Spotlight-Excerpt & Giveaway: ENTWINED (Darklight #3) by Sean Ian O'Meidhir & Connal Braginksky

 

ENTWINED 

(Darklight #3)

by Sean Ian O'Meidhir & Connal Braginsky

Release Date: Tuesday, June 18 2024

Publishing Company: Ninestar

Cover Artist: Jaycee DeLorenzo

Primary Plot Arc: Speculative Fiction

Main Genre: Paranormal

Story Type: Novel (>50k)

Word Count: 85100

LGBTQ+ Identities: gay, lesbian

Keywords/Categories: MM, MMM, gay romance, mm romance, paranormal, paranormal romance, PNR, vampires, gay, lesbian, reunited with mother, menage sex scene, fae, witches, war, spiders, voyeurism, public sex, telepathy, psychic ability, psychologist, autism

Blurb

After learning his mother is alive, Cameron, a telepath, travels across the country to find her, accompanied by Nathen, his neurodiverse vampire lover, and Syn, his best friend and sister of the heart. Once there, they find she is involved in a much larger war of her own and has been trying to keep him out of harm’s way for years.

In their quest to help her, they make enemies, of course, but they also find several new allies. And when they are swept up in fae politics and looming war, the result is an entire paradigm shift that will have far-reaching effects on all their lives forever.

Warnings: Trauma, death violence, sex assault, miscarriage, HFN, depression, grief

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Excerpt

Then Nathen sensed it before he was there. A man standing casually against the railing. Not a man. A vampire. He could see the blood flow like an electrical current through him, so very different than humans or even mages. His tall frame was silhouetted against the city backdrop so he could not quite make out his features except for the piercing luminescent blue eyes that bore into him. He wore a T-shirt, the pattern of which Nathen couldn’t make out, and leather pants that may have been painted on. His biker boots with silver buckles were distracting to Nathen for a moment as one was poised across the other, tip to the ground. He leaned on his elbows, which rested on the railing behind him as if the man didn’t have a care in the world. 

Nathen interrupted Cameron from his midway point into unconscious sleep. “Babe, don’t freak out, and stay still. There’s another vampire in the room. I’m going to see what’s up. Pretend you’re sleeping in case he does something bad. That way maybe you can surprise him.” 

Nathen kept a mental hand on Cameron, trying to keep him calm though he saw the spike of adrenaline through Cameron, blood activating and moving through him quickly, swept with fear and concern. Cameron said, “Gorgeous, no! How am I supposed to surprise him?” 

He could see Cameron’s mind working through various scenarios, though he complied with Nathen’s request and didn’t make a move to get up 

Nathen turned his attention to the vampire. “May I help you, sir? It is awfully late…or early. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting? My name is Nathen.” 

“Nice show.” The man’s velvety voice had a smile to it. “Caught the end. You boys interested in an encore with a new actor? It’s Augustus, or just August, by the way.” He made no move from his position, as if he were a marble statue. Looking closer, Nathen could make out the pronounced bulge tightening August’s pants. 

Nathen drew a blank on how he was supposed to act in this situation. He’d never experienced anything like this, so had no script to follow. Morally this was a gray area, not wrong, but not usual either. He had never had a threesome, and that could be interesting, especially with two vampires. Though it could be too much for Cameron. Would Nathen feel the same way being bitten by another vampire as Cameron did? His mind was going through many probabilities trying to pick one choice. All he could manage to say was “Um…” 

Feeling incredibly exposed, Cameron opened his eyes and pulled the blanket over him and Nathen. “Hey,” he managed, his fair skin mottled with embarrassment. Nathen could tell his thoughts were along the same lines of surprise and confusion which dripped with interest when he saw August. He could also feel Cameron delving into his desires, trying to read his preferences and though he knew Cameron preferred monogamy, the thought of being with both of them tickled through Cameron, alighting his already spent core. 

“Hey yourself,” August said. “You probably need a minute to recover…for that was—” He traced his tongue over his extended fangs and lips before finishing. “—delicious. Was it you who had affected all the humans in the area? It had to be. I haven’t met a thaumaturge in town for quite a while.” 

“I…” Cameron’s mind scrambled. 

“I’ll tell you what, gentlemen. Why don’t Nathen and I give you some of our blood to help you recover faster? Then we can all have a little fun?” August asked. 

About the Authors

Connal Braginsky is a software engineer who lives in San Diego, California. Diagnosed with autism, Connal sometimes struggles in social situations, but has an inner world that is always incredibly rich. With an insatiable thirst for knowledge about many esoteric things, Connal brings his personal philosophies and interests to writing.

Sean Ian O’Meidhir is a psychologist who lives in San Francisco, California. Sean is a hedonist who believes in living for today, living every day to the fullest, and enjoying as many experiences as possible. They have been gaming since adolescence and have written about and played hundreds of lives, reveling in the chance to take on new personalities, dramas, even disorders.

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Spotlight-Excerpt: GODSPEED, LOVERS by TQ Sims (Lovers Universe)

Godspeed, Lovers

by TQ Sims

Release Date: Friday, October 20 2023

Publishing Company: Archway Publishing

Cover Artist: Joel Luna and Fritz Westenberger

Primary Plot Arc: Speculative Fiction

Main Genre: Sci Fi Fantasy (with heavy romance subplot)

Story Type: Novel (>50k)

Word Count: 167K +

Blurb

Lovable loner Casey Isaac thinks love isn’t for him. Not since extraordinary events left him with supernormal powers and a great deal of trauma. But when Oscar Kenzari looks at him, he can’t help but change his mind.

As Divinators, Casey and Oscar have used their psychic powers to defend humanity from sentient, extradimensional storms for one hundred years.

But a storm more powerful than any before is brewing. MaalenKun, prince of the maelstrom, conqueror of countless realities, plans to turn the tables by infecting Casey’s mind.

MaalenKun is not the only threat.

Casey and Oscar must determine who they can trust: the eccentric trillionaire keeping them in the dark, the independent contractors with secrets of their own, or a seemingly helpful extradimensional being shrouded in mystery.

As Casey works to defeat threats around and within himself, he must open to love for his chosen family, for Oscar, and for himself to unlock a transformative power capable of banishing MaalenKun. And Oscar must make a difficult choice that could cost him the future he dreams of.

Can Casey and Oscar’s love break the storm?

"It's fantastic to have such an emotional, thoughtful, and at times really sexy story to enjoy and identify with. I love books that take characters who are usually shoved to the margins and make their stories, their struggles, fears, hopes, tragedies, and triumphs the focus--which is exactly what this book does." –Doug Spearman, Actor/Activist/Writer/Producer/Director, From Zero to I Love You

“From the title page onwards, I was unable to put this book down. With excellent worldbuilding and rich, dimensional characters, T.Q. Sims' Godspeed, Lovers skillfully weaves a world that is equal parts fantastical sci-fi, spirituality, and queer joy. I can't wait to see where Casey and Oscar go next.” –Colette Bennett, Author, Enter the Meta

Excerpt

I realize that without assistance nearby from Casey, I would not be able to maintain the psybridge alone. I send him waves of gratitude and he nods at me. No one has to do this all on their own. It occurs to me, then to both of us. His special divination, his unique attainment, is empathic. He gleans from other divs that he syncs and replicates their capabilities. This is a new skill he is tapping into. He smiles with a hint of surprise and amazement before a hint of fear shows in his eyes. We both know the ability he is beginning to unlock through Four is incredibly rare and powerful. I nod at him, signaling my confidence in his abilities. 

“Ready, Div Kenzari, Div Isaac,” Murtagh speaks and transfers her message to ensure we are tuned into each other in body and mind. “Prepare for mass heartstar turning.”

Murtagh stands in the pontiff suite at the metaglass bow of the yacht. She lifts her hands to the heartstar shining brightly in her chest. Casey does the same. Through the psybridge Murtagh’s voice is mighty as she addresses hundreds of divs ready to level up. Everyone, steady. 

Murtagh and Casey turn hundreds of heartstars, locating within each the light-thread connecting each Div to MaalenKun’s energy. The sound of a bass drum echoes throughout our connections, and a low steady AUM builds as glowing mandalas expand and turn around Casey’s mudras. Hundreds of light-threads pour through the psybridge, glistening through space, and funnel through the mandalas. The array reaches into the crystal chamber and pins MaalenKun down just as Vasif breaks through, tearing away an entire end of the crystal before flowing inside and descending onto the immobilized Haddyc. 

Now! I shout through the psybridge. 

All the divs, all the Sages create space with and through their light-threads. Casey channels it into the trapped storm being enveloped by Vasif’s radiance. Vasif expands like rolling fog descending onto the darkened storm cloud. The force pushes against the Haddyc’s body within Vasif. As planned, the force steers the crystal closer to the rift. 

Vasif roars like breaking timber as MaalenKun screams the sounds of bending metal. With fast moving vines, Vasif pulls MaalenKun into its body. A flash of purple-black lightning is quickly disarmed within Vasif’s expanding luminous body. The dingy cloud that is MaalenKun explodes into sprays of grey light and ash which slam against the interior of the crystal chamber and knock us onto our knees. The violent bursts of grey give way to explosions of white light before the explosions become invisible light, seen only psychically. As Vasif’s luminous body rips apart the Haddyc’s storm, sounds of metal bending and breaking reverberate through the crystal’s cracked surface. 

The cracks grow and spread as the crystal chamber moves toward the rift.

Yahima looks back toward Mira and Liam. “Signal Vasif!” 

“Hurry!” Mira urges. “Vasif is struggling!” 

Yahima slides the ornate cover away from the coffer and hands it back to me.

The misty leaves which merged with the golden festoon within the ring shine brightly as they peel away. The leaves stretch long and thin. They become a film of glowing colors which psychically reaches towards Vasif. The EDB has shifted its shape as well. It has become a luminous whirling pale mist stretching toward the rift. A flash emerges from within the ring and a high-pitched peal pours from it. The rift crackles before a low hum reverberates from it. It is unlocked. The Helixx Corp drones zoom forward into the rift. Their flashing lights drift into the half-lit interior and disappear. Hundreds of divs work to immobilize and dull MaalenKun, and Vasif consumes the Haddyc. Vasif stretches itself into the dull half-light of the rift and expels the shredded body of MaalenKun and all of the Haddyc energy it had consumed and contained back 

Through the psybridge, the sounds of hundreds of divs reaching new Levels builds. An ebullient music of their emotion swells and cascades around us. Joy bubbles forth from within and rolls like a wave through us, uplifting us all. 

The unstable crystal shatters! 

Vasif begins to drift. Luminous thin mists stretch from its body, and it clings to the open space around it. 

From within the rift, a bolt of purple-black lightning rushes out, sizzling the space around it. As it moves past us, several of our gear functions are affected. I try to call Ops through the comm but hear only my voice reverberating in the helmet. My HUD flickers and faintly indicates that all of our thrusters are offline, but I swear I hear their quiet whistle through a looped sensation.

Casey drifts into the rift first. Yahima slings the coffer containing the ring back, away from the rift, as they sail into the half-light. Through our psybridge, I hear Liam and Mira and Carmel screaming as the two prescient divinators who could not see this coming disappear into the rift. Mira and Liam drop away from my psybridge. Carmel panics.

The music of the levels becomes discordant. Joy is torn away. The nimbuses grind against each other as they fall out of sync. There are so many. Even the Sages cannot hold them in place.

Vasif catches the coffer and begins to shapeshift into its more human-like body. I drop the ornate coffer cover, and it floats away. Misty vines wrap around the cover and the clear box containing the ring.

Behind me, a bright, fiery light grows as the purple-black lightning breaks the shields and pierces the wings. The psybridge is filled with wailing moments before the low boom of exploding deep space V’s reaches me. It all fades into muffled distortions as I drift helplessly amidst broken crystal and empty space.

My thrusters come back online, and I right myself.

Realizing my intentions, Thiia cries out.

Without pause, I fly into the rift.

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https://linktr.ee/t.q.sims

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About the Author

TQ Sims writes stories that center Queer characters in supernormal situations. In their first novel Godspeed, Lovers, two men fall in love while using their psychic powers to battle sentient storms and an evil corporation that wishes to control them. Godspeed, Lovers is a story about mental health, post-traumatic growth, and found family.

TQ’s story "The Ritual" was a finalist in competition at the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival in 2022. Their work has appeared in Louisiana Words, Beyond Queer Words, and The Queer and Trans Guide to Storms. They live in New Orleans with their partner and a growing number of cats.

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Spotlight-Excerpt: SPARK & TETHER by Lilian Zenzi (Synchronists #1)

 

Spark & Tether

By Lilian Zenzi

Series Title: Synchronists

Release Date: Friday, January 19, 2024

Publishing Company: Lilian Zenzi, LLC

Cover Artist: design by Damonza Studios, art by Lucas @newmoonnero

Primary Plot Arc: Speculative Fiction

Genres: Romance, Science Fiction

Story Type: Novel (>50k)

Word Count: 103k

Universal Buy Link: 

https://books2read.com/u/mYqJWp

Blurb

Working odd jobs across the Outer Ring gets a little lonely sometimes—not everyone loves having a synchronist with supraliminal perception around. But all Sacheri wants, he tells himself, is to wander the stars.

Then he takes a salvage run to an abandoned moon where he meets the wry, reserved, strictly-by-the-rules archivist Jin. Mesmerized by their confidence and charm, Sacheri can’t resist showing off his abilities–and instead of the damaged ai he was tracking, he stumbles onto a signal left by a synchronist who went missing decades earlier.

Sacheri knows from previous experience that pursuing the truth—never mind justice—could destroy everything he loves. He would defy his employers, the institution responsible for the myconeural networks that make him a synchronist, and the leadership of several worlds. 

And it would complicate his new, passionate, and impossibly sweet relationship with Jin. They might be the best thing that’s ever happened to him, but they work for the very entities that ended Sacheri’s last investigation.

He knows better than to risk it.

But he’s never been able to turn away from someone in need, and there’s a voice in the void calling for aid…

Excerpt

PROLOGUE

Orinus Station, present day

Sacheri woke with a shiver in his nerves tracing his limbs like a lit fuse.

His synplants drew his awareness out into the station, into the whisper of leaves and the low hum of the machines, endlessly seeking. He had no solace to offer them, so he tried to sleep through it. Maybe inebriant would douse the burn; he’d have to find one, which meant leaving bed… but then, a walk might also help. The drink could keep him company on the return.

There was a certain maudlin poetry to wandering with the ghosts of memory, anyway.

#

He regretted his choices before he could finish the first bottle.

The empty corridors echoed, even the ones with lush vine-planted walls, fully surrounded by sound-absorbent tiling. The unsteady sound of his steps reminded him of less lonely times; the chatter of more populated halls made him sad. His synplants cleansed the inebriant from his system faster than he could drink, so he diminished them, set a timer on his standard implant, and ducked into a maintenance corridor, heading for the lifts that would return him to his temp residence.

He’d forgotten how many ghosts were in his head.

He drank more.

He passed through too many familiar places, muttering curses to himself about the council for bringing him to Orinus Station in the first place. He should have departed with Paradis, gone away to her fancy little moon, where he could wallow in heartbreak on a lakeside beach while she teased him about his lack of ambition. She’d have been careful not to remind him of anything—anyone—else.

Three more nights until he left for Elysia, into the far reaches of the Outer Rings, away from the myriad reminders, the constant calling of what should have been, all of his aching regrets.

He avoided the halls that would have taken him past Paradis’s private suites and the memories lying in wait for him there, and then he wandered past the next set of lifts, because it was what he and Jin had always done: long walks and quiet talks, so close their shoulders touched, their bell-clear, mesmerizing voice low and loving. He tried not to think about how much he missed them, and, failing that, tried not to think at all.

He trudged along, hugging the shadows at the edges of the walkways, arms heavy at his sides, until it was late enough that he could reasonably hope to get a lift to himself, and he had some hope of sleeping. The only humans he’d passed in maintenance took no notice of him, which was the whole point of using the back ways. But they might make small talk if they found him alone in a lift car, or, stars forbid, they might ask if he was okay. 

And then what was he supposed to do? Cry on them? Tell them to mind their own business? Explain how he helped bring something like justice to a few long-forgotten synchronists and how much it took from him? Or should he ask if they’d seen a certain lithe, black-haired investigator for the Council of the Outer Rings anywhere nearby? His eyes burned from both the inebriant and the exhaustion and the constant threat of tears. He wanted to sleep until the transport to Elysia was ready.

The bottle was empty, but he wasn’t ready to let it go; he thought he might sleep better with it nearby, just for company, even if the synplants wiped all traces of the inebriant from his system. He leaned against the rounded corner of the lift alcove, one heel against the wall to hold him steady, arms crossed over his chest, bottle dangling loosely from the fingers of his right hand. 

His luck almost held.

About the Author

Lilian Zenzi writes science fiction and fantasy, sometimes with romance and usually in queer normative worlds. Genre agnostic as a writer and a reader, she likes to keep space for comfort, hope, and joy along with the kissing, conflict, and big ideas. She resents having to write a bio and would rather be in the garden or making art.

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