Release Day Review: OWL by M.Raiva #Review #Giveaway

Title: OWL
Author: M.Raiya
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Publication Date: December 10, 2019
Length: 195 pages

Reviewed by Sammy

Synopsis

Gabriel made a decision to help a friend, and it cost him. He’s been exiled from his clan, trapped in his owl form, living in a swamp, and slowly losing his humanity. If not for Vincent, Gabriel would have no chance of regaining what he lost.

Vincent is popular and successful, but no one knows the real him, who is gay and would rather become a musician than a lawyer… no one but the owl living in the hollow tree. As Vincent shares his secrets, he not only unburdens his heart, but stirs Gabriel’s. In each other they have a chance to heal… to live.

Unless Gabriel’s grandfather has his way.

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Review

Vin is desperate for an answer to a question he knows will create a rift that may be unbridgeable between he and his parents. So, maybe ending it all is the answer—that way he disappoints no one, including himself. But an errant owl has other ideas and when it breaks through his window screen and scares Vin enough to stop him from making a foolish mistake it also marks the beginning of an unimaginable journey that will bring with it love, danger and a whole new world that Vin cannot conceive.

Trapped in owl form for three years, Gabriel has made the wrong decision before—at least in the eyes of his clan and, in particular, its leader, his grandfather. But Gabe can’t sit idly by while a young man tries to take his own life—not when Gabe knows how precious life really is. So he risks it all and breaks through to the teen who, in the end, will not only restore his humanity but bring love with him. Now if only he and Vin can survive the deadly machinations of a grandfather who wants only power and at any cost.

Owl by M. Raiya is a brand new take on the young adult genre. Complete with lots of action, first love and avian shifters, the novel tells the story of two young men who seemed destined for each other and will fight to remain together at all costs. The idea that Gabe has been trapped in his owl form for so long that he can feel his humanity slipping away takes this story in a different direction from the normal paranormal trope. While there is no onscreen sex, there is a definite chemistry and connection between the two young men and it is not only realistic but deeply emotional.

I enjoyed how these two interacted with each other and how they remained focused on the danger around them as opposed to falling into bed with each other or focusing only on the idea of being in love. While the intensity of their devotion to each other was a bit fast and a bit over the top, at times, the author still kept the flavor of the action/adventure trope in the forefront and allowed the story to remain true to it, making this a more believable novel than many I have read in the paranormal genre.

I think Owl will be a hit among those who enjoy YA novels and like a bit of excitement. It flows well and I felt it was a nicely done foray into the fantasy world of shifters.

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Release Day Review: Where There's A Will Deanes by Sean Kennedy #Review #Giveaway

Title: Where There's A Will Deanes
Series: Get Out book 4
Author: Sean Kennedy
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Catt Ford
Publication Date: April 16, 2019
Length: 196 pages

Reviewed by Sammy

Synopsis


Micah Johnson is coming back to Melbourne, and the story of him and his friends is coming to an end.

Or will it be a new beginning?

Will Deanes and Micah Johnson have a past, one that ranges from bitter enemies to best friends. There might be an undercurrent of something else, but Micah remains oblivious, and all Will can do is try to move on.

Except now Micah’s returning to Melbourne full-time, and that means they can’t avoid each other or the tensions that arise. Will is still dealing with an injury that ended his football career, while Micah’s continues to thrive. As they face highs, lows, and family tragedies, they’ll have to get to know each other all over again. Will Micah see that Will means much more to him than a friend?

Purchase Links

Harmony Ink Press

Amazon

Review

What if you were secretly in love with your best friend? The same friend who you once bullied because you couldn’t accept that you also were gay and scared to be out like they were? So much baggage—so much guilt. Poor Will Deanes is in love with his best friend Micah Johnson—the same rising star in the footy world who’s now  moving back home to play with a professional team. Not only has Will been forced to leave the sport he loves due to a freak accident which has left him permanently scarred and in pain but now he will also have to deal with the man he loves being so close and still unattainable. Micah may be moving home but he’s still got a boyfriend and is seemingly oblivious to the fact that Will is in love with him.

Author Sean Kennedy has released his fourth novel in the Get Out series entitled, Where There’s a Will Deanes and it is just as brilliant as the others. With the irrepressible and sometimes stupidly unaware Micah Johnson as the love interest to the quieter, caring Will Deanes there is bound to be some heartache and Kennedy does not let you down. He allows his characters to grapple with the very realistic idea that two best friends can and do fall in love; he also brings to light the idea that they may very well avoid that love because of a fear that it will ruin their friendship. As someone who fell in love with her best friend and never acted on it, I can tell you this theme really does ring true. The way in which Mr. Kennedy allows for Will to grapple with the idea that not only could he lose Micah should he admit how much he likes him but that Will still struggles with how he bullied Micah many years previous due to his own fear of being gay and found out was so spot on and heart wrenching to read.

With the familiar gang of side characters which include Declan, Simon and Emma and a host of others this novel really felt like coming home for me. I so enjoy the world this author has created and the people he chose to inhabit it. Sean Kennedy has created a family that will call each other out, when necessary, but always have each other’s backs. Poor Will is partly a case of raging hormones—I’m thinking of his crush on his Uncle’s partner here and part martyr—never really letting go of what he did to Micah even though everyone else, including Micah, has moved on. But rather than make his guilt something he merely holds onto, Kennedy uses it in order to reveal some startling and poignant truths about how closeted youth can sometimes hide their fear of being outed behind anger and destructive behavior. Will’s speech near the end of the novel was both heartbreaking and cleansing and everything his character and other teens need to hear and understand if they are ever to be free of the closet that threatens to consume them.

Where There’s a Will Deanes was a powerfully funny and emotionally charged novel that nails the idea that we can so often be our own worst enemy when we hide behind our fear and self-recriminations. This story give hope to those who worry that things may never get better and reminds us all that sometimes taking a chance brings us everything we desire.

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Release Day Review: The Touchstone by MC Lee #Review #Giveaway

Title: The Touchstone
Author: MC Lee
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Blake Donner
Publication Date: April 2, 2019
Length: 228 pages

Reviewed by Sammy

Synopsis

It’s no surprise teens Sam and Harry are inseparable. Harry’s ability to fly manifested at age ten—when he saved Sam’s life. Since then, Sam’s made it his mission to shield Harry from danger. They’re being watched by people with an unknown agenda, and their only chance is to run.


An encounter with Jonah Clayton and the group of gifted teens he’s training means a place for Harry and insight into his powers. But is there a place for an ordinary kid like Sam, or has he reached the end of his quest to help his best friend? Jonah’s group isn’t as benign as it seems, however, and the danger is far from over. Harry still needs Sam—who is far more than anyone can imagine.

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Review

Sam and Harry have been on the run for over a year. Each time they let their guard down some shadowy figure ends up stalking them and forces them to move on. Now the two are living on the edge of poverty and barely scraping by but Harry has been noticed by a man, Jonah Clayton, who says he can help him hone and expand on the ability that appeared when he was ten years old and saved his best friend Sam as he fell from a tree—if he is willing to leave Sam.  Harry can fly and more than one person is interested in seeing just how his gifts could be used but the idea of being away from Sam is intolerable until the guys are threatened again. But something goes wrong when the two are separated and suddenly Sam, who everyone thought had no powers of his own, becomes the most important member of the small group Jonah Clayton has assembled.

M.C. Lee has a new young adult novel featuring a ragtag group of teens who work together under the guise of anonymity. Since their defacto leader, Jonah Clayton, has the ability to not only communicate telepathically with others but also wipe memories and plant new ones, the gang is able to do various jobs virtually undetected. Each teen has a superpower from invisibility to controlling the elements. When he and Sam were just boys, Sam fell from a dangerous height and Harry rescued him by flying down and catching him. From that point on the two boys realized Harry was different and as time went on the appreciation Sam’s mother had initially toward Harry for saving her son morphed into fear and distrust. When she tries to force Sam from seeing Harry, the two run and they have been on the run ever since.

Now in their late teens they are barely surviving and when Jonah approaches Harry and Sam and says he can help Harry adjust and hone his powers both boys are leery. But eventually Jonah wears them down and Harry must go live with him and the other teens while Sam is left behind waiting for Harry to return. It’s during this separation that Jonah and the group realize just how important Sam will end up being not only to Harry but the others as well. But when a sinister man appears telling Sam not to trust Jonah and threatening to grab Harry and take him away, Sam is forced to work with the group in order to save Harry and the life they want to have together one day.

I loved how the author made these two boys act sometimes years older than they actually were and then brought the reader right back to the fact they were just teens by having them respond in a way that reflected their real age. It made sense, in light of how they had been on the run, that they would have a certain maturity that helped them survive but M.C. Lee never took it too far. Instead the author used  some of their responses to the danger around them and their relationship with each other as a way of reminding us that these guys were awfully young to be handling the stuff life was throwing at them. I loved Sam—he was so in love with Harry—so set on guarding him and helping him shine. Every time one of the other teens would remind Sam of his lack of abilities and intimate that he was holding Harry back from reaching his full potential, you could see how Sam wrestled with what to do in response to the accusation. He would sacrifice anything for Harry and already had by leaving his home and going on the run with him.

For Harry’s part, there was no one for him but Sam. All Harry knew was that if Sam was with him he could get through anything. The two of them were magical together and their relationship was incredibly sweet and lovely to read. Jonah was the perfect shady good/bad guy who made your skin crawl with the way he could get inside people’s minds yet who you wanted to believe was really only motivated to help these teens live better lives. The side cast of characters were all interesting and nearly perfectly portrayed as a clique of teens might interact. From the nasty way Maia treated Sam to the hero worship that Alejandro had for both boys, there was a truth to the way these kids who had extraordinary powers acted like every day common teenagers.

There were a few plot points that gave me pause and were brushed aside fairly quickly that made the story feel a bit contrived. For instance, how was it that Harry and Sam were able to go on the run with no one coming after them? Surely the high school would have applied pressure om their parents when they no longer showed up for school? And how did they manage to get jobs and an apartment as minors? I assume Sam was being paid under the table but the last time I looked dishwashers didn’t make enough to support themselves. It was little things like that which threw me off a bit while reading. However, despite those issues, the action was really quite well done and didn’t prevent me from enjoying this fast paced adventure story.

The Touchstone has great potential to become a crazy good superhero saga. I really hope the author will continue Harry and Sam’s story and we get to see more of them in future novels. 

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