Title: Unconventional in San Diego
Author Name & Publisher: Carol Lynn, Amber Kell, TA Chase, Jambrea Jo Jones, Devon Rhodes (Totally Bound Publishing)
Publication Date & Length: August 11, 2015 – 198 pgs
‘Fate’s Bridge’ by Carol Lynne
Is it possible for a soul to be reborn inside another?
What would you do if you discovered someone harboring a soul you recognized as one from a deceased loved one? For vampire Roman Gschwind, the scenario becomes a reality when he meets Bodi Rain.
Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear that Roman must share Bodi with another vampire if he has any chance of rekindling the love that he’d lost so long ago.
‘Coming in Third’ by Amber Kell
Love sometimes comes in threes.
With his mother plotting to have him wed, Niall decides to sneak out of the fae palace and fulfill one of his greatest fantasies. At the Unconventional bar, he finds a pair of lion shifters looking to spice up their love life. Unable to resist the strong attraction between them, Niall lets the persuasive pair take him home.
Jovan and Luka have been searching for their third for years. When Niall stumbles into the bar, their shifter instincts tell them the innocent fae could be their long sought mate. After a sensual night together, they’re certain the beautiful man was fated to be theirs.
His guards fetch him from the shifters’ bed and Niall is taken away from the pair. Upset about Niall’s return to the palace and a possible arranged marriage, the lion shifters battle to decide their future—should they go and fetch their mate or let it only be the one-night stand Niall promised them?
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of M/M/M ménage.
‘The Unicorn Said Yes’ by T.A. Chase
When an innocent human virgin meets the king of the unicorn herd, it’s not just legends that come true.
Ivan Brusilov goes to Unconventional to get a drink and let off some steam. Little does he realize he’ll be meeting his destiny when he walks in.
Carney Ferguson goes to the paranormal bar to celebrate his twenty-fifth birthday. Maybe he’s looking for some fun as well, considering he’s still a virgin. He doesn’t like admitting it, but when he meets Ivan, he discovers that being a virgin can bring opportunities that being experienced might not.
As the unicorn king and the virgin begin to fall in love, there are darker forces working behind the scenes to take advantage of the unicorn legends for their own evil purpose. Neither Ivan nor Carney are safe alone, but together, they just might be strong enough to keep Ivan alive.
‘Blood on the Moon’ by Jambrea Jo Jones
Be careful what you wish for, especially when you’re a witch.
Montague Ramey wanted something to happen in his life. He thought when he found out he was a witch that his life would become more exciting, but it was the same thing every day. His coven was nice and boring, as was his job with the television station anchoring the news. The only excitement he got was going to the local bar, but there weren’t very many men who wanted to play. That was, until the moon turned red and his life changed.
After Kishar Nichelson’s motorcycle stalled on the highway with no traffic in sight, he stumbled into a small town around midnight, the red moon guiding his way. On the run and weak, Kishar needed to figure out where he was and who was after him before lack of sex killed him.
Can a witch and an incubus solve the mystery before one of them dies? The blood on the moon wasn’t the only thing they had to worry about. Meddling family, close calls with death and a missing witch are enough to keep anyone busy, but can Kishar and Montague still find time for love?
‘A Sliver of Sunset’ by Devon Rhodes
From one-night stand to nurse and patient—is it crazy to expect more?
Angelo has somehow developed leukemia—the only paranormal ever known to do so—and the doctors are mystified as to the cause. The cure requires him to repress his shifter side with a chemical inhibitor and be entirely human while he goes through chemotherapy, which contributes to some interesting situations he never would have foreseen—things like ‘misplacing’ his favorite bar, Unconventional, and getting picked up by a human without realizing it’s his mate.
Dominic can’t believe his luck when bravely striking up a conversation with the hottest guy he’s ever seen leads to the best sex he’s ever had. When he wakes up—no surprise—Angelo is gone. A week later, he’s shocked when he walks in to meet a new oncology patient to find Angelo fighting for his life and dependent upon his care.
Will their timing ever improve, or will Angelo’s time run out before they get a chance?
I have always been fascinated with the paranormal and the phenomenon of the red moon. It is something so beautiful in the sky that has a sinister myth to it. Most people think of it as a bad omen, saying it means someone is going to die. I don’t share the thoughts on the blood moon. I just think it is beautiful, but it helped me set up my story.
When we talked about doing another GRL anthology and said it would be paranormal, I wanted to do a couple that weren’t wolves because I seem to always go for the wolves. This time I picked a witch and an incubus. I think we all picked something a little different and that makes for a fun anthology. I love writing these every year and am so happy to be included with such a wonderful group of authors.
This year the backdrop of our stories is San Diego and we decided to use a paranormal bar. This helped us to use other characters. Another thing I love is how we use other characters. For me, my witch was friends with TA Chase’s unicorn. And how fun is it to have a unicorn in our anthology! This also means that some secondary characters get stories. For instance, I was on Amber Kell about writing a characters story, once I got to the Devon Rhodes’ story I found out the secondary character already had a story. I love that!
*Funny aside, I was going to do a unicorn before I decided to go with a witch and incubus. Great minds and all*
For my story, I wanted to use the blood moon to bring about a change for my character. My witch thinks his life is dull so I helped make it more interesting with the help of a paranormal character who needs sex to live. As for my incubus, he needs some help. I brought the two of them together to help each other and I hope everyone enjoys my story.
I wonder what we’ll get up to next year. I don’t know about anyone else, but I can’t wait to find out what will happen with the next anthology. I’m always looking ahead because I love to read these anthologies just as much as I love to write them.
~Jambrea Jo Jones
About Jambrea Jo Jones:
Jambrea wanted to be the youngest romance author published, but life impeded the dreams. She put her writing aside and went to college briefly, then enlisted in the Air Force. After serving in the military, she returned home to Indiana to start her family. A few years later, she discovered yahoo groups and book reviews. There was no turning back. She was bit by the writing bug.
She enjoys spending time with her son when not writing and loves to receive reader feedback. She’s addicted to the internet so feel free to email her anytime.
4 stars overall, but each individually given stars too.
M/M and M/M/M paranormal
‘Fate’s Bridge’ by Carol Lynne – 4 stars
This was a somewhat disjointed story for me. I enjoyed the previous history about Roman and his true love, Julian. It was such a heartbreaking end to their love. However, the fact that Roman has held out hope and love for Julian for all of these years is so sweet. Alexi is another character, Roman’s brother, whom I felt was a decent character. He was not all that well developed, however, you could feel the attraction and love that he felt towards his brother.
The heat between Alexi and Bodi was palpable. Hot with a capital H! And, despite that heat and attraction, Alexi was still able to appreciate what Roman and Bodi might create, simply because Alexi knew that Julian’s soul was inside of Bodi.
The relationship is not an easy one, but over time, they are able to manage their way through. It was a touching story in that the reader was never quite sure if Julian and Bodi were one in the same or separate. This story did not disappoint and despite it’s short length, was a sweet, hot read.
‘Coming in Third’ by Amber Kell – 5 stars
I loved this story. I believe that it was among my favorite in this anthology. It had mystery, disaster, loyalty and love all wrapped in a hot, growly package.
I really enjoyed how Jovan and Luka had to temper themselves around Niall. And, despite Niall’s horrible life, he was able to enjoy those two, however briefly.
I wanted to do bodily harm to Niall’s mother and was so happy when she was put in her place by Niall.
The chemistry among the three of them was seriously hot and the ending was even better. I would have loved to have this story continue, to see where their lives went from there.
‘The Unicorn Said Yes’ by T.A. Chase – 3.5 stars
I am normally a huge TA Chase fan, but this story just didn’t do it for me. I liked where the premise was going, but it just didn’t really deliver for me. I think the story was more about the hunters rather than the relationship between Carney and Ivan.
Also, you hear all about Ivan’s family, but only get to hear about Carney’s family after stuff goes terribly wrong – right in the middle of the major climax of the story.
I think it was just too rushed of a story for me. And, despite Carney and his awesome brother’s heroism, it was just not a complete story for me either.
‘Blood on the Moon’ by Jambrea Jo Jones – 4.5
Montague is kind of sad. While I liked his character in that he had a great family and support system, he was just a lonely, sad man. Then there was Kishar. An Incubus who was not only hot, but had a good nature. I really liked how they met. And, that when Montague was wishing for some excitement, that’s exactly what he got.
I really enjoyed the coven and how supportive they were. I also liked the paranormal witch and Incubus combination. It was electric and hot, but above all, it was healing for both.
I liked how Kishar was willing to stand up and be different for Montague and I really liked how Montague was able to show Kishar that he was not the monster that he perceived himself to be. It was a good story that did not leave me wanting in the end.
‘A Sliver of Sunset’ by Devon Rhodes – 4 stars
I loved Angelo from the previous story, but I really loved him in his own. I was so sad to see that he was suffering and loved that the universe stepped in to help him.
Dominic was a sweet, honest caring nurse who had an instant connection with Angelo. I liked that he was able to develop a relationship rather than just build on the night of hot sweaty sex. I think that it was helpful that he was able to know about Angelo’s entire existence without panicking or gaining disapproving marks from Angelo’s sister.
In the end, I was disappointed about the mystery – was the other shifter cured? Did they figure it out? I would have given 5 stars, except for that issue.
AvidReader
Excerpt from Blood on the Moon:Montague looked up at the moon and stopped walking. Blood on the moon. That was bad. Very, very bad. Something was about to happen and it wasn’t going to be good. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Montague needed to get home—he’d rather read about the results of the blood moon than be involved in it. He was up for adventure, but he wasn’t crazy. He hurried his pace, making sure to keep an eye on his surroundings.Reef meowed back. Sometimes he wished his cat could talk. At least he didn’t feel as alone with the animal in his house.
About a month after his parents died, he’d found Reef meowing at his door. He hadn’t been going to bring him in at first, but there had been something about the poor kitten that’d had him ushering him into his home and heart.
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