pretty much loved Doe. She's a fighter. She says what's on her mind. She's truthful, and she's trying to make decisions that will protect the woman she no longer knows herself to be. I do question her reaction to King. I find it hard to believe she would get turned on in the circumstances she was in.

I did not like King, for the most part. He was a dick for most of the book, with occasional bursts of sweetness that almost seemed to come out of the blue. It almost works with him falling in love with Doe and feeling the need for change after coming out of prison, but I don't think we spent enough time in his head to really know why he changes back and forth like he does. It's kind of like he's two characters--one when we are in his head, and a different one, the dick, when we are in Doe's head. I do get it that some people put on a good front, but I don't know, something was just off for me, a little undeveloped, maybe? Regardless, he was a complex guy, but I just didn't like him. Doesn't mean I didn't like the story.

Preppy was loveable in the way a twelve year old hyperactive boy is adorable, but he also kinda creeped me out, at least in the beginning. I was a little shocked by the arc of his storyline. Again, no spoilers, but after all the fuss in Frazierland about him, I was very surprised.

I did like Bear. He was sweet, loyal, and sexy-cool. I'm interested in reading his story.

I know I am pissed that I didn't realize this was a two part story. It's my own fault for not reading the full blurb. I was invited to Frazierland by a friend and was impressed by the Fandom and bought the book based on the buzz. But there is a helluva cliffhanger and what it is, I didn't buy. It was out of the blue and seemed contrived to me, it didn't add up. I don't like to give spoilers so I won't say what I didn't buy. Maybe it will be all right in the sequel, but as of the ending here, I can only shake my head.

I'd probably really give this 4 stars. I liked it, it drew me in, but I didn't quite love it. I will probably read Tyrant, to find out what the full story is with Doe, and see if King can redeem himself. I will likely read Lawless to get Bear's story.

Oh, and this book could use a good editing. It started out pretty strong, but as the story went on, I got distracted on more than one occasion by wrong word choices and other errors.