Spring Books | Ofelia Gränd

February 22, 2020 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 2 Comments

On the news this morning, they declared that we now have spring – metrological, that is. It’s a bit tricky, but according to what they said, we haven’t actually had winter this year (in my area). For it to be winter, there have to be five days in a row where the middle temperature doesn’t go above 0c.

It didn’t happen this year. It’s crazy. We haven’t had snow that has lasted more than a few hours.

blue flower So technically, we’ve had spring since autumn, but it isn’t allowed to be called spring until we’ve hit the 15th of February. So now it’s been a week since the 15th and we haven’t had one single minute below 0 degrees celsius – so it’s spring!

I should probably say ‘yay!’ but I feel cheated. The kids haven’t been able to play in the snow for a single day. Terrible.

But, now we’re gonna be positive because that’s who we are LOL.

All this talk about seasons made me think about my books. I was a bit afraid to check, I feared I wouldn’t have any spring or summer stories. I mean, I know I have a few, but I had this feeling of Once in May being the only spring tale I’ve ever written, and Nine Stones being the only summer story.

But, luckily, I forget what I write LOL

So, if you want to make a false start on spring (if we’re gonna go by the calendar, spring is 1st of March to 31st of May in the Northern Hemisphere) these are my spring books:

Once in a Forest (Nortown #2) – Jason, a bartender from the city, comes to Nortown and spots Tom, a gruff lumberjack. It’s an out-for-you kind of story.

The Empty Egg (Nortown #2.5) – Aiden and Tristan from Once in a Snowstorm are celebrating Easter with chocolate and lingerie.

Once in May (Nortown #3) – John is trying to isolate himself in Nortown, but then Zach shows up, and he just won’t go away. A hurt-comfort story.

Acronym (A Tattooed Corpse Story) – Detective Lars Horn has a problem, there is a body that keeps disappearing from the morgue only to come back in fresh again.

Blood on Sand (A DRitC story) – Zoe is a lizard shifter held captive by werewolves and is forced to fight like a gladiator.

Okay, so five was all I had, ha! I think it’s safe to say, spring isn’t the season during which most of my stories take place. If you click the title, you’ll be taken to the page for the book, and there you’ll find excerpts and more links.

Happy spring!

Pipe Dreams by J.M. Snyder

February 21, 2020February 1, 2020 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 3 Comments

You know the fantasies people have (and porn lives off) about a hot handyman showing up at your doorstep? In Pipe Dreams by J.M. Snyder that handyman is a plumber LOL.

Paul Jacoby wakes up one morning to a clogged sink and a message his roommate leaves on the answering machine that the sink is blocked because Paul had been right, they didn’t have a garbage disposal.

I have to cut in here – I thought garbage disposals only existed in American horror movies and the occasional drama where the wife drops her wedding ring into those flesh-chopping knives hiding at the bottom of the sink. But, now I’ve googled and became a little wiser. It’s common in the U.S. but not in the rest of the world.

Okay, back to the story before you think Pipe Dreams is a horror story – it’s not! It’s a fun little tale about Paul opening the door for the plumber and come face to face with Ethan Randolph, his high school crush.

He then proceeds to help Ethan find his…ratchet.

Whatever you picture this story to be, you’re probably right LOL. It’s short, it’s fun, it’s hot. It’s just below 3k long, so even if you only have half a cup of coffee at hand, you’ll have time to read it.

books2read.com/PipeDreams

Pipe Dreams When Paul Jacoby opens the door to plumber Ethan Randolph, Paul’s memories and libido are instantly reawakened. Paul lusted after the captain of the basketball team in high school, but he was too shy to do anything about his attraction to Ethan back then.

Can he pluck up the courage this time to make his yearnings for the hunky Ethan a reality, or will his pipes — as well as his dreams — remain blocked?

Note: This story appears in the author’s anthology, Flashed!

I Will Meet You at Asphodel’s Pit by Tinnean

February 18, 2020February 1, 2020 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 19 Comments

Okay, so space bars…what’s not to like? In this month of love, I figured we’d need us some sci-fi. I Will Meet You at Asphodel’s Pit by Tinnean is a short little story about…well, that’s the thing, I don’t really know LOL.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it, but I started out confused, then I became a little more confused before we got to the ending which is very sweet.

Protector and Trey are already in a relationship when the story begins, but Trey’s sister who’s to be married off to a different race due to political reasons betrays them, and Protector has to leave Trey to bring back The Protector – a female protector who was taken during an attack.

Protector tells Trey to meet him at Asphodel’s Pit which is one of the most dangerous bars in the universe.

When Trey gets to Asphodel’s Pit, Protector hasn’t arrived. So he waits, and waits, and waits. While Trey spends his days waiting, we get the story of Sloff and Rinig – bartender and bouncer – who used to be friends. Both have been horribly injured in the line of duty and are now spending their lives working in the bar…but maybe that isn’t too bad.

So we have aliens, many kinds, and we have two pairs – one torn apart due to work, the other tossed together due to no longer being able to do the work they used to do.

If you’re expecting some great big climax in this story, you’ll be disappointed, but I liked the world and the characters. And who doesn’t want to see lovers reunited?

This story is just over 8k (and it’s free), so brew yourself a cup and snuggle up!

books2read.com/AsphodelsPit

Space politics sends The Protector on a mission, the failure of which could result in mass destruction. When her mission is sabotaged, the man bred from birth to be a Protector must leave his lover in order to carry out his duty. However, before he leaves, he promises to meet the white-haired H’asean at Asphodel’s Pit, one of the most dangerous dives in all the known universes, sending him off with Protector’s Brachi friend.

Meanwhile, at Asphodel’s Pit, inhabitants of other planets are going about their business. Sloff runs the dive, along with his old friend Rinig sa Bre, who provides security. Both men are unaware all hell in on the verge of breaking loose, as a Protector is about to arrive, looking for his young sir.