Author Saturday Spotlight: Jex Lane~ #Interview #Review #Giveaway

Today's Author Saturday Spotlight belongs to the writer who brings us the Beautiful Monsters series. She's broken our hearts, mended them, and lit them on fire more times than we can count. This series is dark, angsty, suspenseful, angering, thrilling.... you get what I'm saying. Today we are going to take a look at the three books in this series. Her new release Broken, book three, released a few days ago so I will have a review with that one. Yeah, I'm doing it a little differently this week. There will be a giveaway at the end for a paperback copy of book one, Captive. So be sure to check that out. And don't worry, I put her through a rigorous interview!

Matthew Callahan has spent seven years struggling against the insatiable hunger for blood consuming him. Unable to stop the vampire inside from preying on humans, he keeps himself confined to a lonely existence.

Everything changes the night he is lured into a trap and taken prisoner by High Lord General Tarrick—a seductive incubus who feeds off sexual energy. Forced into the middle of a war between vampires and incubi, Matthew is used as a weapon against his own kind. Although he's desperate for freedom, he is unable to deny the burning desire drawing him to the incubus general he now calls Master.

This book is intended for mature audiences.

“Because love is the easiest way to control someone and I needed a way to control you.”

Still mending a broken heart, Matthew has spent a year avoiding incubi and their army of hunters.

Now he has a new goal: lift the shroud on his past. Why had he been turned and abandoned by his sire? Why didn’t he feel the initial bond between sire and child that vampires experience? Who were his parents, and why had they given him up at birth?

Frustrated by dead ends, his luck changes when a teenage girl tracks him down. She’s strange, socially awkward, and she can see the future. Matthew’s future. She’ll help him if he agrees to save her from the darkness…from Tarrick.

With the incubi armies closing in, a mysterious protector appears, swearing his fealty to Matthew. He’s ancient, seductive, and cursed—unable to explain why he keeps calling Matthew ‘my prince’.

Vampire. Incubus. Demigod. Weapon.

Matthew has many names, but none as distressing as pet. A slave to incubus High King Malarath, Matthew is tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of losing those he loves. Tired of the torture. And, in his despair, his body begins to decay around him.

The High King, angered that his pet is dying, brings in the one person who might be able to fix Matthew: High Lord General Tarrick.

While all trust Matthew had in the general is gone, maybe there is hope in the situation. All Matthew needs to do is start acting like an incubus and put on a show.

GET ALL THREE BOOKS HERE

Review of Broken (Book Three)

I will start off by saying this book is the darkest of the three to date. Where it goes from here I do not know. If you read both Captive and Sire you are well aware of the affect Matthew has on your heart. It's so hard to review this book and not give spoilers. I know so many want to know what happened after book two ended. The cliffhanger was UNREAL! Well, I won't give spoilers but I will say more answers, more discoveries, and amazing surprises await you in Broken.

Jex Lane has an amazing ability to pull the reader  into the story. I wept with, and for, Matthew countless times. The rage I felt for those who hurt him... repeatedly, was fierce. The joy in the brief moments of happiness was like getting a lungful of fresh air after being submerged underwater. Each moment, emotion, situation, and character is so well thought out and created that I couldn't find a single flaw. The ones you're supposed to hate you really and truly hate. There's no maybe.

There are a lot of surprises in this book and not all of them are unpleasant.... I know that's shocking. The torture for Matthew was hard to take and it was far more brutal in this book than in the previous ones. But hang in there. If you thought Matthew was amazing before wait'll you see him now!

Again, no spoilers but I will say I was awesomely surprised at the turnaround of some characters, the revelation of plans, and what the future will hold now. You will not get out of this book without swollen eyes. I will say when it ended, though shaky, I was smiling. Yes, there's a lingering fear and in pure Jex Lane fashion you are left with that, "Oh hell what is she going to do know," feeling.

This is such a marvelous series and I said it last time I will say it again; it's by far one of the darkest, most creative, fantastically written series' out there. I am a full-fledged fan without a doubt and will devour this series if it kills me!

Interview

Thank you, Jex, for being here today! You have a lot to answer for, lady! I got you right where I want you now and you aren’t leaving until I get the answers. ALL THE ANSWERS. Kidding! Not really. Don’t fight the restraints. Answer honestly and you’ll be released.

Sounds like my kind of fun.

Beautiful Monsters is a series. Captive was book 1 and Sire book 2. In case people don’t understand why I’m so angry, you left us with a cliffhanger. So my first question is, why do you hate us so much?

The tears of my fans feed me.

But truthfully, Matthew’s books flow together and don’t work as stand-alones. That gives me the freedom to toss in twist endings every once and a while.

The series really does focus mainly on Matthew. Sweet, wonderful Matthew. Whom you torture ruthlessly. In book 3, Broken, it will open with what many hope are some answers. Can you tell us ANYTHING about book 3 that will give us some hope?

I won’t lie, Broken is a darker book. The darkest of the three. Matthew gets put through many trials and at times it might feel hopeless… but Matthew grows and learns through his struggles. I think readers are going to enjoy his journey in this book. They might need a few tissues, though.

If that’s not hopeful enough for you, there’s always Hiroto. The cute little fox makes everyone happy. Well, not the people he has to kill…but everyone else.

Have you planned out this whole series already, and do you have an end number of books?

Yes and no. I’m mostly a panster author, meaning I don’t do big outlines. I know the ending of Matthew’s story but I’m not 100% sure how he’ll get from A to B quite yet.

I have material for at least three more books for sure, and I also know I don’t want Matthew’s books to go more than nine.

I do have plenty of planned spinoffs in the Beautiful Monsters (BeMo for short) world.

When I read authors, like yourself, I always find myself wondering what sort of books THEY read when they have the time. So, who are some of your favorite authors and books?

I have so many! In the vampire side of things, I like Rice, Ward, Harris, Bella, Heaton…

But my all-time favorite series is Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat. Fun fact: I actually read the first book after I had written Captive and nearly changed the name of my book because of it. I stressed for months. Ultimately, I decided that since the series title is Beautiful Monsters, and not ‘Captive,’ I’d be okay. 

Music…. There has to be a soundtrack to this series. Has to be. If we were to watch this play out on screen, what songs would we hear?

Oh gosh, we’d be here all day if I listed the soundtrack for Broken but I’ll give you a little:

For fight scenes pretty much any video game or movie soundtrack works.

Don’t laugh, but while writing Broken I listened to Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” a lot.

One of my fans recently turned me on to “Soldier” by Samantha Jade. It has a lot of themes that remind me of Tarrick and Matthew. Although, if it was ‘warrior,’ it’d be perfect.

There are people in the world who haven’t read this series yet, so I’m not going to ask a lot of the questions I want. But, if someone were about to start this series or was thinking about it, what would you say to them to prepare them or get them to read the Beautiful Monsters book series?

Don’t start reading before bedtime. These books are addicting.

This is a question many authors hate, but I’m asking it anyway. When is book 4?

2018. I don’t have the month yet and won’t until I finish the first draft.

A series like this one is emotionally charged and precise. How do you keep it organized?

Organized? Haha. Some authors have amazing outlines and grids to keep it all in order…but for each book I’ll write down maybe three or four sentences of major events I’d like to have happen, and that’s it. I’m telling the story as it needs to be told. I wish I had a more insightful answer for you, but I really do wing it most of the time.

Of all the characters you write in this series, which is your favorite and why?

Tarrick.

He’s a pain in the ass to write. He never does anything I want him to. Matthew is a good boy. When I need him to do X, he does X. Meanwhile, Tarrick is stomping X in the face and doing Y. But that’s what makes him so fun.

Plus, I have a thing for suits.

Can you tell readers where and how they can follow you so they can stalk you and this series? Facebook, Twitter, other….

Website: JexLane.com

Email: Jex@JexLane.com

Twitter: @AuthorJexLane

Facebook (where I’m most active — feel free to add me!): https://www.facebook.com/JexLane

Beautiful Monsters page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJexLane/

Fast Fire Questions:

Day or night? Night!

Vampire or Incubus? Incubus

Horror movie or thriller? Thriller

Are you a lefty or a righty? Righty

Favorite band? Queen

Favorite movie? Star Wars

Dogs or cats? Both!

Indoors or outdoors? Indoors

Thank you, Jex, for being here. It’s been awesome! Keep writing and I’ll keep reading.

Thanks for having me!

Giveaway

Enter for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Captive

Book One in the Beautiful Monsters series! GREAT COLLECTION TO HAVE.

Contest will end on March 10th and it's open

Internationally!

Thank you and thank you to Jex for all the pain.

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Random Review: The Difference Between by Blake Moreno #Review #Giveaway

Author: Blake Moreno
Book: The Difference Between
Publisher: Dark Ink
Publication date: January 10, 2017
Length: 242 pages


Reviewed by Meredith



Synopsis

Wade Maguire and Russ Paulson are in love. After a year of passion and happiness, they’re buying a home and moving in together. Everything is rosy for them—until a jealous and insane ex from Wade’s past puts all of that to the test.

After being kidnapped and tortured by his deranged former lover, Wade loses his ability to engage with his own sexuality or with Russ. With the help of a psychologist, EMDR therapy, and a sex plan, they work together to overcome the damage inflicted. In the process, they discover wells of love they’ve never known before.

As passion is reborn and their sex life reignited, Wade realizes a need to re-experience certain events in Russ’s loving arms. For Wade, the difference between pain and pleasure is love, and the difference between rape and rough sex is consent.

Dark, and yet ultimately hopeful, this book contains many emotional and graphic sex scenes, as well as some scenes of torture. This book deals with rape and rape recovery. Proceed with care.

Purchase on Amazon

Review

I always find books that evoke so many emotions are harder to review than others that just simply make you feel. The Difference Between is one of those books that after you finish it, you need to process and decompress.

I feel it needs saying: Heed the warnings. The author does an absolutely wonderful job of warning the reader what they are going to be reading. He says, and I will agree with, if rape, torture, humiliation, things that relate to kidnapping are hard for you to read then skip chapters 2 and 3. Skipping these chapters won’t affect the overall meaning of this book. Enough is discussed throughout the story to understand what Wade went through all those weeks with his ex. I read every chapter and every word. We don’t just feel Wade’s pain in chapter 2 and 3 but we also get inside his ex’s head too. Mental illness is terrifying. In this case Owen was beyond mental illness in my mind. He lost his humanity. He lost the person that once meant something in this world and never got help. And Wade pays a huge price for that.

There were moments in this book that, out of nowhere, a sob would escape me. Moments like when Wade’s eight year old godson hugs him and tells him, “I got you.” I mean my heart just exploded. And Russ….His love for Wade was gorgeous. Russ met and fell in love with a Wade that Owen stripped away and broke. Russ has to fall in love again in a way. He needs to glue the pieces back. Russ is patient, kind, and pretty much the most perfect man ever! I say that in all seriousness. I’ve read many times that spouses of rape victims can’t cope a lot of the time with what it takes to recover. I give huge props to Russ.

Now, the therapy and recovery is a huge part of this book. It’s pretty much the whole book. We recover with Wade and we glimpse inside his and Russ’s mind throughout. Seeing it through both their eyes was brilliant. It was needed and it helped, me at least, understand the emotions and such a lot better.

This is a very powerful book. Dark, gritty, raw, and not easy to read. For an author to start a book out with such horrible darkness. To show us a humanity stripped of all its good and have us endure a Hell not many would survive and then turn it into a happiness we all wish we could feel just once in our lives? That’s serious talent. It’s more than talent though. There’s an understanding between author and character here. Research, and there’s a serious realism here I felt one could not write unless they really understood it.

I applaud the author and I do recommend this story.

Giveaway!

Enter the monthly review giveaway

It's a Kris Michaels ebook gift pack!

Thanks!

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