Poem: 2020

Happy New Year everyone to you and yours! I hope the new year will be everything you want it to be. Thank you for all your support throughout the year & I shall see you all again in the new decade! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

It is a new decade about to arrive
and I’m just thankful to be alive,
looking forward to
more family time,
more writing,
more reading,
more learning,
more music,
more life.

Who knows what the year will bring,
each year brings more experience,
more knowledge,
more achievements,
more fun,
highs and lows
and all in-between.
I don’t know what is on the cards
and I suppose that is why
it is both daunting and exciting.

I turn 30 this year
and my god a lot has happened
in those almost 30 years!
Over the years
I have grew to not expect
and just live
and that’s why 2020 is so exciting.

So here is to the new year,
here’s to a new decade
with more progress
and a decade to look
back at nostalgia,
here’s to taking everything
in our strides,
never worrying
because nothing is that big
at the end of the day.

Here’s to time,
to life,
to being free,
to living,
to happiness.

Memory & Desire: A Postcard from Neo Tokyo (The Jennifer Yanchez Diaries Book 1) By C. Vandyke Review!

Memory & Desire: A Postcard from Neo Tokyo (2019) by C. Vandyke is the first book in the Jennifer Yanchez Diaries.

This book follows Jennifer Yanchez who is a private eye. The story begins when a rich and beautiful socialite Carlotta enlists Jennifer’s help in locating her husband Steven. Encouraged to take the dangerous job on by a combination of desire for money, attraction to Carlotta and as a way to get away briefly from the pain of her girlfriend Hiro’s murder, Jennifer decides to take on the case. But soon she finds herself in deeper than she ever thought possible when she is almost killed in an explosion at Carlotta’s apartment in the richer part of the city. However she is saved by Hyacinth Girl who she finds herself also attracted to. In a world filled with attractive women and lies and deceit, Jennifer must find out what on earth is going on before it is too late.

The short novel is intriguing from start to finish. The ending wasn’t totally surprising but some of the details were. Jennifer as a character is very easy to relate to. She is struggling to pay the rent and her head is wrecked with her landlord Manny who ain’t the most understanding though he shows a little compassion in letting her keep Hiro’s vase at one stage. I love how the author weaved class issues into the plot through the differences in Jennifer’s and Carlotta’s situations. I loved the plot, I love a good mystery and I loved the character of Jennifer who I related to in so many ways from her roots of going from paycheck to paycheck and her situation of being pulled into situations by gorgeous women. Only thing we didn’t have in common was her bravery. I would probably have ran a mile at the start to be fair!

A great write full of mystery with a dash of romance. Very gripping all the way through.

To purchase Memory & Desire: A Postcard from Neo Tokyo by C. Vandyke go to:

And for more about C. Vandyke and his work go to:

http://cvandyke.com/

https://twitter.com/aboutrunning

Heading to Apoc (Apoc Series Book 1) By Morgan Destera Review!

 

Heading to Apoc (2016) by Morgan Destera is the first book in the Apoc Series by the author.

 

The book follows the story of Siki and is set in a world where nuclear poisoning has left many people unable to reproduce. Those who can’t or show signs that they can’t are put into the mines and this is where we meet Siki. But she is not alone as she has supervisor Vin on her side and the two fall in love and plan to escape. But that is not going to run quite as smoothly as they would hope.

This is a very fast-paced, short read with lots of action and the plot is driven forward at all turns. Just when you think things are beginning to settle down, another twist comes along and sweeps you onto another stage of the journey. The book also deals with many important issues like rape, sexual harrassment and people using power over others and making them feel less or trying to at the least. The book speaks about the coldness and distantness often in our world and how humans can often use other humans for what they need and discard them when they can’t give them what they need.

I did like the connection between Siki and Vin. You could tell that they cared a lot for each other and their feelings for each other drive the story along very well. It has a very us against the world feel which is always super romantic.

The book also contained sexual moments which included Vin and Maharg, the tyrant Regulator in the mines. I don’t want to give away too much but Maharg ends up being Vin’s son and Vin knew he was his son all the time. I think it was brave to write about incest in the story. The twist was a massive shock which left me thinking ‘What the hell just happened there?’

I also love the cover by Bradley K. McDevitt. The detail in it is amazing.

All round, a great read and a brave write. Very original and well put together. A great start to the series.

 

To purchase Heading to Apoc by Morgan Destera go to:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heading-to-apoc-morgan-destera/1126191109?ean=2940157277376

 

And for more about Morgan Destera and their work go to:

https://twitter.com/morgandestera

https://www.smashwords.com/interview/MorganDestera

 

And for more about Bradley McDevitt and their work go to:

https://twitter.com/bkmcdevitt

http://www.bradleykmcdevitt.net/

 

 

 

Go Wild!: Over 200 Ways to Connect With Nature Review!

 

Go Wild!: Over 200 Ways to Connect With Nature (2017) by Emily Goss is a wonderful informative read about several aspects connected to nature.

The book looks at benefits like saving money due to being creative with nature, the health benefits of simply looking at nature and sustainability. This book shows the beauty nature brings to us in so many ways and makes the reader appreciate nature so much more. I read this book in one sitting and found I learned a lot from it. It was super interesting.

Written in a very down-to-earth and conversational way, this collection is easy to learn lots from. The chapters are all organized in an extremely easy to follow way with chunks of wisdom on how to make products from nature and how simply looking at nature can bring down your stress levels and make you more productive in your employment. There is many studies thrown in such as how people working in an environment surrounded by nature are less stressed and produce better and more quantities of work.

A wonderful compact read which the author has packed a lot into. It is very clear that the author is very passionate and knowledgable about the subject matter which comes through in the book. That is amazing.

Fantastic read.

 

To purchase Go Wild!: Over 200 Ways to Connect With Nature by Emily Goss go to:

 

And for more about Emily Goss and their work go to:

groweatgift.com

https://twitter.com/groweatgift

My New Book Xmas With The Fam Is Now Available On Amazon!

 

My new book Xmas With The Fam is now available to purchase on Amazon. As the title suggests it is a Christmas novella. For anyone who has read or heard about my previous book After The Fishing Trip, they may recognize the main character Mitch who was one of four main characters in that book too. Many other characters from After The Fishing Trip are in this book too.

This book follows Mitch’s story as he prepares to finish work for Christmas and have a wonderful Christmas with his husband Nate and their four children Jaime, Sasha, Finley and Piper. From making homemade ornaments and decortions with Nate to getting involved in a few social issues debates (because he wouldn’t be Mitch if he didn’t! :-)) and trying to find the perfect presents for his kids, the season is going to be eventful. Add in dogs, elves, snow globes, his bestie Vic lip syncing to Santa Baby at the drag benefit show, hot times with Nate and finding the father figure he always wished for.

I loved writing it. There was definitely moments which I did not believe I would get it out in time for Christmas but thankfully it has all worked out. It is also my twentieth book so I’m excited and chuffed about reaching that milestone in my writing career.

If you choose to purchase the book, thank you so much in advance and I hope you like it. 🙂

To purchase Xmas With The Fam go to:

I also put together a 14-song soundtrack on Spotify of all the Christmas songs which feature in the book and you can hear this at the following link:

Paperclip By Dan Woll And Walter Rhein Review!

 

Paperclip (2018) by Dan Woll and Walter Rhein is a very well-written and unsettling drama/thriller with elements of sci-fi/paranormal.

 

The novel tells the story of three people Carlie, Mort and Mickey whose lives interwine by a dark and overpowering force which is visible to only the three of them. The book is very fast-paced and nothing in it is filler. The novel is actually based on the true-life Operation Paperclip which I hadn’t heard about prior to reading the book. The fact that it is based on true events makes it all the more chilling. My favourite character was Mickey because I found him the most likeable but Mort does make the book and without him in it, so much of the story would be lost. He isn’t the most likeable but he is definitely the most interesting and the most complex. I think his story is handled very well by the authors. He has had a difficult life. His mother was killed in very tragic circumstances and he is intent on a twisted justice of making everyone present and involved in her death pay which includes Carlie on the basis that her mother was there and involved at the time. His father was did tests on in jail which ended up with him drinking a pitcher of lemonade with LSD in it. And while I sympathized with him for sure in these things, I liked that he wasn’t excused from his cruel actions after.

A very interesting thing I felt about Mort’s story too was how class played into it. It did feel like working-class people were even more targeted for these big scientists’ experiments and it made me think Mort’s life could have been a lot different if he was from another class. Being working-class myself, the idea of our lives being dispensable for scientific purposes didn’t surprise me but I think it was great that it was highlighted in the book. It is also a look at the bad side of science. Admittedly science has done a lot of good but there has been a lot of shady moments too in science’s history and it was good to see that being highlighted too.

Carlie is alright too and we get a lot of great backstory about her and her family. Each of these characters is written very well. The plot is interesting and everything works. It is not an easy read but it is thought-provoking and challenges the reader to think which I love. Fantastic editing by Cas Peace as well.

 

A fantastic read which I very much recommend.

 

To purchase Paperclip by Dan Woll and Walter Rhein go to:

 

And for more about Dan Woll and his work go to:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6729492.Dan_Woll

And for more about Walter Rhein and his work go to:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4221284.Walter_Rhein

And for more about Cas Peace and her work go to:

http://www.caspeace.com/

 

His Request By Ava March Review!

 

 

His Request (2013) by Ava March is a short read which is a sequel to the author’s novel The Client.

 

The book follows the story of the relationship between Jasper Reed and Nathaniel Travers. They are living in the English countryside but there is nothing boring or retiring about their life together. This book is both erotic and romantic. They play a game in this outing of ‘the physician and his patient’ and it is all very hot. In the non-sexual parts, their dialogue together shows how in love they are. It’s a perfect combination. I like both Jasper and Nate but my favourite was Jasper whose POV the story is told from. We get to know Jasper and how he thinks a lot and he’s lovely and super interesting.

As the story continues, Nate asks Jasper to visit with a friend of his who he used to be romantically interested in. Jasper says he doesn’t want to go first but eventually agrees so they go to visit with the man and his wife. Jasper’s inner thinking during the visit makes us all go on this journey with him.

There is three genres combined here. Historical, romance and erotica. And the author does a stunning job of combining these genres. I think March did a great job of showing how in love the two central characters are which is difficult to present in such a short write. The only flaw I have is that I think we could have got to know the characters a bit more but I suppose in a short read, that is hard to do.

A fantastic read.

 

To get your free copy of His Request by Ava March go to:

 

Or:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/323076

 

And for more about Ava March and her work go to:

http://www.avamarch.com/

The Marquess of Gorsewall Manor By Adella J. Harris Review!

 

The Marquess of Gorsewall Manor (2018) by Adella J. Harris is the first book in the After the Swan’s Nest series by the author.

The story follows Thomas Brook who is been sent to the pillory after been caught in a molly house raid where he was getting intimate with his friend William. In the era this book was set, it was illegal for two men to be intimate. But thankfully Thomas excapes, goes on the run and eventually ends up at Gorsewall Manor which is the home of Lord Elmsby who Thomas fancies instantly and vice versa. He begins working in the library of the house and gradually he and Lord Elmsby get to know each other and their romance begins to bloom. But among all this, the body of Lord Elmsby’s fiancée from years back is found out on the moors which leads to Thomas investigating her death in order to prove Lord Elmsby’s innocence.

This is a wonderfully engrossing read which combines romance, mystery and historical fiction all into one. I think it is great for awareness that the author wrote about the cruelty and injustice many people faced back years ago due to hatred over their sexual and romantic feelings. Those scenes were incredibly hard to read. But I think it is right that the author showed these situations in an honest way, showing how ugly the actions of many people back then were. I was so glad that Thomas escaped but I felt awful for William who without been in the book very much was a character I liked because he seemed like this ordiniary bloke but who had a steel and a hero way about him when push came to shove. So it was great to see that book 2 in this series is William’s story with his Earl.

The book has wonderful characters. Thomas and Julian (that’s the Lord’s name) have great chemistry, there is a great build-up in their romance with a definite will-they-won’t-they plot where you are on the edge of your seat hoping they will. Harris beautifully shows how much they care about each other through Thomas putting himself in danger of being caught to clear Julian of the murder and Julian deciding that it is best for his name to continue to be rumoured about in connection to the murder rather than put Thomas in danger. It’s dead cute. While Thomas is struggling to survive, he sells himself and it is so lovely to see that Julian doesn’t judge him badly on his previous work.

This book is stunningly wrote, very detailed and paced wonderfully. It has a great mix of genres which are combined very well. The book speaks about important issues and the entire book is very well-written. On the first book, this bodes very well for this series.

A must-read.

To get your free copy of The Marquess of Gorsewall Manor by Adella J. Harris go to:

 

Or:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/891794

 

And for more about Adella J. Harris and her work go to:

https://adellajharris.com/