My first few books published with Wilde City Press are from my Venom Valley Series, and they land firmly in the paranormal genre. When I was planning the series, I decided I really wanted to place the story in an unusual setting, so even before the movie Cowboys & Aliens came out, I had started writing the first book, now titled Cowboys & Vampires, and set the story in the American Old West. I wanted to explore how a vampire–an old school, evil, blood-thirsty brand of vampire, not the redemption seeking good guys of today–could swoop into a small prairie town and quietly start turning its residents into vampires. I drew from the likes of the original Dracula and Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot for inspiration. I knew I wanted the classic vampire scenario–three bites to turn a person, holy items, silver, and garlic can wound or ward off, and a stake through the heart and exposure to sunlight can kill–but I also wanted a new way to combat the vampire threat.

That was when Josh Stanton popped into my head. To me Josh is the main character of the series. When Cowboys & Vampires opens we are inside Josh’s head as he’s discovering the body of someone close to him. But he’s reacting to the presence of the body in a physical way that’s much different than grief. Along with his despair over the loss of someone he loves, Josh feels a power thrumming through him, manifested by building heat. And then the body begins to move. It slowly, painfully gets to its feet and lurches toward him, hungry for flesh.

To this end, I took the classic zombie and made it more of tool for a necromancer. Josh is just discovering this power inside him, and he spends a good deal of the first book learning how to use this power to fight the growing vampire threat, for, as he and his best friend since childhood–and, to date, unrequited love interest–Dex Wells discover later on, where lead bullets cannot penetrate vampire skin and bone, zombie teeth and nails can. I had this idea that only another species of the undead, for instance a zombie, can tear into another undead creature, such as a vampire. It’s my personal twist on the “rules” of the paranormal world.

So now I had a witch, Josh Stanton, a vampire, the big bad Balthazar and his evil minions, and a handful of corpses that reanimate when Josh is near. That’s a pretty full plate for any paranormal series. Throw in the hunky, deputy best friend/love interest Dex, and I was good to go.

But then I heard a new voice as I started plotting out the book, one that was–to me, at least–very unique and fascinating. It was a woman, and as Glory whispered her background in my ear, I wrote it down as fast as I could. She was half white and half Native American and she worked in the One-Eyed Rooster, the town saloon. Glory’s father had been pure-bred Apache and fell in love with her mother, a white woman from town. They married the only way possible back then for a mixed race couple, by Native American custom, and lived outside of town where Glory was conceived, born, and raised. When Glory was very young, her father took her out into the woods and called forth a spirit guardian to act as her guardian and protect her from danger. Not long after, Glory’s father was taken by a group of men from town and hung for lying with a white woman.

Now in her early twenties, Glory lays with the men in town for money, the only work she can find. Her one and only love is her spirit guardian, Ohanzee, who can only appear to her when Glory is in danger. Because of this, Glory is quite the risk taker, as she tries to see Ohanzee as often as possible. When the vampire Balthazar begins to prowl the halls of the One-Eyed Rooster at night, hypnotizing the other girls into inviting him into their rooms, Ohanzee’s protection keeps Glory from falling under the vampire’s spell and allows her to escape.

Hot off the presses, the cover of Stakes & Spurs: Venom Valley Book Two!

And always remember, where there are a few paranormal creatures, another one or two may be lurking in the shadows nearby, eager to tell tales of his own.

Here’s a blurb from the first book of the series, Cowboys & Vampires – Venom Valley Book One, now available at Wilde City Press in all major e-book formats, and at most e-book retailers. Enjoy!

Excerpt:

“Josh!” Dex knelt in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. He gave him a rough shake, but Josh could not focus. All he knew, all he could feel, was the heated rush of his blood.

He gave a start, the touch of the thing snapping him from his daze even as the heat in his body burned hotter. More fingers from other walking corpses reached out for him. Josh pushed away from the boards that covered the mine, letting out a shout of fear. As he watched, a number of bone thin hands gripped the edges of the boards and pulled them apart, making a path for the walking dead miners to shuffle out toward them.

Buy links:
Wilde City Press: https://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-mainstream/cowboys-vampires-venom-valley-book-one/#.UbzPGuvkB6w
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cowboys-Vampires-Venom-Valley-ebook/dp/B00CQDY7OO/
All Romance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-cowboysvampiresvenomvalleybookone-1194152-145.html

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If you haven’t read Hank Edwards’ Cowboys & Vampires: Venom Valley Book One yet, then you’re just going to have to trust me when I tell you the real Wild West was never as wild as the West that is Belkin’s Pass…or, at least I’m pretty sure it wasn’t. Anyway, this once sleepy little frontier town has suddenly become host to some ghouly boo-wiggly undeads, so there’s at least a little bit of proof to my theory, yes? Yes, I think so too.

Lifelong friends, Josh and Dex fell in love with each other somewhere along the way in their journey, though neither man has ever found the courage to express his feelings for the other. Now? Well, now seems the perfect time to declare themselves and consummate their relationship, because the future looks a lot less bright than it ever has before and, let me assure you, the present could use all the hope and promise it can get.

Strange things are afoot in the town, you see—the dead who just don’t seem happy to stay that way, a mysterious and foreign stranger called Balthazar who preys on the townsfolk, glamouring them and drinking their blood, creating new progeny to grow his legacy, and Josh is caught directly in the midst of all these supernatural events. That is to say he is a supernatural event himself, and it’s the strange power hidden within him that reanimates the corpses he encounters, which causes the man no end of problems when he’s accused of murdering two people, one of them the woman who’d raised him, she being the only mother Josh had ever known.

In a matter of moments, those crimes transform him into a fugitive with a price on his head and the promise of the noose if he’s ever caught. The question? How can a man be guilty of murder if the victim was aleady dead? The problem? Who’s going to believe a story like that, especially coming from a man who’s considered an outcast by some. The answer? Dex Wells, that’s who, and he is willing to sacrifice everything he has, everything he is, for the man he loves.

Dex tracks Josh to the home where he’d spent the first few short years of his life before his mother, a woman accused of everything from practicing witchcraft to devil worship, had abandoned him. Dex listens to Josh’s admittedly far-fetched tale of the reanimated dead, and luckily is able to believe that some strange event or another has occurred involving Josh and the deceased. It should probably be a harder pill to swallow, but he’s just experienced his own brush with the preternatural when he’s attacked by a few of the prostitutes at the One-Eyed Rooster Saloon, where Dex witnesses them threatening Glory, a half-breed call-girl protected by a Native spirit, Ohanzee.

This story is told from three different perspectives—Josh’s, Dex’s, and Glory’s—the stories running parallel to each other until the point they each converge perfectly in the place known as Venom Valley, a place where those who dare to enter are seldom seen or heard from again. Scorpions, snakes, stinging beetles, all the creepy crawlies that give Venom Valley its name, aren’t the only things to be scared of in this haunted and dangerous place. There are things with far more bite to them that come out in the dark to play, and the two men encounter each and every one in their mission to escape the hangman’s noose, locate Balthazar, and save their town from a fate worse than death.

But Balthazar, oh, you better believe he has other plans for our heroes, plans that will be revealed in the next installment in the series. At least, I hope so.

Yes, Hank Edwards leaves the reader suspended on the edge of a cliff, dangling precariously by the fingertips over the little Venom Valley of horrors, waiting to learn the fate of our heroes. As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Cowboys & Vampires is step one of what promises to be a thrilling adventure. I, for one, am more than ready for step two.

Check out the terrific guest post HERE to learn a little bit more about this fantastical place that Hank built.

Patrick is the author of the Confessions of a Gay Rugby Player series of books published through “Charlie Harding Presents…”, Wilde City’s Black Label press, a premier selection of stories approved by none other than Charlie Harding himself, specifically for their steamy, erotic goodness.

Here’s a little bit about the books and the characters Patrick has created:

Star Irish rugby player, Conor Murphy, lives and breathes rugby. He spends his weekends playing rugby, drinking beer, and singing songs with his teammates. There is only one thing he loves more than rugby, and that is hot rugby players. But after the final whistle sounds, the real competition begins: the hunt for the hottest men.

Conor’s muscular body and roguish good looks ensure he can have his pick of the sexiest players. But what happens when this alpha male meets his match on and off the field? Who will come out on top when he meets the horniest rugby players from the USA? Can two alpha males have the night of their lives?

Rugby—it’s all about scoring, whether it’s on the field… or off.

But as Conor and Sean put their friendship aside in the pursuit of the hottest Danish players, the question is, will their friendship survive the real sport of man hunting?

And now that you know a bit about the books, let’s carry on with getting to know a little bit about the man behind them. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Patrick Darcy!

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I’m not sure if you’ve heard or not, but Jordan L. Hawk has another book coming out in the SPECTR series, the third book to be precise, called Reaper of Souls, and in honor of its imminent publication, she’s managed to convince Gray, Caleb Jansen’s incorporeal but entirely sentient demon-munching body-dweller, to answer some of your questions about, well, pretty much anything you can come up with.

All you have to do is leave your questions right here on this post. I’ll compile them all on June 23rd and send them to Jordan so she can get Gray’s answers. Hopefully, he’s feeling cooperative. You’ll find out on July 3rd!

We couldn’t be more thrilled to be playing host this week to Wilde City Press and some of the authors who make that city such a Wilde place to visit. To put a finer point on it:

Wilde City is a metropolis of male fiction brimming with the best in Gay Male Romance, Gay Male Erotica and Gay Male Mainstream books; a place inhabited by the most talented writers in the industry whose page-turning tales will make you laugh, cry and beg for more!

From stories of romance and desire, to thrills and spills, you’ll experience all the fun and fantasy, all the suspense and steaminess, of a city that only sleeps when you do.

You’ll find stories of Gay Romance on just about every corner of Wilde City. Look out for those lingering gazes between strangers as they pass by on the Boulevard of Hopeless Romantics, or book a table at Wilde City’s Gay Rainbow Room and watch someone’s fingers brush against the hand of a man longing to be kissed. Yes, in a city this big, romance is everywhere.

But many other gay worlds exist within Wilde City. Walk through the cobblestone alleys of the Old Docklands and you’re sure to stumble across something that will chill you to the bone. Venture through the haunted mansions of the old Parisian Quarter and you might catch a glimpse of a handsome ghost, or powerful werewolf, or a vampire hungry for your blood. Or perhaps you’d prefer a laugh with the gay characters you’ll meet on Vaudeville Avenue as they bumble their way through life looking for Mr. Right… or Mr. Right Now! Or buy yourself a ticket to gay adventure atop Wilde City’s Empire Tower and board the Wilde World Airship for an action-packed trip of a lifetime!

Then again, if you’ve come to Wilde City for action of a different kind, welcome to a city teeming with Gay Erotica. You’ll find sex in almost every back alley and respectable dive in Wilde City’s notoriously naughty Pink Light District. Or for something that’s sure to turn you on, visit Mr. Charlie Harding’s exclusive black-label sex soiree, ‘Charlie Harding Presents’… because why not get the best in Gay Erotica from the Expert!

It’s time to go Wilde… this City is calling!

We’ll be kicking off the festivities tomorrow with our first guest, author Patrick Darcy, who’ll be discussing erotica and homosexuality in Ireland, so stay tuned for that.

Throughout the week, we’ll have a variety of interviews, videos, guest posts, and some great reviews of more than a few Wilde books.

Here’s what’s on tap for the rest of the week:

Tuesday – Hank Edwards will be our guest, discussing the meshing of multiple paranormal elements into one story/series in Venom Valley, where his book Cowboys & Vampires takes place.

Wednesday – we’ll have Eric Arvin and TJ Klune here with a video that’s sure to be fun.

Thursday – Jacob Z. Flores will have a guest post discussing finding love in dark places, as well as a video reading from his latest release Moral Authority.

Friday – Ethan Stone will be here with an interview and maybe talk a little bit about his book Past Tense.

Saturday – Sandrine Gasq-Dion is our guest, and she’s got a new book out with Wilde City called A Betting Man.

My bet is you won’t want to miss a moment of this!

How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? – Sherlock Holmes, “The Sign of the Four”

Before August Brandon became an agent with the Canadian Supernatural Investigation Team, he was a wizard-in-training who nearly didn’t survive his education for reasons that are very significant to the story, and for that reason, I will not reveal them to you. ::taunt:: Let’s just say that what he learned at the hands of his mentor is the direct line from a deep and bitter betrayal that can be traced to Brandon’s trust issues and can be blamed for his never allowing anyone to cross the very stringent barriers he’s erected to keep people from getting too close.

When the laws of Brandon’s particular sort of magic were changed to accommodate stricter controls over its use, and for arguably good reason, one might say, it limited his options as an agent with the CSIT, relegating him to a position as desk jockey and paper shuffler rather than being out in the field where the risk exists that he could potentially use his powers for evil instead of good. Or, at least that’s the fear and the argument used to enact the new regulations. But Brandon has a boss who believes he deserves a chance to prove himself, and the perfect opportunity has arisen for him to use the magic with which he’s been gifted when the North American Museum of Unnatural Wonders (Un-Won) is scheduled to receive an ancient artifact of immeasurable power—the Eye of Odin—which infuses its bearer with omniscience. And we all know that knowledge is power, yes? Of course we do. Then again, we also know that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that the human mind is nothing if not powerless against the whims of the metaphysical.

Fredrick Greer is the man who’s been hired by the Vancouver CSIT to ensure the Eye is secured against any and all contingencies possible while housed in its exhibit. What that means is he’s responsible for ensuring that no one has the ways or the means to steal the Eye and all the corruptible power that goes along with it. But that doesn’t mean there are those who, in spite of all that diligence, won’t still try. The question is, will that someone—or someones—succeed?

Greer is, shall we say…unconventional, although Brandon would probably word that a bit differently. Honestly, the best that can be said is their personalities mesh about as well as lemon juice and a paper cut, that is to say if Greer were the lemon juice and Brandon were an exposed raw nerve. But just because Greer doesn’t fit the professional mold, it doesn’t mean he’s not serious about ensuring the safety of the Eye, working night and day and weighing all the options for securing the museum’s every ingress and egress point before the artifact arrives, and he’s not above using some very unorthodox methods to do it.

Of course, you understand that all the due diligence Greer and team are putting into this assignment is going to work out something like a self-fulfilling prophecy, don’t you? Yes, you do, because that’s one of the umpty-bazillion things I adored about this book. And yes, there were exactly that many reasons for me to love it. Give or take a few umpties.

Half Blind is a book of sorcery and technology pitted against the keen intellect and instincts of a man who makes a living at testing and pushing limits, and acquiring ill-gotten gains for the sake of profit. It’s filled with action and suspense and grave danger, seduction and magic and mystery, twists and turns and sacrifice, and an if I didn’t want to punch your face so hard, I might just like to kiss it romance that all lead to a breath-holding climax and a revelation that has me itching for book two, somewhere right about this very minute, thank you very much.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say I halfway believe Christine Price is a sorceress herself. It would certainly go a long way in explaining why I was utterly bewitched by the snappy dialogue and non-stop intrigue packed cover-to-cover in this book.

You can buy Half Blind here:

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Night sounds drift through a thin curtain of decomposing light, light that has been tamed and is now shrouded within the dusky gray of the softening day. A symphony of crickets accompanied by the sibilant sound of leaves slipping one against the other carries itself in through the open windows and over the gossamer fabric that plays lazily on a fickle breeze, sounds that land without effort, stroking quiet fingers along and over the landscapes of the two bodies entwined in the pale cool sheets, laying a trail of gooseflesh beneath the sheen of sweat that’s testament to the mellowing of the heated day.

The room glows sepia with the flicker of a dozen candles, adding the scents of cinnamon and clove to the heady blend of lilac and summer hovering around and over them, skin shimmering in a mix of clean exertion and mellow flame where it touches the men in the most intimate way, illuminating a path to the places they will each welcome the stroke of a tongue, a soft kiss, a sharp nip to tender flesh, each laying claim to the body beneath as they battle for the lead in this primal dance.

The silken whisper of skin against skin, soft words spoken on sighs—yes, more, right there, oh God…yes. Please!—the rasp of facial hair as a kiss deepens into something frantic, something frenzied that demands rather than asks permission, each breath a testament to two lives that have somehow become one, tongues dueling not with words but with lust and love and need and want. It is a battle, this desire to take, to possess, to each overwhelm the other in a press of flesh and a joining of bodies at a place where hearts collide.

A long, low lover’s moan harmonizes with the night chorus, a bass vibrato that is part pain, part pleasure, and resonates like the desperate prayer of a man seeking salvation from the only one who can offer him redemption. Face to face, touch to touch, eyes seeking and finding perfection, the two become one, sharing breaths and sighs in an endless confession, hips rocking in a synchronous rhythm both ancient and timeless; silken steel sheathed in molten heat fanning flames long held in check, now set to a steady burn that threatens to consume them the nearer they come to catching the electric current humming through their veins and buzzing along every nerve, beginning somewhere deep and unknown and primitive, then radiating outward like a pebble that’s broken the smooth surface of a quiet pond, tight rings of energy growing wider as they flow ever outward from the center until they simply no longer are…

And then the world explodes in a chorus of light and color. The ambient noises that had once surrounded them are now swallowed in a litany of cries and moans and hot, heavy breaths that carry promises of forever, and words that offer praise and give meaning to that small and simple one—Love. They are each wrapped tight around the other, Yin-Yang, neither knowing where they begin and end, neither wanting to be the first to let go, neither willing to end what they’d begun, both certain that forever is built upon single moments such as this.

And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles. ― Frances Hodgson Burnett

Hilary Kent has something Tom Laurence very much wants—his garden. But it’s not just any garden Tom’s after; it’s the centuries-old physic garden planted by a priest called Thaddeus who disappeared under mysterious circumstances, some four-hundred years before, that Tom’s most interested in because he’s reading Medieval History at Uni and plans to make the apothecary’s garden the foundation of his graduate thesis.

Hilary inherited the tower and its accompanying garden from an estranged cousin, moving from London to the quiet countryside that is the perfect accommodation for his preferred solitary life. Hilary is firmly ensconced in his golden years and aims to spend the rest of his days enjoying the seclusion his new home affords him, and that’s still his plan even though he’s given Tom permission to begin excavating Thaddeus’ original designs from the now overgrown disarray the garden has fallen into after years of neglect.

Tom is a young man who might be called nothing less than an old soul in the body of a confident and enthusiastic student of the history he’s about to unearth, a history that will uncover a mystery without any clues. His friendship with Hilary is one that blossoms and flourishes, and with care and nurturing affection, grows into a deep and abiding love in spite of the 4+ decades’ difference in their ages. But it’s not a love that is so easily cultivated, at least not on Hilary’s part, not by any means.

Hilary is of a generation that recalls very much what it was like to hide his attraction to other men, because he is of a generation that remembers a time when who he is was against the law. It takes some getting used to, this idea of living and loving openly the way Tom’s generation is striving to do, and it’s something he tries very hard to continue to foster in Tom while denying himself the right to do the same. Though, this time it’s not about his sexuality but about the conflict of falling in love with a man hypothetically young enough to be his grandson, an issue that Tom is blind to, not seeing their difference in age as an issue at all.

The Apothecary’s Garden is a gentle romance in which the conflict is internal for poor Hilary, who loves Tom so deeply but can’t seem to fathom it’s possible those affections might ever be returned. There is a forty-two year age difference between them, after all, so if that’s something that you’d have a difficult time with, I can’t say this is the book for you because it’s the crux of the conflict in their relationship for the entirety of the book.

While this novel was perhaps just a bit too sedate for my tastes, the drama in some instances a bit on the theatrical side to suit me, I can say without hesitation that Julie Bozza holds an obvious affection for her characters. Hilary was entirely sympathetic in his doubt and self-denial, acknowledging his love of a man he thinks he can never have, convicted in his belief that Tom could never see him through the eyes of anything other than a dear friend. The bond that grows between Tom and Hilary is genuine, making it easy to see how they could be kindred spirits, perhaps separated by generations but connected by their similarities.

There were some lovely metaphors in the story, illuminating the love that grew from the seeds of friendship for these two men, and the way in which a garden, much like that love, cannot survive until all the detritus that chokes the new and fragile blossoms of that love, which keeps it from thriving and growing into something lush and beautiful, has been removed to allow a new life to begin.

The Apothecary’s Garden is a book I’d recommend unreservedly if you’re looking for a story that leads you quietly along the path to its happy ending. Don’t read it if you’re expecting loads of angst and conflict, don’t read it if you’re expecting erotica, but do read it if you’re looking for an understated and touching romance.

You can buy The Apothecary’s Garden here:

Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends. – Alphonse de Lamartine

Mountain Memories is a sweet story with some great twists and turns. We have Jax the concert pianist and composer. Then we have Mason, the park ranger with the National Park Service. Jax is running away from a broken heart and trying to put his life back together. Mason is doing a job he loves and trying to figure out why he hasn’t fallen in love with his friend and sometimes lover, Roger.

When Mason rescues Jax from a mountain lion attack the sparks immediately start flying. Due to a bad storm, Jax and Mason spend the next few days together in the ranger cabin getting to know each other both in and out of bed. A surprise visitor puts a major wrench into their plans on the last night they were supposed to spend together.

While both men are in the hospital Jax realizes he has lost his heart to Mason, but unfortunately a bullet wound, a not so serious lover, and Jax’s own trepidation put a stop to anything that may have grown between the two men. While Mason is still out of it, Jax hops a plane back to Virginia to mend his broken heart. After a couple months, Jax has worked his feelings out, well, at least he has gotten them all on paper in the form of his composition Mountain Memories, and he is playing it at a benefit concert.

A surprise visitor backstage at the benefit could make or break Jax’s future. Will Jax take a chance or will he continue to live thru his music alone? Well, you will have to read it to find out.

This story was well written and had, for me, just the right amount of angst to keep me on the edge of my seat. The characters are well written and have just enough backstory to have you invested in what happens to them. I would recommend this story if you are looking for a short, sweet read with a happy ending. I would love to read more by this author in the future.

Reviewed By: Jackie

You can buy Mountain Memories here:

So they were both crushing on each other, and yet, both were afraid of venturing into dangerous territory. – Andrea Speed

Luke Diaz has his friend Marc and an herbal drug laced health shake to blame for his sudden, and now soberly inexplicable, urge to sign up for an adult dodgeball league. He’s baffled, sure, but now that he’s done it, it’s more curiosity than anything that draws him to the high school gymnasium to check out what kind of people actually take the sport, if that’s even the right word for it, seriously enough to try out for a chance at one of the four vacant spots on the Seattle Thunderballs’ team roster.

It’s all a bit of a weird experience for Luke, and he’s sort of tempted to write it off as a momentary lapse of sanity…until the team’s captain saunters his way across the gym floor, blowing his whistle and clutching that red rubber ball. Oh yeah, Shane Kinrade catches Luke’s attention and suddenly dodgeball doesn’t seem so weird after all. In fact, Shane makes Luke want to try really hard to earn one of those coveted spots on the team, and now it’s not a matter of blaming Marc and that herbal shake for the urge to dodge some balls as much as it is thanking them both for the eyeful of pretty that is the sexy captain. The problem is, Luke has no idea if Shane is gay.

Thunderballs is Andrea Speed’s contribution to Dreamspinner Press’ Daily Dose collection, and if you’ve ever seen the movie Dodgeball, you can probably imagine what was going through my head when I snatched this one up to read. But let me assure you, Thunderballs is much less goofy than the movie (nary a wrench to the face to be found), and Luke and Shane and their winks and smiles were fun to watch as they finally got about the business of getting their flirt on.

You can buy Thunderballs here: