Puttanesca

 I finally got around to reading Morgan Brice's Last Resort (which is what I meant to buy when I accidentally bought a book in another series I already own), and was not disappointed. 

We're joining Erik and Ben as they have officially moved in together in Cape May, New Jersey. While they're in love, there are adjustments to arranging a life together in one space. Add into this anonymous mailing of haunted poker chips to the store Trinkets, and the murder of a former mob accountant at Ben's rental property, and it's a bit more. 

Basically, the crux here is that the accountant hid a large stash of money somewhere in the area, and managed to get killed upon returning to Cape May to get some more. His ghost isn't happy. The Mob ain't happy because it was their money. The Accountant's nephew ain't happy because he needs to apy off a debt. 

Given this is Morgan Brice, you have a general idea of what's going to end up happening by the end, although this is the second book where I feel like the ending got a lot rushed. (I mean, the story is great and engaging, and I can see the ending, but it still feels a bit like "Oh shit, I'm over my word limit, so let's cut out some of the climax so I don't go over."

Still fun, and I love the connected world here. 

Lighthouse trolls

 Morgan Brice's BadLands series continues with Thunder Road, in which newlyweds Simon and Vic get mixed up in weird vanishings among a motorcycle club and protections from certain Carolina lighthouses failing.

Basically, the thrust of this is that certain North Carolina Lighthouses form a 7 pointed star, while several lighthouses down the South Carolina coast provide energy to those to keep bad things at bay, both natural and supernatural. Seems that as lighthouses either got shuttered or automated, the lighthouse keepers weren't reinforcing the protections, thus they started fading. Which means a certain primal elemental is getting enough function back to start making vanish in thin air. 

Fun read, and what I've come to expect from the author.

Radio Free Europe

 Signs and Wonders by Morgan Brice has our heroes heading into the National Radio Quiet Zone to take down the next witch disciple, one who happens to also be both a cult leader and running a compter based business that's laundering money for the other disciples. 

Along the way, we get Brent and Travis from one of her other series, plus a gay couple in WV who are looking to go to Pittsburgh for obvious reasons. That one of them is the current descendant complicates things. 

At any rate, anyone reading this who has read the rest of the series has an idea of the basic structure, although now that there are only 5 disciples left, Evan and Seth are discussing what to do with retirement. Even if Evan is constantly becoming the Daphne of the series, constantly getting himself in unnecessary danger. 

Fun read.

Merry Go Round the world

 So, Morgan Brice wrote Roustabout in both her universe and in a shared universe involving the Carnival of Mysteries, which I'm taking to be basically like Thieves World back in the day, where different authors write with a shared setting. In this case, a unique carnival that's kind of secondary to the romance budding between Tennessee Supernatural Investigator Bart and RJ (aka Ghost Boy), a con man out to expose the sins of people who hurt his family. (Supposedly, older versions of these guys show up in the Kings of the Mountain series, but it's been a while since I read those.)

Anyway, Bart is called to take on the Ghost boy case in Memphis after the previous agent died of a heart attack. He and RJ actually meet in a hookup bar, although neither realizes who the other is at the time.

Anyway, while they both touch themselves thinking about their encounter in a stall, RJ is busy bringing down his former foster family and a warehouse owner who's disregard for OSHA regulations killed his brother. Bart in the meantime is using his Necromancy to try to figure out what RJ's game is. 

Things go sideways when the RJ finds out the Warehouse owner has a witch on staff. Said witch curses RJ before he can have another date with Bart. Bart in the meantime has figured out what RJ is doing and arranges to have RJ join the Bureau as his partner, although when RJ gets cursed and ghosts him...

Anyway, RJ ends up at the Carnival of Mysteries, figuring dying of a curse among his people (he worked carnivals after running away) is better than dying alone. 

Eventually, everything works out, we get some smut, and everyone is happy, except the bad guys. 

Fun read, although I'm unsure if I feel like looking up other books with the Carnival just to find out more.

Vampires in fin de siecle St. Louis?

 So, a recent Amazon search turned up another new series by Morgan Brice, this one set in 1896 Missouri. (That search turned up other happy things, as we'll see over the next few entries.)

Peacemaker inaugurates another new series for Brice, this one centered on two (in modern terms) gay men working for the Paranormal Secret Service of the US. Neither knows the other one has an interest in men. Both are attracted to each other. However, in this era, when such things were illegal...

Anyway, Owen Sharps is a medium, who can see and occasionally speak with ghosts. His partner, whom he meets on the train from New Pittsburgh, is Calvin Springfield, a psychometrist, who can read objects. They are replacing tow missing agents in St Louis who were investigating some rather shady land deals around train rail spurs. As part of their compensation, they get a rather Steampunk pullman car and a witch butler named Winston. 

Both have a female contact in St. Louis; a woman muckraking reporter and a pinkerton showgirl. 

While the story follows the beats of a normal meet/cute, they do get involved in a plot by an ambitious vampire to open the gates of hell in a limestone mine, and do eventually realize the attraction is mutual.

While anyone who has read Brice before (or probably her Gail Z. Martin books as well) will recognize the plot devices and pacing,I am giving her credit for doing her research on homosexuality in the era, finding the least offensive slang for the men involved and presenting ways they could seek companionship in an era where such things were highly verboten. 

While this book shares several bones with other series by the same author, the setting drew me in, and I really did wind up enjoying it.

It's a nice day for a white wedding

 Finally getting around to Point Blank by Morgan Brice, the latest book in her BadLands series. (Much as I enjoy her writing, I kind of wish all of it was available in print, since tablets are inconvenient for me to try to read on when I'm travelling to and from work.)

Any rate, Simon, our psychic medium tour guide and shop owner is finally tying the knot with homicide Detective Vic. However, since nothing is ever that easy, we wind up with 3 powerful witch ghosts out to destroy each other and most of Myrtle Beach before the blessed event. 

If you're reading this series, you have an idea of how the plot works, although this time there's a bunch of subplots about wedding jitters and exactly how just how many things can go wrong before you reach the altar. (Yes, I was nodding along quite a bit, although we didn't serve shrimp at our reception.)

Of the numerous Brice series, this is by far the most realistic, since both main characters are older, neither are particularly rich, and much like Agatha Christie, the mysteries come to them. That, and they have actual refraction times. (Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my smut erotica, but the first Witchbane novel really made me wonder how either POV character had energy to do anything after screwing 5 times in 12 hours.)

And it is nice to see them get the wedding they deserved, and finding out how much their friends actually do care about them. 

A fun addition to the series.

Slitter and Slither

 So, Morgan Brice's BadLands series continues with No Surrender, as we rejoin Vic and Simon in Myrtle Beach, dealing with a cocktail of wedding planning, the trial of the killer from books 1, the discovery of a serial killer on the Grand Strand from the 1980's, and the Slitter's fan boy sending cursed objects to people involved in the trial...

Which somehow all pulls together very nicely. 

Brice's M/M paranormal romance books have a really good tendency to be able to juggle multiple plots and weave them together fairly well, which is on full display here. I'm hoping that in a few volumes, when Vic and Simon do actually get around to getting married, all of the invited characters (from both the Morgan Brice series and the Gail Martin series manage to fit in the volume.

Da da devil is in da ta da tails

 Morgan Brice's new Witchbane novel, The Devil You Know, is actually a pretty good continuation of the story, even as it continues expanding the shared world she's building with all of her various and sundry series. 

Evan and Seth are in Cleveland looking for their next Witch Disciple, this time a drug dealing businessman who makes drugs for supernatural people. This time, Seth gets cursed (and kidnapped) with a spell that mentally connects him with his greatest desire, while Evan is stuck trying to navigate alliances with the Supernatural FBI to take down the next disciple. 

Seth's hallucinations are kind of painful to read, since his greatest desire is his family who died before the series started. It's rough reading about his relationship with his brother and parents, and it runs counterpoint to Evan's youngest brother who shows up in Cleveland and gets sucked in to the narrative. 

While everything does get resolved as one would expect in this series, dealing with things from both boys' past helps humanize them a lot more than what we've seen. Bonus points for Evan finally figuring out he's safe to not go back for a parental visit to retraumatize himself.  

Fun book.

Ghost Gangsters

 Morgan Brice returns to Cape May with Blink, as we join Ben and Eric on another adventure in ghosts and gangsters. 

Friend Jaxon wants to reopen an old theater with the Arts Council. Problem being said theater is cursed by a strega, and Jaxon winds up in a coma. 

In the mean time, the Russian Mob and the Newark Mob are gunning for our heroes thanks to their former jobs. 

It's pretty much what I've come to expect from these, fairly breezy, a bit of smut, and the incongruity of two guys trying to protect each other from their pasts also dealing with domestic issues, like whether or not to propose or even move in together. This one does have a nice twist towards the end, involving the best Spielberg reference in print currently.

Fun, light, and good for a relaxing evening.

Love in the Sanitorium

 So, Morgan Brice wrote a shared universe story in another shared universe, and the result was the fairly short read that is Haven. 

We open on Austin, a private detective out of Albany, New York, who is in Saranac Lake near the Adirondacks investigating the closing of the Havenwood Sanitorium on behalf of his grandmother. Seems his great uncle was shipped there as a teen, and Grandma wants to know what happened to him. Austin also has very vague glimpses of the future on occasion, and keeps seeing a man in danger in his visions.

Jaime, who winds up being the man from his visions, lives in the area, working as a temporary head of the local historical society. Jaime can see ghosts, although he can't particularly communicate with them.

The two meet up as the investigations heat up, and Austin finds the Magic Emporium, a strange shop that appears to those in need. In this case, he gets a sheet of paper with a series of numbers on it. (That Jaime's ghosts scratch the word "safe" on a wall will let astute readers know what the numbers are for, although it takes the new lovers time to figure that out on their own.) 

Mind you, some of the locals aren't exactly happy people digging around in the past, leading to investigations of the Sanitorium being marred with rifle shots. We also see contacts between our central characters here and characters from the author's Deadly Curiosities and Badlands series. (Evidentially, Magic Emporium is a shared world thing, where numerous other authors use the ship as a plot device to tell their own stories.)

Anyway, since it is M/M Paranormal romance, it ends on a positive note, with everyone except the bad guys getting a happy ending having resolved the mystery. 

Fun little read.

Foxy Twinkie!

 One of my Christmas gifts, which I didn't realize was on my Amazon wish list, was Huntsman by Morgan Brice. Which lead to some amusement as I unwrapped a book with a half naked wolf shifter on the cover at a family house.

Anyway, if you've read Morgan Brice's other works, you have a general idea of what you're going to get here.

We open on Liam, a Fox Shifter (here defined as something akin to a werefox, although the animal side is more or less like a second personality that communicates openly with the human one, and shifting forms is voluntary), who finds out the hard way his ex has hired a Huntsman to kill him. Liam gets a step ahead and drives north to Fox Hollow, New York, up in the Adirondacks. Fox Hollow, we find out, was founded by shifters for shifter outcasts, although the public story is that it was settled by disgraced psychics out of Buffalo. Liam's former psychic prof has a job lined up for him and a place to live.

Liam's car breaks down 10 miles out of town, and Russ comes to get the car. Russ is a Wolf Shifter who works at the local garage as well as the fire department. Russ's husband died a few years prior, so he lives with his brother Drew in a cabin they expanded from summer home into year round cabin palace. When they touch, both realize they're Fated Mates, although given their pasts, neither human wants to particularly acknowledge this, even if their animals do. 

There is still the problem of the Huntsman, though, as said villain has followed Liam north from Ithaca, and has other plans in mind for the fox. 

What follows is a fairly smutty romance with quite a bit of danger mixed in, as the Huntsman is using magic and arson to cover his tracks. 

It's a really fun read, as I've come to expect from the author. I will also state there's a brief bit at the end when Russ and Liam acknowledge certain stereotypes among shifters that also seems to apply quite a bit to the real world gay culture, in how certain types are expected to conform to other types and the stereotypes therein (like all foxes are drama twinks, big cats are all jocks, etc.) I don't know how it ended up in here, but it really struck a chord with me.

On top of old smokey....

Once again, I get sucked into another M/M romance by pseudonymous author Morgan Brice, this time dealing with adoptive cousins and hunters Dawson and Grady King. Dawson is around 3 years older than Grady, and as the book opens, is returning to Transylvania County, North Carolina, after 4 years deployed with the Army. He's expecting to be greeted by Uncle Denny and Grady (whom due to the age gap, and a fear of having him want someone else, Dawson has been holding at arm's length for quite some time), but is instead greeted by previous friend with benefits and now just friend Colt, due to Grady dealing with his father dying on another mountain after being bitten by a werewolf.

Grady, who is undergoing his own PTSD (something he shares in common with Dawson), has been holding a torch for Dawson since the onset of puberty, and as the narrative progresses, we get to see flashbacks of the two of them going out of the way to poke each other with figurative sticks.

As the book progresses, and they drive each other nuts by NOT consummating the relationship due to fears on both sides, we see that Dawson is prone to omen filled dreams and Grady now has the unique ability to get emotional readings of monsters they hunt.

While I enjoyed this one, as these characters danced around long smouldering desires for 200 or so pages, but I really wish the nature of the family business (both hunting and the auto shop) had been more explored, since it would help better root both men into the story, because at times, it feels like two phantasms floating through scenes trying to find their own resting place. Still, this is the outset, and who knows what future volumes will bring?

Crossovers aren't normally this fun.

So, Unholy, pseudonymous Morgan Brice's new Witchbane entry crosses over into the authors other works in a big way, as Evan and Seth enter Charleston, South Carolina, and thereby enter the author Gail Z. Martin's other same world characters. Which gets interesting, since half the appeal of Witchbane is that the protagonists are fairly underpowered humans running around trying to stop fairly high powered temporarily immortal witch disciples, and the folks we meet in Charleston....aren't. On the other hand, we get around this major power level gap by having the main antagonist be someone working on a much more hidden level than what the crossover characters normally deal with, while doing things that eventually get them helping out in ways that don't detract from the actual hunt.

The set up for this one involves finding out that the Disciple in this one, Longstreet, traffics in relics and in human magical trafficking. However, we find out Longstreet has already made his sacrifice prior to Seth and Evan's arrival, which allows him to cause a car wreck involving the two, followed by a soon to be fatal curse that prevents them touching each other.

At which point Martin's characters come to the fore, helping stave off the effects of the curse, as well as helping speed up the research portion of figuring out where Longstreet is and what his amulet and reserve are. We get phone cameos from Brice's other series, as two of her other series protagonists phone in with psychic visions.

And we wind up with a satisfying ending that kind of helps point out the magical ivory tower verses the marginal magicians of the proletariat, and how a sneeze in one group hits the others.

It's a good entry, and I look forward to a point where the novella that covers what happens after this gets a physical copy.

When Exes Collide

Ok, so Morgan Brice's Loose Ends continues the story of Italian Cop Vic, and his psychic boyfriend Simon in Myrtle Beach. Only this time, both of their exes are on the warpath, for different reasons.

In Vic's case, we met Nate previously, during a Christmas caper. He evidently has escaped prison and is pursuing a vendetta against Vic with the help of a Strega. That the help is also proving to be detrimental to his health is of no matter, he may die, but not before screwing over Vic.

In Simon's case, Simon's  WASP mother and Jacen have teamed up to get Simon back to Columbia attached to Jacen. For her, prestige. For him, a partner to help him get a grant.

One of the bigger subplots in the book concerns Simon and Vic both dithering over proposing to the other (Vic has bought the rings, but Simon is headed to the jeweler), and most of what goes on are, as the local witches point out, reflections of powerful love, both good and bad. From ghosts in a statue who loved each other too much to be separated by death to a painting haunted by ghostly lovers enchained by an accidental love spell; to the main romance and their evil exes, it all revolves around love gone good and bad.

And boy, does love go bad. Nate is downright vicious in his revenge, and Jacen is not exactly a nice person either.

A good addition to the ever growing world, and one wonders is a wedding might be in the next book.

Sam and Dean go to the Carolinas

So, ended up finishing Morgan Brice's Flame and Ash this afternoon, which would be the next book in the Witchbane series. We're again following Seth and Evan as they track down witch disciples, this time in Boone, North Carolina, and this time with Milo and Toby, Seth's mentors in the hunt.

They're roughly two years ahead of schedule, as the current victim to be, Steve, is known, as is the probable identity of the disciple, and Steve isn't due to become a victim for another two years. (This would also be the third disciple they've gone after, and the third who's victim is a gay man. I'm beginning to wonder if part of the curse is each victim enjoys the pleasures inherent in the touch between two men.)

Anyway, the chase is almost secondary, as much of the book is spent examining the parallels between the hunter couples, and everyone getting mirrors into their relationships, as well as a reflection on Seth's time in Iraq, as one of his platoon lives in Boone.

We also get a reversal on the boyfriend in jeopardy, as this time Seth gets in trouble instead of Evan. Which is good, since it gives us some much needed insight into the disciples and how they operate.

This isn't exactly undying fiction for the ages, but it does hold attention pretty well and remains fun to read, which beats undying literature to be sure.

Cape May Capers

I couldn't help but feel that reading Morgan Brice's new series intro, Treasure Trail, that the new characters and plotlines were less there for entertainment, but more to serve as a tentpole for a mege novel at some point, since again, more characters from series written under Brice and her Gail S. Martin characters show up at various point. Indeed, the epilogue includes a stinger on par with Samuel L. Jackson showing up and asking Iron Man about the Avengers Initiative.

But anyway, We're in Cape May, New Jersey, as former art fraud and art theft investigator Erik is preparing his new shop, Trinkets, for opening. He's also dealing with a pushy agent who wants him to narrate a PBS show dealing with art and antiquities fraud. He's a recent transplant, deciding to get out of his old business after a cursed Faberge Egg investigation in Flanders goes very badly, followed by walking in on his boyfriend at the time screwing his junior partner on the dining room table.

Then we meet Ben, the possible new owner of a local rental agency, who was formerly a Newark cop. Whose boyfriend also dumped him. Erik's aunt has semi retired, and her son doesn't want to run the business.

Eventually, the two meet, when Erik thinks his date is Ben. This does wind up working out, as they eventually do end up meeting under different circumstances as Ben and his cousin find a fake clock that's somehow wrapped up in a murder at a cursed local hotel that burned down prior to the start of the story. I shoudl mention here that Erik has a form of touch magic, where he can see glimpses of the past of objects and spirits attached to them, while Ben sees ghosts. It's a match made in Urban Romance heaven.

Anyway, it doesn't take long before a few people who showed up for a page start dying off, old Mafia hits start popping up as ghosts, and one of the pair winds up in serious danger.

I mean, it's a fun read, but I feel like we're really getting bones here instead of fully fleshed out characters, and even then, those bones are trying to support a larger support beam for some kind of paranormal romance meganovel.

But seriously, where did the rum go?

Finished the as of now last book in Morgan Brice's BadLands series The Rising while waiting to clock in this morning.

Again, we're dealing with Vic and Simon and various hangers on as a bad winder squall is making its way inland towards Myrtle Beach. Which is kind of a looming threat over the narrative as we deal with the real plot, which concerns an unearthed pirate ship washed into shallower water by a hurricane and some stolen knives. All of which centers on a Plantation house being haunted by the original owner.

Oh yes, and the Gallows Nine, the pirates hanged from the recently discovered ship who trafficked in cursed Caribbean artifacts.

Anyway, descendants of the people who convicted the Gallows Nine end up hanging themselves with brine soaked hemp rope, and the stolen knives keep winding up in the backs of people getting to close to the Plantation Owner's fetter.

As one might guess, Vic and Simon get dragged into this, with a showdown between possessed people with antagonistic ghosts riding them while the storm cuts the plantation house off from the road.

Again, these are fun reading, with the M/M romance adding a bit of naughtiness to the proceedings.

Oh won't you take me to...Lucky Town?

Lucky Town, by our pen named Morgan Brice, is a fairly short Holiday themed novella in the BadLands portion of the shared universe. We join Simon Kincaide and Vic D'Amato prior to their voyage from Myrtle Beach to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving with Vic's extended Italian American family. We get a peek at Simon's WASP-y upbringing as his mother tries to convince him to come home for Thanksgiving for societal reasons, but Vic's family winds out. Which is fine, other than making me hungry, since Vic's family cooks for most of the first few chapters.

Simon has a vision in Pittsburgh alluding to someone who made a deal and was soul shredded when the deal ended. Said dealer has now made his way to Myrtle Beach, leading to tying together both parts of the novel. This is, of course, after Vic's ex shows up at a party and causes drama.

Anyway, said dealer has, as it turns out, made a deal with a Krampus, which leads to a Hoodoo woman, a Bruja, and Simon facing off with a hooven figure while Victor protects the person trapped in the bad deal.

As I said, it's a novella, so it's brief, but it is fun to read, and since the protagonists are a bit older then the boys in Witchbane, the relationship is a teensy bit less...adolescent, I guess.... although they do seems to enjoy each other's company a few times in 100 pages. I'll be interested to get into the next full volume to see how this falls out.

Under the boardwalk

On a whim, I picked up what's currently published of the other M/M paranormal romance of Morgan Brice, BadLands.

We start with Simon, who has a doctorate in folklore, who lost his university post and his lover and now runs a New Age store and runs ghost tours on the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk. He's also a psychic medium of some strength. Simon also keeps contacts with his Skeleton Crew, other folks with powers, most of whom are untrained. As we open, the Boardwalk is being haunted by the Slither Slasher, a serial killer hunting down predominantly seasonal workers but also folks with psychic powers.

We then switch perspective to Vic, an Italian cop who moved to Myrtle Beach after running into something supernatural while taking down a killer in Pittsburgh. While he is not a believer, he does come around as the story progresses. Particularly since Vic is working on the Slither case.

They first meet unexpectedly at a Boardwalk coffee shop, flirting over cappuccino. Then they meet as cop and store owner, as Simon uses his powers to contact the victims' ghosts. While he's under, he accidentally hears from one of the Pittsburgh ghosts, which sets Vic on edge.

Anyway, as is to be expected, Vic and Simon go through the initial rush of starting a relationship (complete with whatever the male equivalent of a heaving bosom would be) then end up backing away from each other as Simon playing Nancy Drew gets him under suspicion. Of course, by the end, Simon is vindicated and he and Vic are free to heave bosom together.

While it does fall under a formula, it's still fun reading, and focusing on older characters takes some of the...exuberance...out of the romance that haunted the Witchbane initial outing. While they are heaving quite nicely, they're also not violating several laws of refraction in the process. Worth checking out.

Muddy Waters

So, in Morgan Brice's Dark Rivers, we follow Evan and Seth to that known hellhole, Pittsburgh. (At a guess, the next edition will be either Cleveland or Detroit. Witch disciples of the Rust Belt for the WIN!)

Anyway, the general plot is that they've discovered another disciple and descendant, this time living in the 3 Rivers. Said descendant, Brandon, works part time as an EMT and part time as a barista. His boyfriend, Alex, works as a PI, one who Seth happens to have hired. Oops.

Add into this Evan's evil ex, who's now working for the current disciple, and who kidnaps Evan about halfway through, uses Evan's phone to text a break up message to Seth (along with an old non consensual video of him and Evan from back in the day), and you have a whole mess of drama.

While the book was actually well written and a heck of a lot more compelling than much of what's currently being written in the MM Supernatural Romance genre, it doesn't change that this particular story is a straight line. Or that the confrontation that ends everything happens relatively early, leaving us several pages of Christmas good will and...well... stocking stuffing.

Mind you, there are other hunters running through the book, but I have no idea if they're from another of Brice's series or not. (If she's creating a shared universe, that's great. If not, give us someplace to track down what the other hunters are talking about. Actually, either way, show us what the heck the Ninja Priest and Government agent were doing prior to this.)

Fun read, if a bit light.