Tag: paranormal

A Gentle Shove of Human Kindness by Amy Lane

~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 19 Comments

It’s been a long time since I read Amy Lane. I used to read her a lot, and she’s written some of my favourite books, so I don’t really know why I stopped – not a conscious decision. On today’s menu, we have A Gentle Shove of Human Kindness, and I admit I picked simply because the blurb said Gabriel would be on a seat at Starbucks. Don’t judge how I get my coffee kicks!

Gabriel is an angel who has forgotten why he should bother to save humans so he’s sent to Starbucks to observe and remember why, despite all the shitty things humans do, they’re worth protecting.

Usually, when I read Amy Lane I end up crying. This wasn’t that kind of story. We’re seeing the world through Gabriel as he watches Jamie, a barista with a bright smile, and the shy Ernie, slowly work up to set a time for a date with a bit of angelic interference. It’s sweet, but not much is happening.

Angels? Have you read many books with angels? I have to admit I haven’t read many at all – The Guild Hunter Series, of course, and some occasional other, but they’ve mostly been M/F books. The only M/M books I can think of at the top of my head is Into This River I Drown by T.J. Klune which had me crying buckets.

If you’re up for some angels with your coffee, this is an 18-pages freebie you can get through Amy Lane’s Prolific Works Page.

A Gentle Shove of Human KindnessThis short story was originally published in the Dreamspinner Press Anthology ‘Grand Adventures’

Witness the Angel Gabriel.

a.k.a. “Heaven’s biggest prick”

Gabriel has been accused of the crime of hubris–and his sentence is to remember why angels protected humans in the first place. A permanent seat at Starbucks might be Gabriel’s idea of hell, but it’s there that he meets the irrepressible Jamie and wounded Ernie, and realizes that the human race might be worth saving after all.

It just needs a gentle shove of human kindness

Purrfect Harmony | Arden Steele

~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 19 Comments

I figured I needed one more Valentine read this month despite the 14th having come and gone. I was scrolling through my feed, can’t remember if it was Instagram or Facebook (probably Facebook since I clicked a link) and saw a Valintine giveaway over at bookfunnel. One of the books listed was Purrfect Harmony by Arden Steele, and I was in the mood for some shifter smut LOL.

I’m a little confused. After I’d read Purrfect Harmony I went to look it up on Goodreads. It took a little time to find, but I did, only it had no cover. But I clicked my way over to the author profile in search of a website – no such thing was listed. So I googled, and there I fund Ms Steele’s website.

But, I also found a different cover of Purrfect Harmony and an announcement that it’s coming out in March 2020. Below the cover, it said that the new version is 20k longer than the version published in the Heart of the Beast Anthology. So naturally, I tried to find the anthology…no luck. Heart of the Beast was the name of the group giveaway, though.

It doesn’t really matter, I’m just a little confused about what story I’ve read LOL.

It’s cute, I enjoyed it. It’s a mates-destined-to-be kind of tale. Remington Raines is a rockstar and a cheetah shifter. He can have anyone he wants and no one ever says ‘no’. At least not until he asks Kol Livingston out for dinner.

Kol has had shifter boyfriends before, and he’s not sure he can survive another one finding his soulmate when that soulmate isn’t him, so he’s sworn off shifters. It doesn’t matter that it’s the Remi asking him out, he just can’t.

It’s short (though if you buy it, it might be 20k longer), it’s funny, it’s cute. And for those who know me, you know how I hate the uber-romantic scenes where the audience claps. We almost made it through, people, almost.

But, I well aware of that being a me-not-you kind of thing, so if you’re into shifters, give this a go! I enjoyed it.

Purrfect HarmonyKol Livingston believes in the so-called fairy tales, the clichés—love at first sight, soul mates, and happily-ever-afters. He wants it all, but after a series of failed relationships, he’s beginning to think he’ll never meet Prince Charming. He loves his job as a personal concierge at Blackhaven Manor, but with all the gorgeous paranormals strutting around the estate, why would anyone choose him? When cheetah shifter and infamous bad boy, Remington Raines, is asked to perform for the annual Valentine Masquerade Ball, he can’t say no. Literally. Still, an all-expenses-paid vacation from tour buses and screaming fans might be just what he needs. Falling for the quirky concierge with big, brown eyes and a smile that melts him, however, wasn’t part of the plan.

Spring Books | Ofelia Gränd

~ 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 flowerSo 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:

laughOnce 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!