Today Jessewave has an interview of me here. I’m new to interviewing but Jesse was very patient!

Feral made it to number two at My Bookstore and More.

I’ve had some nice reviews of Feral, and they are much appreciated:

• Literary Nymphs Review gives 5 nymphs.
  

  The story grabbed my attention from the first paragraph… I’ll be adding Joely Skye’s to my must-read author’s list.

• Rainbow Reviews gives 4.5 stars.
  

  The author does a wonderful job portraying the men’s struggle as they come to terms with their pasts and fight for their futures. …a wonderful story that should not be missed.

• Ecataromance gives 5 stars.
  

  Feral is a truly magnificent book that any paranormal reader will enjoy. This is a five star work and I can not wait to read more about Ms. Skye’s shifters.

• Elisa Rolle.
  

  …it allows the reader to “feel” the characters, above all to feel their fragility.

All right, Feral is now on sale. Yay!

I already posted the blurb, so here’s the tagline and an excerpt behind the cut.

Seduction is his only chance for freedom…and love is a death sentence.

Chapter One

Ethan swerved, just missing the river’s edge, and leaped uphill. If he pushed, he could reach the mountain, and if he reached the mountain, he could get to the cliff. It was better that he jump into forever than be captured, because these wolves wouldn’t simply kill him, they would tear him apart, over and over again. He couldn’t live through that hell a second time. Once—years ago—had almost destroyed him and had certainly destroyed what was human in him.

So he ran as cougar and ignored his body’s rapidly draining reserves—it was the end of winter and he was racing towards oblivion.

The werewolves’ sudden appearance had initially confounded him. He’d been alone for so long that when he came upon the pack, or more accurately they came upon him, he froze. Only for a moment, but that time of pure astonishment had been crucial in terms of the hunt—and that’s what this was. They were attempting to bring him down. By his count, six wolves were chasing him, and they were close, too close.

Unlike hounds that bayed the few times they’d tried unsuccessfully to tree him, the wolves were silent, steady and very, very large. Why these shifters were after him, Ethan couldn’t fathom. He’d been careful not to attract their interest. Though he knew, at least at an intellectual level, that not all wolf packs were sadistic, he’d been wolf-shy forever. His past had taught him to avoid them at all costs.

The winter had been long and harsh, and he wasn’t as strong as he needed to be. For one thing, he’d lost too much weight and his skin hung loose around him. Nevertheless, his paws were large, larger than a wolf’s, and he should have been able to outrun them on this snow. But he was one and they were many, enough they could switch off on the hunt, take turns being fresh.

They had planned this.

His muscles bunched, straining, propelling him forward despite his fatigue. The snow’s crust sometimes broke beneath him, making him stumble before he pushed on. The key was not to panic, to remain determined. He reminded himself that this snow would break under his pursuers’ paws too, and with greater frequency. And yet, the wolves were gaining.

Ten more minutes max. He could make it to the cliff. Despite his body’s protest, he ran, and ran hard, barely slowing down. As long as he didn’t collapse, he would get clear.

The wolf shot out of nowhere, dark against the white snow, racing towards Ethan at an angle. As if he knew of Ethan’s plan and was determined to cut off his escape route. Ethan’s confidence took a hit and it was hard not to falter.

He forced himself to aim straight for the predator. The large werewolf was male and as Ethan approached, the wolf eased up his pace and turned, apparently bracing himself for Ethan. Foolish thing, or was this one a sacrifice? For, one on one, a cougar, even a malnourished cougar, would best a wolf and kill it easily. Didn’t matter. Ethan refused to go down that road. If he stopped to harm one wolf, the pack would be on him, attacking, and would forever claim their right to do it again and again.

At the last possible moment, Ethan leaped and he caught an expression of surprise on the wolf’s face before he was past it, flying through the air.

As he landed, the snow’s hard crust cut the pads of his front paws, but he welcomed the pain, let it spur him onwards as his hind legs pushed off the snow and moved him forward.

Unlike Ethan, the wolf was fresh. Ethan didn’t think he could keep up this new, faster pace. Though he tried, he tried, marshaling the last of his energy. Yet he heard the wolf panting, the snow breaking as the wolf closed in.

He could turn, Ethan thought. He could turn and slice the wolf open, gut him with his claws. A pack of wolves he couldn’t outfight, but this one he could kill.

No. Instead he ran harder, fighting to race ahead. The cliff. It was not that far.

Pain speared his right flank. It wasn’t the jagged tear of teeth, but a sharp, clean puncture. No wolf was on him, so he ignored the sensation of having been shot and bunched his hind legs to push harder.

The effort failed and he stumbled, his right leg going numb and not responding to his body’s commands. Up, get up. Ethan summoned all his will to push forward, and fell.

The wolf approached and Ethan, snarling, lunged to keep the predator at bay. The lunge was pathetic, with his hind legs giving out, and Ethan collapsed onto the snow. His body had betrayed him while a wolf stood watching, eyes brown, fur black.

It was like before. Years ago, the wolves had liked to watch him when he was down.

Ethan felt sick. It would happen again. They’d ripped him open a few times, waited for him to heal, and repeated their not-quite-lethal attacks. A terrible sort of play. A punishment. But for what this time? He hadn’t consorted with one of theirs or attacked anyone. Revenge couldn’t be a motive. Perhaps they simply wanted to toy with him.

They’d drugged him, he recognized, a dart in his right flank immobilizing him. So this episode was different. As was the dark wolf’s somber appearance and his strange, unhappy whine. Last time, the wolves would have laughed at his helplessness by now.

They were wolves with different weapons and perhaps a changed agenda. One he couldn’t guess at and one he feared. Ethan had never returned to his human form after the terror. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d become feral and didn’t want to know. The point was, the point to cling to—he refused to turn human. His human was weak and would reach for solace, for companionship, for contact. Ethan simply could not afford it, or survive it.

He should close his eyes, shut out the dark wolf, but the anger in him wouldn’t let go of that brown gaze, would not look away, even though he could no longer hold up his head.

The wolf whined again, as if in greeting. Lila used to whine, Ethan remembered rather hopelessly, though he’d spent so many years trying not to think about her. The wolf came closer, approaching Ethan’s neck, and he braced himself for the attack.

The wolf nuzzled Ethan. Lightly.

What the hell?

“Get back, Bram.” The voice came out of nowhere, a warning, and the wolf obeyed by retreating a few steps.

Bram. Ethan remembered that name. His cat remembered all the names. Not a different pack then, though Bram had been a youngster last time. So the same pack had somehow tracked Ethan down. But why? He’d have felt sickened if the drug hadn’t taken hold, allowing him to float in a painless, cloudless space full of only curiosity and anger—and even those emotions were becoming distant. Panic was completely at bay.

Bram stood between Ethan and the second wolf, and growled. Under other circumstances, Ethan would have felt like Bram was protecting him, which didn’t make sense. Evidently, the drug was confusing him.

“Jesus, Bram, I could wring your neck.” That gravelly voice sounded angry and alpha-ish. Somewhere deep inside himself, Ethan cringed. “What the hell were you thinking going one-on-one with a feral cat? He could have sliced you open. He’s done it before.”

Despite his best efforts, Ethan’s eyelids drifted shut. He didn’t entirely lose consciousness, but he wasn’t aware of time passing. He kept his focus on himself, on his cat. He was only cat, not human. No shifting, not ever again. He had to keep a stranglehold on his ability to shift so he didn’t give in to his weaker side.

“This was a hunt, Doug.” A new, reproachful voice jerked Ethan back to the present. The words were spoken low, uncertain, and someone stood very near Ethan.

“What the hell else could it be after he ran from us?” the one named Doug answered. “It took me three shots to bring him down. This cat was fast, twisting and turning like a mad thing. I missed twice.”

There was a long silence, and if Ethan had had the energy, he would have lifted his head to see the two shifter humans. But he could only listen.

“Bram, look at me,” Doug demanded.

“Sorry.” Sorry for what? Ethan didn’t know. He only knew that brown-eyed Bram-the-dark-wolf was no longer a wolf. He must have shifted to human while Ethan had drifted along in his drug-induced haze. God knew how long they’d been here.

But why turn from wolf to human? And why didn’t they attack? What were they waiting for? For him to shift too? The worst thing was that they called to him, these shifters, standing nearby in their human forms. They called to Ethan the human, and he was scared he wouldn’t be able to resist the pull.

“Get back.” Doug spoke again, still annoyed. “You’re not even wolf and he’s still cougar.”

Ethan would stay cougar. He was not going to change for them. As if from far away, he heard himself snarling.

“Bram,” Doug warned. “If you can’t act responsibly, I will not keep you on this job.”

“He’s down.” Bram’s voice filled with resentment. “And I know how to take care of myself.”

“Right.” The older man didn’t believe Bram. Why not? Ethan muzzily tried to figure out what they were arguing about. He was losing track of the conversation. Another needle poked his flank and he barely felt the puncture.

Time passed, but Ethan grimly and determinedly remained cat.

Words came back into focus.

“Jesus, we’ve been here close to an hour. Shift already.” The gloved hand of the alpha came down on Ethan’s face, and despite his desire not to show weakness, he flinched. A thumb raised his eyelid and the blue eyes of his worst nightmares looked into his. “Okay, Bram, he needs encouragement and clearly he’s harmless now, close to senseless. Get over here and touch him, coax him.” The alpha spoke directly to Ethan for the first time. “Shift, buddy. It’ll go easier on you if you do.”

This asshole was no buddy of his, but all Ethan could let out was a soft, pathetic hiss. He began to tremble. His human so long suppressed was struggling to change, to shift, to be with these humans. To talk.

Couldn’t go there, could not go there. Not with wolves here.

They knew of his struggle to stay cougar, but showed no mercy. A bare hand ran through his fur. Not a pat, but an awful caress that went down the length of his spine. They were playing with him, tempting him, and the human in him didn’t know or didn’t care. The human thought they were asking for his company, offering friendship. The human was an idiot who yearned for companionship.

His cat, on the other hand, was a solitary animal who needed no one and nothing, but food and sleep. His cat was much stronger. Usually. At this moment, his human craved contact and Ethan could not fight it down. Between the drugs and that shifter hand—fingers drifting through his fur, over his shoulders and back—he became terribly, fatally weak. Tremors rippled through him.

“Let it go, Ethan.” A bare murmur, as if in comfort. Bram’s voice was a lure and a betrayal. A false source of comfort.

Ethan refused to let it go. He fought hard to stay what he was, focusing on his cat, fighting down his human while those beguiling fingers softly stroked his exposed neck. Despite his best efforts, the blackness took him.

Chapter Two

Ethan lay on his back.

He never lay on his back. It was too narrow, the cougar’s back, and much more comfortable to lie on his side. He attempted to roll over and his body resisted. Odd. His shoulders were too broad, his legs wrongly shaped, his tail…gone.

Panic. He pulled in air and scrabbled, trying to sit up. He couldn’t see, couldn’t move limbs properly. A noise came from his throat, and it sounded all wrong—human. God no.

Something pushed at him to rise. A hand. Hands. Someone behind him. Human-shaped. Arms surrounded him, clamped down on his wrists, wrapping his own arms around him like a human straightjacket. A chest pressed against his back.

Made no sense. Prepare for attack. Cat… Think! Air pulled in again. Breathe, Ethan.

“Easy.” A murmur.

Ethan bolted. No. Tried to bolt, but couldn’t move, could only shake. He wasn’t paralyzed, but confined. The clasp became a vise, and legs pressed down on his own while arms tightened around his. Someone enveloped him. How? Why?

He heard a keening noise and came to recognize that his own throat was making it.

“You’re all right, but you need to calm down.”

The voice spurred Ethan to fight harder, and he strained against the muscles and bones that held him. He was strong, even in human form, but not more powerful than this cage of arms, legs, back. He needed to shift. Cat. Cat. He needed to think to shift.

“Don’t fight. No one is going to hurt you.” The timbre of the voice gave his captor away, as did the strength that held him.

Wolf. Ethan was entrapped by a wolf. The thought tore at him and his heart banged harder, threatening. Everything threatened. His world started to turn gray and he battled to hold on. God knew what they’d do to him once he passed out.

“Easy.” It was an effort for the stranger to hold him. The wolf actually nuzzled the side of Ethan’s neck, a classic wolf-calming technique, but it worked on wolves, not him. Ethan would have tried to crack his captor’s head, but he was shaking too hard and he was held too tight. Ethan had lost control. Weak, lost.

“Ethan.” A soothing voice, deceptive, and yet some of Ethan’s energy leached away. Human curiosity rose within him, tentative but building despite the terror. Goddamn human. It coaxed Ethan to not want to fight. It created this terrible longing within him.

It made Ethan recognize that the wolf knew his name. And ask the question, How?

Cat. Ethan needed to shift so he could fight. His cat could outfight any wolf. His stupid human would want to make friends. Jesus.

Breathe for a moment, Ethan. Get yourself together and you can shift, wolf or no wolf.

“That’s it.”

His shuddering breaths went in and out. God, he couldn’t find it in him to shift. Why not? Where was his cat? It was as if this human contact—no matter that the male was really a wolf—suppressed Ethan’s cat. Instead his human wanted to ask questions.

The stranger eased his hold slightly. Not enough that Ethan could do anything, just to make him more comfortable.

He had never been held like this, and it felt unsafe. He shouldn’t try to speak, but his human ignored that warning.

“I can’t see,” he managed though a long-disused throat. It hurt a little to talk.

“Open your eyes.”

His eyelids flew open and light struck, blinding him with brightness. He cringed.

“Can you turn down the lamp, please?” The polite request wasn’t directed at Ethan.

Talking to who? There was another person in the room. Of course, Ethan had heard the breathing but hadn’t registered that second presence yet. Panic hit Ethan again, and the wolf increased pressure on arms and legs, an overwhelming embrace. He didn’t want this, but with wolves it sure as hell was not about Ethan’s wants.

“Ethan.” More urgent this time. “You’re safe here, but you need to calm down.”

“Can’t. Can’t.” Fool to admit it, but oh God, there were two wolves, and they were going to rip him open. One would hold him and the other, the blue-eyed one, would bleed him out. The helplessness of it all hurt. He’d spent years avoiding exactly this.

“No one’s going to hurt you.” Why did the wolf say that? Was it a new game? Ethan couldn’t make sense of the situation, especially when his captor rubbed his face against Ethan’s neck, making him shudder in confusion. “You’re not thinking clearly. You’ve been cat too long, okay? It takes some time to think as a human again. But it will come.”

Never mind the human. Cat. But Ethan couldn’t find his other self. His cougar was lost somewhere deep within, fighting to get out, but too far below the human surface to succeed. The internal fight sapped Ethan’s will and the gray came again, a wave he couldn’t stave off.

Amazon rank. It’s the Google Bomb by Smart Bitch Sarah.

For more information, Dear Author is a good source. If you’re on twitter you can follow #amazonfail.

Yeah, they seem to be targeting GBLT and erotic romance. Cannot understand what they are thinking.

My futuristic m/m romance Poison is now in print!

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million and elsewhere.

I received my own print copies last month and while I loved the cover already, it was even more beautiful in print.

Here’s the blurb:

In this world, trust is hard to find…and the one thing they need to survive.

Tobias Smator lives down his late father’s execution by avoiding the spotlight—and responsibility. He doesn’t mind what people think of him as long as they leave him alone. Still, in this unremarkable half-life he’s fashioned for himself on deceptively low-tech Rimania, he’s not safe from political intrigue. Someone wants him dead.

Alliance operative Geln Marac’s orders for his first assignment were simple: Stay uninvolved. Those orders go out the window, however, when he delivers an antidote to save Tobias from death by poisoning. His reward? Possible betrayal that lands him in the hands of police interrogators. To protect the Alliance, Geln resorts to a temporary mindwipe.

Tobias is fascinated by the amnesiac man who saved his life. But Geln has attracted the attention of the high-powered Lord Eberly, who would use him as a pawn. Rather than sacrifice Geln to the political wolves, Tobias chooses to embrace his heritage.

Geln’s memory reawakens to a precarious situation with no source of protection—except Tobias. There’s only one way forward for both of them.

Trust—or die.

Okay, Feral is now up on the coming soon pages. Yay!

Here’s the blurb.

Seduction is his only chance for freedom…and love is a death sentence.

Even among shifters, Ethan is a rare breed. So rare, he’s spent the last eight years in hiding from the werewolves who once captured and tortured him. Now a tranq dart has cut short his feral existence. Waking in human form in a locked room is more than a living nightmare…it’s reliving his worst one.

Yet in the troubled eyes of one of his captors, he senses a weak link. One he can use to escape—by seducing his jailer.

Bram’s life as pack omega isn’t easy. As long as he obeys his alpha he is protected. However, there are some things he just can’t bring himself to do. Keeping a precious cougar shifter prisoner is one of them, especially one who has somehow managed to capture his heart.

Setting Ethan free could be a death sentence for both of them, for Bram’s pack doesn’t take betrayal lightly. And the alpha is set on revenge.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett’s Havemercy. That’s not a typo, which was my first reaction when I saw the title, Havemercy, and I thought it should be Have Mercy.

Havemercy is the name of the magic metal dragon that one of the main characters, Rook, rides into war.

There are two main storylines to this story, and they weave in and out in the middle and at the end of the book. In Storyline One, Margrave Roynston is banished from the city for his affair with a royal. He’s been accused of bespelling his esrtwhile lover, although the young prince and many others know that Roynston’s talent does not make him capable of any such thing. So Roynston has been burned badly and is sent off to his brother’s estate in the countryside.

At his brother’s is a young man, Hal, who is going to be the tutor of Roynston’s brother’s children. What develops from there is a slow sweet romance. Roynston’s been recently betrayed, he’s older (35) and Hal is not only young (20), but inexperienced—so Roynston has to fight his attraction while both men fall in love. I totally loved this storyline. Lots of wonderful dialogue. It almost had the flavor of a regency romance, a really good one, I might add.

Meanwhile, back in the city in Storyline Two, a young man, Thom, has been assigned to the dragon riders. After a scandal, their “punishment” is to be educated in manners and society by Thom. While the dragons are fascinating and Rook, one of the riders, has a great voice, I did find that at the beginning of the book, I couldn’t wait to get back to Hal and Roynston. However, as the book continued, I became increasingly involved in Rook and Thom’s storyline. It becomes evident early on that their impoverished background is the one and only thing they have in common, as well as their dislike of each other.

This book is in rotating first person point of view. That’s quite rare in the books I’ve read and almost entirely, to date, unsuccessful. Perhaps I read the wrong books. Because I didn’t mind the switching point of view at all. Before Havemercy I used to find that every time there was a point of view switch, I would be reminded that I’m reading a story and be jolted out of the story. But here each section smoothly pulled me in to Thom’s, Hal’s, Roynston’s or Rook’s point of view. It was very well done.

I thought the authors balanced a lot things well, going quite deeply into the personal while still moving the plot forward. There is magic that makes sense, i.e. it never seem particularly convenient or overwhelming. The society and world-building was interesting and cohesive. I will say I thought the portrayal of the ruler (the Esar) was a bit weak, and Hal’s “solution” at the end was too obvious for no one else to have thought of.

Still, a really enjoyable debut, and I can’t wait to read their next book.

I found this book because Jia of Dear Author reviewed it and gave it a B-.

I cannot wait to show off my new cover. Anne Cain has done a stupendous job with Feral. Any day now, I’m sure, it will be official and I can post it here.

Feral will be out May 5 and, well, I can’t wait for that too. Patience is a virtue, I guess.

Well, these aren’t so recently read now, to be honest. I’ve been remiss about writing up books I read. Which is a shame since I enjoy it, even if they’re more reader reaction than review. One of the best things about writing m/m is reading m/m. Of course you can just do one or the other, but I like to see what others are writing. And despite popular trends, the genre is very flexible

(Right now I’m actually reading a fantasy with m/m romantic elements and loving it. Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett. Will have to write about that too.)

Anyway, in late 2008 I read two excellent books, The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks and Collision Course. There are a number of contrasts that I can note with these two books. Ghost is by Josh Lanyon, one of my favorite authors, and I try to read pretty much everything he writes. Collision Course was by a new-to-me author KA Mitchell.

Collision Course is marked Red Hot by Samhain. For good reason, as there’s a lot of sex in the book, right from the beginning. I’ll admit it, there have been times in the past when my eyes begin to glaze over during sex scenes of certain books, and I wish the author would return to the story. Or I think, not another sex scene. But not here.

Mitchell’s story is told through the sex scenes and they’re hot, relevant, moving and develop the relationship. I loved the two heroes, and I found it a gripping read. Not only that, Aaron and Joey have jobs that are very important to them (paramedic and social worker), and these jobs are also important in the development of the story. I’m not the only one who loved it, as Dear Author’s Joan gave it an A- and jessewave gave it 5 stars.

I used to say that I didn’t really read mystery. But that’s not quite true, I realize. It’s more that I’m picky, or inflexible, when it comes to mystery. I’m actually a fan of quite a few mystery authors: PD James, Ariana Franklin, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Kate Ross. But there’ve been a number of popular mystery writers who really don’t do it for me. Either the final explanation falls flat, which kinda wrecks the story for me, or the characterization doesn’t engage me. Anyway, all this to say that I thoroughly enjoy Josh Lanyon’s mysteries, including The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks.

Ghost has this cool atmosphere with a boarding-house mystery and a missing dead body. Perry is physically frail but tenacious and determined to find out what happened to that dead body only he saw. Nick, meanwhile, gets involved, both with Perry and the mystery, despite himself. Lots of excellent secondary characters. A very nice, slow build-up to Perry and Nick’s relationship. It, too, got 5 stars from jessewave.

Hey, there’s been some great discussion about m/m romance over at the Romance Novel TV blog. It starts here, and continues for five more posts.

The question and answer sessions are with Josh Lanyon, JL Langley, Ally Blue, Jet Myckles, Chris Owen, KA Mitchell, LB Gregg and Jamie Craig. (I think I got them all.)

I’ve just recently discovered this blog. They also have a cool video interview with executive editor Angela James, on the front page.

Because of this:

I can go cross-country skiing tomorrow!