Stanly Benson reads: book recommendation

Book Review: Cry Wolf by Greta Stone // Giveaway

Cry Wolf
Greta Stone
Publication date: March 1st 2017
Genres: Gothic, New Adult, Paranormal Romance

Peter is a kitsune. Chaos follows him wherever he goes. Good intentions, bad intentions—it doesn’t matter. Even mimicking the howl of a friend he hasn’t seen in over a decade turns out to have disastrous consequences.
The wolf doesn’t have a name. For now, he goes by Luca. He has no past, and as an escaped slave, if he can’t stay hidden in the shadows, he’ll have no future. When someone steals his howl, he’s drawn to investigate, and ends up saddled with a mouthy fox who insists they used to be friends once upon a time.
Petty problems and a dubious reunion are pushed aside the longer they’re stranded together. The Underwood is a dangerous place.
They have two choices: work together or die.
Join Greta Stone in a dark paranormal MM romance retelling of Aesop’s fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and David P. Mannix’s classic novel, The Fox and the Hound.

Goodreads / Amazon

MY THOUGHTS:

Nostalgic...

Ok, hold up a second. I need to recover from this awesomeness that is Cry Wolf. Reading this book, i was constantly hit with some serious high level nostalgia. The story brought back memories from when i was younger. In fact somewhere between reading the book, i broke out into one of the old nursery rhymes i learnt way back in primary school about stories of the boy who cried wolf and that one about the old lady who lived in a shoe.

While i enjoyed the story, i must admit it took great effort as i had to concentrate on each word due to excess world building of New Gotham, overly detailed descriptions drawn from ancient fairy-tale and a whole lot of mythical creatures (not that it is necessarily a bad thing) but i must admit it kinda slowed me down and made the entire reading process very not so enjoyable. Looking past all of that, i found this book very unputdownable.

I give the author an A+ for brilliantly telling us about the main characters but not out rightly raveling them until much letter in the story. This technique kept flipping through the pages wondering what the heck was going to happen next. Greta slowly opened up the characters to us like an onion, each layer holding its own level of darkness which i loved (if you are a bit not into the dark side, you may want to read this one with the lights on.)

Because the main characters had been separated for so long, it took them a really long time to start trusting each other again and build back up a friendship. They didn't jump all over each other the second they met up again, which is the case with a lot of shifter romances. There was definitely attraction on both sides, but things developed slowly and carefully.

I highly recommend this book to all members of the dark side (if your not there, common over to the dark-side, we have cookies and awesome stories like Cry Wolf.) This book if meant 18+ only, there are lots of stomach rolling M/M action going on. I really hope that Greta Stone will have a lot more in store for Peter and Luca because i really feel that their story is not yet over.

Have you read this book yet? Let me know your thoughts about it in the comment section.

Thank you for reading.

~ Stanly.

Author Bio:
Greta is the unruly offspring of a tiger and a dragon. She spends most of her time reading, stalking her favorite musicians, and harassing other authors with pranks.
Underwood District Series (MM Romance/UF)
Cry Wolf - Book 1
Cry Wolf: Mating Season - Book 1.5
Take a Tour of New Gotham: www.brimstonepub.com
Sign up for GRETA STONE'S MAILING LIST and receive access to a bonus adventure featuring Peter and Luca.(Their fates might be changed forever.)
Copy and paste to join my newsletter: tinyurl.com/l99rh6m

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Newsletter

GIVEAWAYS!

eBook giveaways: The first 5 people to comment on ANY tour post (given on each day) will automatically win a free e-book copy of Cry Wolf. Greta will keep tally and submit prizes at the end of each tour day.

Take a trip to New Gotham!
A paid vacation to New Gotham is an expensive affair. I found a witch who specializes in crafting gatestones. These magical pendants are used for traveling between dimensions. The bauble offered as a contest prize should take the winner to Avaline’s Trees. Keep in mind, gatestones are touchy things. It might not do anything at all. Or you might up in oblivion. Good luck with that. We’ll read about it in the papers, no doubt.

Elderstone Keys – What’s the big deal?
There is a house in New Gotham that is rumored to be haunted. No one has lived in it since the Great Depression, and no one can recall what its last occupants looked like, what they did for a living or where they went. Only one is fated to enter and learn its secrets. Anytime I host a contest, I give away keys to Elderstone. The person who collects ten of them is fated to own the house. Among their keys, they’ll have the mystical key that opens the door. (More information)

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GEUST POST: Writers Are The Luckiest by James Wearne

Blog tour

In my other life I am a chef. That means working late on Saturday night, even though I had a 6:30 AM train to catch in the morning. Still, I managed to get out of the restaurant by midnight and caught the subway home with the late night party people and other tired service workers. I got a few hours sleep once the adrenaline of the service had died down in my veins, and then I was dragging myself out of bed with not as much sleep as I would like, but enough to survive.

I stumbled down to the shower and the hot blast of water shocked consciousness back into my body. I gulped down a quick coffee, picked up my previously packed bags, and went outside to find that the heavens had decided that this was the night to dump a good foot of snow on Toronto.

My plan had been to catch the subway, but that involved a fifteen minute walk to the station and I didn’t much look forward to wheeling my suitcase through the snow. Plus, who knows what havoc the weather would have done to the transport system. I pulled out my phone and called a cab.

It was the driver’s first fare of the day and he was decidedly chirpy. He played me his favourite Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan album, as he drove 30 km/h through the slush filled streets, for fear of black ice. It was too early for any of the roads to have been plowed. I sat in the back getting tenser and tenser for fear of missing the train. He chatted on seemingly blissfully unaware of my worry.

He delivered me with ten minutes to spare and I raced through the almost empty station; the squeak in my suitcase wheels echoing in the ridiculously high ceilings of the terminal.

When I made it to my gate, I needn’t have worried. There was still a long line of people waiting to board. There seemed to be two main types of travellers, the bored business people heading to do business in Detroit or London, and the students (like me) and backpackers, who were taking advantage of the cheap early morning rates.

I brought up my ticket on my phone, praising the new technology, scanned it and boarded the train, securing my suitcase in the overhead compartment. The seat beside me, so far, was free and I feared that every person that boarded was going to take it. Thankfully, the doors were closed and I realized I would be able to stretch out. I put my computer bag on the seat beside me, and had a look around.

Most of the other passengers were bundling up their winter jackets to use as pillows, or were staring at the phones, laptops, tablets, playing games, movies, or scrolling through Facebook. A few of the business types were reluctantly checking emails, files, and spreadsheets, with the resigned faces of those with responsibility weary lives. They were doing anything to kill the time till we pulled into Windsor.

I seemed to be the only one who was excited. Despite feeling tired - nothing a second coffee couldn’t cure - before me were four glorious hours of uninterrupted time that I could dedicate to writing. I pulled out my pen and moleskine journal, put the tray down in front of me, turned to a blank page and was overcome by a feeling that having writing in my life made me one of the luckiest people alive.

Don’t get me wrong - writing is hard frustrating work, with little reward unless you happen to hit the big time.

Yet, I still feel lucky. It is more than the fact I am never bored or killing time because in those moments I get to write. It is more than the sense of purpose that fills me as I put pen to page. It’s that I get to hear my characters calling; and as the snowy fields of southern Ontario are flying by the window of the train, I get to discover their stories.

BLURB:

The 21st century has arrived, yet wizardry lurks in the musty libraries of the past. LYNX, a new agent for Supernatural Intelligence, believes the time has come to throw away the robes and rituals and revolutionize magic. Her colleagues are old school and don’t trust her. However, when a break-in occurs at the National Gallery of London, she has a chance to show what she can do.

What she does not count on is having to baby sit Andy the thief or having her best friend killed and accused of treason. As she tries to prove his innocence, and pay off a debt the thief owes to dangerous, paranormal money-lenders, she finds herself falling in love with the handsome Andy. Out-gunned and out-powered, she has to fight to stay alive in order to find out if her love is real or if messing with magic will be her downfall.

Author Bio: With ancestors who were pirates, James inherited a restless soul. Born in Australia, he currently lives in a Zen temple in Toronto with his wife and purple bear.

Also, thank you so much for the offer. I will bring it up to Mr. Wearne and see what he thinks about it. I think that would be a great opportunity and I will get back to you about it as soon as possible. Thank you again.

You have yourself a great week too.

New story alert!: Descent by J.D. Netto // Giveaway

book recommendation

YAAASSS!!! Am not sure about you but am already building my 2017 "can't wait books" TBR and Descent is definitely one of them.

Before i begin, If you have not read any of the books in the whispers of the fallen series yet, feel free to head to your fav' ebook sites and purchase a copy, take a photo of the book and tag me in it and be entered into a giveaway to win a FREE copy of Descent when it comes out. This contest is international so you can enter from any country.

I only recently discovered that amazing world created by J.D. Netto when OfTomes publishing blessed me with a copy of the first book in the whispers of the fallen series. The book follows two characters as they try to uncover the rumor of the secret diary of Lucifer (yes, THAT! Lucifer...) I already have a review coming up so i think it would be kinda spoilery if i give so much away about the first book i just recently read, be sure to check back soon.

Although i have not yet read the second and third book in the series, i am already looking of forward to read Descent because it is told from the perspective of Lucifer who is kinda the bad guy. Am excited to read his side of the story and see how the story unfolds.

Though I've only read the first book, i can tell you that the whispers of the fallen series is a heart stopping, pulse racing, no dull moment read. I can guarantee that you will be immediately reeled into the riveting world of Elysium.

Have you read any books in the series? If you did i'd like to know your thoughts. And are you looking forward to reading Decent? Let me know in the comment section.

Thank you for reading,

~ Stanly

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in a small town in Brazil, J.D. relocated to the United States during the late years of his childhood. At an early age, J.D. discovered his passion for fantasy stories and alternate universes. Immersed in worlds created by Tolkien, Michael Crichton, C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling, J.D. found his own writing voice when he had the idea for his first book series. 'What if Lucifer had a Diary? What if the Diary was a secret? What if the secret was a reality?'

These simple questions were the initial spark of inspiration for J.D.'s first literary work. After six years, he self-published his first novel, The Whispers of the Fallen, on November 30th, 2012, which was then picked up by Untreed Reads and re-released in August 2013. The Whispers of the Fallen series has become a prominent presence in YA literature, captivating thousands of readers worldwide. The sequel, Rebellion, was released at BookCon 2014 in New York City. The third book in the series, The Gathering of Shadows, was released on Halloween 2015.

Today, J.D. Netto joined the OfTomes family, a micro-publishing house founded by internet sensation, Benjamin of Tomes.