Song of the Navigator

• Author: Astrid Amara 
• Editions: Paperback, E-Book
• Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
• Stars: 5/5  

Space/ Steampunk/ Fantasy



Worst Possible Birthday: Being sold into slavery by none other than your lover.


Tover Duke’s rare ability to move anything instantly across light-years of space makes him a powerful, valuable asset to the Harmony Corporation, and a rock star among the people of the colonies. His life is luxurious. Safe. Routine.

He has his pick of casual hookups passing through Dadelus-Kaku Station. His one brush with danger of any kind—the only bright spot in his otherwise boring life—is Cruz Arcadio, a dark-haired, hard-bodied engineer whose physical prowess hints he’s something much more.

When a terrorist abducts Tover, hurling him into a world of torture, exploitation and betrayal, it’s with shattering disbelief that he realizes his kidnapper is none other than Cruz. As Tover struggles to find the courage to escape his bondage, he begins to understand the only way to free his body, his mind—and his heart—is to trust the one man who showed him that everything about his once-perfect life was a lie.

Review
Ive read this book twice now and I still adore it. Astrid Amara is one of my favourite authors after falling in love with her work after reading Archer's Heat and The Devil Lancer. Therefore I knew I would love this book and pre-ordered it months ago. This book reminded me a lot of Line and Orbit which I also demolished in a day and adored! 
Song Of A Navigator was simply perfect for me and I'm devastated that I finished it so quickly. I bought it in paperback as a) I wanted to re read it and b) it deserved it. 

Written solely from Tover's point of view I was hooked almost from the first sentence and fell i love with Tover's character quickly and easily there was an inner strength that shone through for me throughout his ordeal. Throughout this book he learns to start thinking for himself and to not be so ignorant of the world around him. Tovers character growth is not fast and certainly does not happen over night but gradually over the course of the novel. He also doesn't immediately accept Cruz's cause out of love. Cruz challenges Tover's view of the world and makes him see himself as more than a commodity and worth more than what he can do and I loved this aspect of the book as Tover learns to see himself in a different way. 

For me this book was simply incredible and I loved the characters and the setting, but most of all the love story between Cruz and Tover as it struggles and then comes through in the end. 
When I finished the book, much to quickly I must add, I was engulfed by a feeling of satisfaction and didn't want to start another story just so I could bathe in the after glow of this amazing novel. 

This book clearly deserves 5 stars and a recommendation to anyone who enjoys Amara's work and also to anyone who loves reading book that don't leave you easily

Shadow Magic (Havemercy 2) - Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett

• Author: Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett
• Editions: Paperback, Mass Market Paperback (2010)
• Publisher: Spector 
• Stars: 4/5

Classic Fantasy / Steampunk/ Magic 

Led to victory by its magic-fueled Dragon Corps, Volstov has sent a delegation to its conquered neighbors to work out the long-awaited terms of peace. Among those in the party are the decorated war hero General Alcibiades and the formerly exiled magician Caius Greylace. But even this mismatched pair can’t help but notice that their defeated enemies aren’t being very cooperative. The hidden truth is that the new emperor is harboring a treacherous secret—and once it is revealed, Alcibiades and Caius may be powerless to stop it. 

With their only ally an exiled prince now fleeing his brother’s assassins, the countryside rife with terror, and Alcibiades and Caius all but prisoners, it will take the most powerful kind of magic to heal the rift between two strife-worn lands and unite two peoples against a common enemy: shadow magic.

Review 
How is this book under M/M romance or even GLBT? There is no romance in this novel. Yes there is the build up of will they won't they but then no reward! ?? Hanet wrote on Goodreads that she felt like the entire story was composed exclusively so that fan fiction could be written about it later and I completely agree ,I want to go and write my ending where we get to see Casius and Alcibiades living together on the farm (and don't worry thats no spoiler because it doesn't happen.) I really wanted these two to be together and this is what kept my noise glued to the book as I devoured it, and I did devour it, and I did enjoy it, I just feel a little led on and felt like I deserved a more rewarding ending. An ending which the books genre promised me. 

What I did love about Shadow Magic was that we got to explore more of the Ken-Han empire which is so much like ancient Japan, and I loved it. I loved the customs and the acts of honour, and I could almost see it as being adapted into an anime, which I would love. This tale is relationship driven rather than plot driven but don't get me wrong, this is a positive note and the plot flowed well too, almost better than Havemercy. However with the sexual tension building up between Casius and Alcibiades, and Mamoru and Kouje I felt I didn't get what the book promised me. Even though I love the scenery and the world building I do not think I will be carrying on with this series. I think I will by leaving  the series on a  high note rather than struggling with the next to books in this series.

Havemercy - Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett

• Author: Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett 
• Editions: Paperback, Hardcover 
• Publisher: Random House/ Del Rey Presidio Press 2008 
• Steampunk 

This stunning epic fantasy debut introduces two exciting new authors—and a world brimming with natural and man-made wonders, extraordinary events, and a crisis that will test the mettle of men, the boundaries of magic, and the heart and soul of a kingdom.

Thanks to its elite Dragon Corps, the capital city of Volstov has all but won the hundred years’ war with its neighboring enemy, the Ke-Han. The renegade airmen who fly the corps’s mechanical, magic-fueled dragons are Volstov’s greatest weapon. But now one of its members is at the center of a scandal that may turn the tide of victory. To counter the threat, four ill-assorted heroes must converge to save their kingdom: an exiled magician, a naive country boy, a young student—and the unpredictable ace who flies the city’s fiercest dragon, Havemercy. But on the eve of battle, these courageous men will face something that could make the most formidable of warriors hesitate, the most powerful of magicians weak, and the most unlikely of men allies in their quest to rise against it. 

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Are we sure that Rook is not in love with Thom? I know their brothers but the sexual tension between these two made me question their whole relationship. Okay now thats out of the way this book was brilliant. I haven't read anything really good in a long time and this was a book I could sink my teeth into. Wish the second one had arrived in the post already I cannot wait to start Shadow Magic. 

Havemercy is a epic novel set in a world strife with a war that had been raging for hundreds of years and finally seems it be coming to a dramatic close. Thom and Rook were by far my favourite story and characters, as they hate each other but secretly want each other and then suddenly BOOM their brothers. I don't think this was the best idea on Jones part as they are clearly attracted to one another. I just read 500 pages of how they want to be with the other but no its only because secretly they knew hey were brothers :/
Royston and Hal were a lot less complicated and I enjoyed their tale a lot, it just didn't have the fierceness that Rook possessed, I can definitely see why Thom is so attracted to Rook. 
Jones writes relationships very well and this is where the book excels. All four characters interact with one another but Rook and Thom's story is together and Hal and Royston's tale is linked. They just cross over towards the end as Thom and Hal becomes friends, but this works really well. 

I would recommended this book to anyone who loves Steampunk and of course dragons and magicians, but they are almost sidelined to the beautifully drawn characters and the world building that Jones does so well. What a brilliant read, finished it in 4 days. Definitely deserves 5 stars.