A. Leigh Jones

"In This Sweet Trade by A. Leigh Jones, James Edward writes to his friend and lover, Bello, begging the man to join him in the seventeenth century Caribbean." - I do love an epistolary story, and this doesn't disappoint. A real sense of the writer, and the story didn't quite go as I expected. Lovely. 4*

"In What to Do On a Friday Night by Misa Izanki, Aoi is bored and goes looking for his birthday present from Itsuki. When Itsuki catches him, Aoi tries to cover his tracks by claiming he was looking for the Scrabble board. Will a game of strip Scrabble distract them both?" - eh - not so much my thing. I got the impression these were established characters from somewhere else, and the story didn't quite give me enough to get a grip on. 3*

"Shattered Silence by CB Potts, popular fiction writer Gregory has not spoken since the Spring of 06. He only has so many words, and speaking uses too many. His assistant, Marco is determined to help, and Gregory finds that Marco's treatment works. Can he speak up to say so before it's too late?" - FABULOUS - worth the price of the anthology all on it's own. Writing process and CB's wonderful way with words, and the walls we all construct around ourselves, and the bravery needed to confront things that might not look lke anything from outside but are so huge from within. Loved it. 5*… (meer)

In Forever Crossed A. Leigh Jones adeptly straddles multiple genres to create an exciting tale. She crosses a romance novel with detective fiction and with an alternative reality setting that includes witches, vampires, and wereleopards. The author's greatest achievement is in creating a vibrant lead character, Olivia Peters, who captures the mystery of believability and raises the work above the cliches of genre.

The author reimagines the sleepy southern city of Raleigh North Carolina as a place where vampires are regular citizens. However, a vampire turf battle leads to a series of murders that upsets the community.

The romance is between Peters, a victim of a wereleopard attack as a child, and Luka, the leader of the local wereleopard clan. Can the erotic feelings he stirs up in her overcome her childhood fear? Her interactions with his pack of wereleopards in human form are delightfully portrayed. Their mixture of human emotions and animalistic senses as she is attracted to their leader and how she relates to each of them is very well done.

It is the detective who comes out as the strongest part of Peters' character. She is called in to solve the murders, but the struggle for control of the vampire community hints at a more complex story. Yet ultimately, this is set aside (for a sequel?) and the romance novel gains the upper hand.… (meer)

To be true when I read the blurb of this short story I was uncertain if read it. I like romance and happily ever after, and here is a story where a man is mourning the loss of his lover. Where I can find my HEA in this story?

And instead, even if the story is less than 10 pages long, the author manages, with flash of life, to bring our hero through his pain and forward a new love and lover. Nick is a rockstar; since his college year he was in love with his roommate Dan, even if, when he started touring, the chance to be together were few. And now Dan is dead and Nick is totally alone. But Dan has left something to Nick, TEX.

Tex is a new type of robot, in bone and flesh, with the capability to feel and think. But he is also totally dependant by Nick, he has not a life far from him. He is the last gift of Dan and Nick doesn't think twice before giving an home to him. And in exchange he finds a "man" to love again and who will stay with him forever and everywhere.

A very original story, I'd like to read more, maybe not only of what happens after, but also of more of Nick and Tex's life when they meet.
… (meer)

Olivia Peters is a Bereavement Counselor, she works for a funeral home named Forever Crossed. Briefly, a bereavement counselor sees the the circumstances of a person's death and comforts the survivors (or helps the homicide investigation). She is also the only known survivor of a wereleopard attack to not either die or become a shapeshifter herself. Her boss assigns her to work with the ruler of the Vampires, Antonio. He is trying to find a rogue Vamp who is killing vamps and humans in his territory of the Triangle. Coincidently, she is also retained by the local police to investigate the same case. The shaman of the local wereleopards was the latest victim, so their Ra Jahn is also involved and a mutual attraction is formed.

There is a lot going on in this book. I found Olivia to be a very likeable character. The book is obviously a start to a series but we have yet to hear from this author again.… (meer)