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Romance

The Skate Blade Cuts Both Ways

The things we find at conventions! Things like Blades of Furry, a web toon available on line right now. It’s brought to us by Deya Muniz and Emily Erdos. “Emile is an up-and-coming skater in the beloved sport of Skate Battles, a high-stakes combo of figure skating and martial arts. Radu is a well-known senior skater and several time champ with the world at his feet. However, during an ill-fated match between the two, Emile discovers Radu’s secret, which could threaten to destroy him. Will Emile keep his secret? Or could this rivalry turn into something more…?” Check out the official web site, check out the trailer on YouTube, and check out the review over at Bookstr.

image c. 2021 Muniz/Erdos

Hot Love between Human and… Not

We literally stumbled across the writer Christine Warren, whom we had not heard of before — but we found her novel Born To Be Wild at a used book sale. Since 2003 Christine has written a slew of hot adult-oriented fantasy romance novels, usually involving a human getting wrapped up with a non-human shapeshifter of some sort. Her series include The Others (as human/animal shapeshifters call themselves), Gargoyles (no connection to the Disney series but it shares some ideas), and Alphaville (specifically werewolves). Her web page at Fantastafiction has a summary for each and every book, if you like your romance explicit and your lovers of a different species.

image c. 2021 St. Martin’s Press

Werewolf Minds and Werewolf Hearts

Interlude Press is a boutique publisher specializing in fiction geared toward the LGBT crowd and their friends and allies. While visiting their booth at the LA Times Festival of Books we came across the works of Michelle Osgood.  Her talent is dark supernatural fantasies with more than a touch of romance — and her favorite subject seems to be werewolves. Here’s the press release for The Better To Kiss You With, the first book in her series of the same name: “In the rare moments when Deanna Scott isn’t working as the moderator for Wolf’s Run, an online werewolf role-playing game, she wanders the local forest trails with her golden retriever, Arthur, and daydreams about Jaime, the attractive, enigmatic woman who lives upstairs. As Wolf Run’s “den mother,” Deanna is accustomed to petty online drama. But when threats from an antagonistic player escalate, Deanna wonders if her awesome online job could be riskier than she’d ever imagined — and if her new girlfriend knows more about this community than she had realized.”  The next two books in the series are Huntsmen and Moon Illusion.

image c. 2018 Interlude Press

My Boyfriend is a Bear

Look, how could we possible do better than simply the title for this one? It’s a new full-color graphic novel written by Pamela Ribon and illustrated by Cat Farris. Publishers Weekly has a review: “Ribon (Slam!) and Farris (Emily and the Strangers) collaborate to deliver a winning slice-of-life romantic comedy with a twist. After dumping her latest terrible boyfriend, 28-year-old Nora unexpectedly falls in love with an American black bear she meets in the woods. ‘The bear’ is no ordinary wild animal: He’s kind, wears a hip Arcade Fire T-shirt, and has a great fondness for juggling, cuddling, and craft beer. The two enjoy a nearly idyllic life together, despite objections from Nora’s family and friends, but when their honeymoon phase passes, Nora’s life falls apart all over again—before winter sets in, the bear must abandon her to hibernate in the mountains…” My Boyfriend is a Bear comes to us from Oni Press in mid-April.

image c. 2018 Oni Press

Werewolf in the Night, Exchanging Glances…

Lady writers, werewolves, hot and steamy romance… What can we say? It’s a thing. At Comic Con we discovered G.L. Carriger and her new work The Sumage Solution, the first book in the San Andreas Shifters series. “Max fails everything – magic, relationships, life. So he works for DURPS (the DMV for supernatural creatures) as a sumage, cleaning up other mages’ messes. The job sucks and he’s in no mood to cope with redneck biker werewolves. Unfortunately, there’s something oddly appealing about the huge, muscled Beta visiting his office for processing. Bryan AKA Biff (yeah, he knows) is gay but he’s not out. There’s a good chance Max might be reason enough to leave the closet, if he can only get the man to go on a date. Everyone knows werewolves hate mages, but Bryan is determined to prove everyone wrong, even the mage in question.” Her official web site has more on how to order this book and the new prequel Marine Biology.

image c. 2017 Gail Carriger LLC

The Wolf of Winter. Almost.

Dreamspinner Press is a publishing house that specializes in romantic LGBT fiction in a number of genres, including science fiction and fantasy. One of particular note caught our eye: Dog Days, written by T.A. Moore. According to the publisher’s web site, it goes like this: “The world ends not with a bang, but with a downpour. Tornadoes spin through the heart of London, New York cooks in a heat wave that melts tarmac, and Russia freezes under an ever-thickening layer of permafrost. People rally at first—organizing aid drops and evacuating populations—but the weather is only getting worse. In Durham, mild-mannered academic Danny Fennick has battened down to sit out the storm. He grew up in the Scottish Highlands, so he’s seen harsh winters before. Besides, he has an advantage. He’s a werewolf. Or, to be precise, a weredog. Less impressive, but still useful. Except the other werewolves don’t believe this is any ordinary winter, and they’re coming down over the Wall to mark their new territory. Including Danny’s ex, Jack — the Crown Prince Pup of the Numitor’s pack — and the prince’s brother, who wants to kill him. A wolf winter isn’t white. It’s red as blood.” And it’s available now in paperback.

image c. 2017 Dreamspinner Press

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Oh He’s Such A Deer

Yen Press have released a new black & white manga out called Reindeer Boy, written and illustrated by Cassandra Jean. According to the publishers: “The new boy is town is cute and friendly. The only problem is… he has antlers? Quincy has the same dream every year on Christmas Eve: Of finding a little boy holding a special gift for her under the tree – and every Christmas morning, she’s awoken to find a gift wrapped in tinfoil with her name on it… When school resumes after the winter break, Quincy’s class discovers they have an unusual new transfer student named Cupid. Ridiculously cute and friendly, the new boy has everyone both enamored and confused. Those antlers can’t be real…can they?? With Cupid having seemingly set his sights on Quincy, it seems she’ll be having a memorable year indeed!” [See you again after Further Confusion!]

image c. 2017 Yen Press

The Passion of the Wolf

Another one from 2014 that passed us by — but this one definitely not for young readers! Werewolf Nights is the first novel from Mari Hamill. From the official web site, here’s the summary: “Threatened by financial ruin, widowed bakery owner Catherine Mercy leads a solitary life with more interest in reading about werewolf lore than in finding a man. Her one true love disappeared after high school and her now deceased husband kept her trapped in the house claiming that a werewolf might hunt her down one day, just as her grandmother repeatedly warned her. When Hollywood interrupts the town’s monotony by shooting a werewolf movie on location, Catherine decides to audition. Already in her thirties, she feels ridiculous trying to become an actress, but lands the leading role. Catherine’s daily routine turns into a hair-raising adventure as fame begins to monitor her wonderings and she falls for her sexy costar Greg Byron, in spite of the actor’s neon warning sign that flashes conceited womanizer. Just when romance sparkles, a wolf bites Greg. While Greg’s features turn lupine, Cathrine discovers a resemblance between the movie script and her family’s history. Afraid, Catherine recruits werewolf expert Steve to figure out if the film’s werewolf legend is real and Wolfern, the werewolf her grandmother spoke about, has finally come for her. If it is, Greg will turn into a dangerous werewolf. Only finding a way to undo Greg’s curse and destroying Wolfern before the next full moon can save their love and their lives.” Got all that? Werewolf Nights is available in paperback from Dog Ear Publishing. Funny that.

image c. 2015 Dog Ear Press

image c. 2015 Dog Ear

Men with the Souls (and Often Bodies) of Dragons

Author April Reid has made a name for herself in the world of decidedly adult fantasy novels, often featuring heated, taboo-breaking romance with shape-shifting creatures. Such is the story of one of her first books, The Dragon’s Choice (available now from Amber Quills Press). A young woman is doomed to be sacrificed to The Dragon King, but her fate may be averted by her forbidden love affair with her guard… who may just have a few magic secrets of his own. Visit Ms. Reid’s official web site to see more of the magical stories she has created.

image c. 2015 Amber Quill Press

image c. 2015 Amber Quill