Wrap-Up Wednesday | August

It’s time for another wrap-up Wednesday post. I’ve been in a reading slump or maybe calling it a slump is wrong. I haven’t felt like reading. I haven’t had the peace of mind to sit down and focus on a story. These last few days it’s changed, though. I’ve sneaked in a little reading time here and there, and it’s the most unlikely book that has yanked me out of my slump 😄 

Out of Time by Clare London  

I started reading this because it was short. Yes, that’s where I’ve been this month. I’ve actively searched for short stories because I can’t face a longer book. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I hardly ever read blurbs, and for some reason, I thought this was a sci-fi story. It’s not. It’s a paranormal little tale about two vampires.  

Is immortality a dream or a curse?

Ambrus travels in space and time, a mature and confident vampire, not looking for any permanent companion.

Then in the bloody trenches of WWI, he meets Edward, a beautiful young soldier turned vampire against his will and fighting his fate with bitter anger and resentment. Ambrus is irresistibly drawn to him but Edward rejects him at first.

What then follows is an anguished and erotic courtship throughout the century, as Ambrus seeks to help Edward find his own way to peace as an immortal, and Edward learns what real love – and a real lover – is.

https://books2read.com/Out-Of-Time-London

The Two Princes – Gimlet Media 

After Out of Time, I listened to The Two Princes which is on Spotify. I saw someone share it on Facebook a while back, and I saved it on my Spotify thinking I’d get to it at some point. I did now. It’s a scripted fantasy action adventure podcast, pretty cool. 

When Prince Rupert sets out to break the mysterious curse that’s destroying his kingdom, he’s ready to face whatever dastardly villain or vile monster stands in his way. What he isn’t prepared for are the bewildering new emotions he feels when he meets the handsome Amir, a rival prince on a quest to save his own realm. Forced to team up, the two princes soon discover that the only thing more difficult than saving their kingdoms is following their hearts.

The Two Princes stars Noah Galvin (Booksmart, Dear Evan Hansen), Ari’el Stachel (The Band’s Visit), Christine Baranski (The Good Wife, The Good Fight), Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog), Matthew Rhys (The Americans), Samira Wiley (Orange Is the New Black, The Handmaid’s Tale). The Two Princes was written by Kevin Christopher Snipes and directed by Mimi O’Donnell.

https://gimletmedia.com/shows/the-two-princes/episodes

Cards on the Table by Josh Lanyon 

Since nothing held my attention, I thought, a mystery might be in order. I stumbled upon Cards on the Table by Josh Lanyon, it’s an old one, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. I enjoyed it, but I was still not really feeling like reading. 

Fifty years ago a glamorous Hollywood party ended in murder — the only clue a bloody Tarot card. Timothy North is trying to find out what happened that long ago summer’s night, but when a Tarot card turns up pinned to his front door, the only person Tim can turn to for help is his ex-lover, Detective Jack Brady.

Originally published in the “Partners in Crime” anthology.

https://books2read.com/CardsontheTable

Forsaken Fae: Book One (Forsaken Fae 1) by R.A. Steffan  

I have no idea why or how, but I ended up looking at Forsaken Fae by R.A. Steffan. I haven’t read anything by her before and I do my best to avoid the fae. It was the first line of the blurb that hooked me. I read: There’s an unconscious Fae drooling on Len’s couch. That’s not even the weirdest thing to happen to him this week.  

I thought why not, I can give it a try, so I did. When I’d read a little bit and realised the MC was into bondage, I cursed myself for not reading the rest of the blurb. I seldom read BDSM stories, and when I do, it’s because I haven’t read the blurb LOL. Anyway, I read on, thinking a little bondage has never hurt anyone.  

I enjoyed this far more than I ever thought I would, and now I want myself a grumpy fae. I also think I need to have more necromancers in my stories LOL 

There’s an unconscious Fae drooling on Len’s couch.
That’s not even the weirdest thing to happen to him this week.

Len’s been told that not all Fae are scheming, manipulative pricks. A moot point, since this one definitely is—he knows that much from bitter experience.

So, when his vampire ex-coworker dumps Albigard of the Unseelie on Len’s doorstep, he gives her two hours to find a better hiding place for the Fae fugitive before tossing him straight to the curb with the rest of the garbage.

He should have known better, of course. Because if there’s one thing Len’s learned since being thrown into the deep end of the seedy paranormal underworld, it’s that nothing is ever so simple.

Now he’s on the run from a cataclysmic primal force trying to tear its way into the human realm, stuck with a charismatic bastard who already knows way too much about the inside of Len’s messed-up head. The first time he met Albigard, Len punched the Fae in his too-perfect face. This time, they’ll have to learn to work together—or risk having their souls torn apart and consigned to the void, with the rest of humanity facing the same fate soon after.

The Wild Hunt has slipped its chains.
Darkness is coming for the world.

https://books2read.com/ForsakenFae