The Blacksmith Prince from Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus

Title: The Blacksmith Prince

Authors: Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus

Cover artist: Anna Tiferet Sikorska

Genre: Fantasy romance

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Length: 260 pages

Formats available: mobi, print, epub

17th century Perigord is a county of sun-drenched villages and dark forests, languid rivers and moonlit lakes. It is a corner of France teeming with spirits, dryads and nymphs, and like everywhere else, witches are burned at the stake.

Born with the second sight, young fisherman Jehan wants nothing but to keep his head down, work hard, and stay out of trouble. Which works well enough until a suspicious string of bad luck befalls the village smith and his wife. Their adoptive son Giraud is everybody’s dashing darling, who behind his sooty smile and swashbuckling manners has buried a painful connection to the supernatural himself. Fearing that some evil is afoot, Giraud turns to the only other man in town who knows about the hidden world around them - Jehan.

Before long, they are embroiled in a quest involving brigands, witches and noble fey, while their friendship and attraction gradually shifts into something deeper. If they manage to survive ancient feuds and everyday prejudice, they might even have a chance to forge a Happily Ever After all of their own...


Lauded with a 2017 Rainbow Book Award for Best Gay Fantasy Romance, ‘The Blacksmith Prince’ is an old-fashioned, swoon-worthy historical fantasy romance about tender love in a time when history and fairy-tales were one and the same.

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I expect great characterizations and superb storytelling from the this writing pair, and the Blacksmith Prince was exactly that. Once a book wins a Rainbow Award I don’t know what else I can tell you besides I loved this book. And why.

Sense of place: the story sucks you right back in time. It’s vivid and immersive: but thankfully without the true slog of preindustrial life (with the occasional anachronism). The language makes you believe in the small magics and the large ones: Fey belong here.

“Like the afterimage of a lightning bolt, Jehan now saw antlers over his head in ghostly shapes, leaves on his shoulders and storm in his hair.” 

Sense of character: Jehan has magic and no desire to take on the duties his wisewoman grandmother is about to leave behind. We get to watch his understanding of how he is needed grow, and how he rises to the need. Even in the face of angry foes, he manages to parlay his small but growing skills into triumph, and the occasional punch in the nose.

Giraud too grows in his power and acceptance of power. He's willing to bust heads and take names doing it, even when it wars with his sense of fitting in. 

Sense of story: what started as a small quest becomes a large one, even as the characters grow into themselves.

What started as a lark and a way to enlist Jehan’s help, becomes much more than that for Giraud: you can feel the bond growing between the two young men. They aren’t taking much time for romance: they have grave matters to unravel, and they meet magical creatures along the way, whose help they must have in their quest, or that they must somehow defeat.

The history here is woven into the fantasy, just as boldness is woven into healthy caution, and magic into the everyday. It’s a lovely tale, with the sweetness of love to leaven the adventure.

If you're looking for sexytimes, this is the wrong place to look: it's all adventure and love, and I promise, you won't feel anything is missing. Because nothing is.  5 marbles

Favorites from 2016

I've been fortunate to read some great books this year. Each of these books had a something special to make it stay on my mind. Thank you, authors.

An interview with Roan --Release Day for Sunchaser (Smilodon Pride Book 2)

Release Day
Sunchaser by Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus
Smilodon Pride, Book Two
Genre: Paranormal, Adventure
Length: Novel


Roan has pretended to be a human for long enough. He needs to get out of town and roam the land, as any proper werecat should.

The last thing he wants is his conscience insisting he should save an abused werewolf from a traveling circus first. The very last thing he expects is the local sheriff’s daughter having the exact same idea - and beating him to the punch.

Their rescue goes spectacularly wrong, and suddenly Roan, Betsy and their crippled wolf find themselves fleeing across the US for the Mexican border, chased by the police and vengeful circus fey alike.

Sunchaser is a non-romance, road-movie-ish urban fantasy adventure novel about a werecat drifter, a wide-eyed human girl and a defective werewolf learning that sometimes, family really is the ones you didn’t pick.

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Welcome, Roan, aka Sunchaser, the sabre-toothed werepanther star of Sunchaser, Smilodon Pride Book 2. His story is available now, and he's here to tell us a little about himself.

Hi, Roan! So glad you could join us today! You’ve been having all sorts of adventures lately, and we’d love to hear more about you.  Please, tell us how you’d like us to say your name.

Hi, and thanks for having me here today. It’s pronounced ‘Rown’, somewhat like ‘rowing’. Though I don’t care much – if I listen up when you call my name, you said it right.

Tell us a little about growing up with three werepanther siblings. Did you pounce on each other a lot? What were your favorite games?

We were quite the handful. We did pretty much everything normal cat kittens would do, only that we were big enough to bowl over an adult human quite early on. Me, Deidre and Connor loved chasing each other all over the place. Connor was always a really good climber, so he'd be up in a tree with me and Deidre trying to reach him. Deidre used to be a real brawler, before she grew up to be as pretty as she is now. Angus, well, he was always different. He loved just sitting somewhere and watching the world go by. Especially birds. He's a veggie, sort of - he doesn't eat birds. Loves them to pieces. That's why we call him Birdfeeder, obviously. One time Deidre ate one of his favorite birds and he STILL doesn't shut up about it today.

How old were you when you first shifted? Was it human to panther or panther to human? What was the strangest thing about your new shape?

We were born in our panther shape. I think I was about two years old when I first shifted? Something like that. I don't really remember what it was like, but my father loves to tell the story about it, when he suddenly had a naked boy crawling out of the house, entirely unconcerned that his human shape was not as sturdy. According to him, it didn't take me long to figure out that hands and fingers do have some advantages and after that, I was even harder to keep an eye on. Connor was actually the last of us to shift. Funny, since he now seems to enjoy his human form most. But he's always been really cuddly with humans. Little Softpaw.

Do other animals recognize the feline part of you when you’re in human shape? How do they react?

That depends very much on how smart they are. Other cats always know. Most prey animals, too. Horses are funny. The smart ones get it and get nervous, while the dumb ones just stand there and ignore you. Dogs barely ever notice. Dumb mutts. Birds too. Really stupid.
 

This handsome fellow is Roan’s brother Connor.  Those are some fearsome fangs! Are yours that long? How are they for hunting?

Connor is actually the smallest of our litter. In panther-form, that is. Deidre is the biggest, ‘cause females are generally bigger than males in our family. We don't talk about her teeth, though, for... reasons... I'm a little smaller than Deidre, and Angus is somewhere between me and Connor. And yes, those sabreteeth are awesome for hunting. Well, for the killing bite. To bring prey down, we use our claws. Occasionally, those teeth do get in the way when you sit down and eat what you killed, but that’s really minor.  Mostly, those teeth are just super-impressive, getting you the respect and admiration you deserve. *adds a toothy grin*

Your book cover has a picture of you and your buddies Betsy and Martin. Do you ever groom them when you’re shifted? How do they feel about that?

I only groom Martin and only when I'm feeling very generous. And he better be very grateful when I do. Betsy's skin is too soft for a proper grooming. I tried grooming her hair once, though that was just a mess. Not doing that ever again. She gives great belly rubs, and that’s about all she does when we’re lying in a pile. And she washes Martin, cause Wolves apparently don't groom much? Or at least he doesn't.  
 
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I'll be reviewing Sunchaser here in the enxt couple of days, but it's not a spoiler to say it was a great read. It's not m/m romance, but it's a super read for urban fantasy, so set your expectations on danger and adventure, and get a copy here.

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Giveaway
Prizes: 2 ecopies of Softpaw, Smilodon Pride, Book One
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Start your journey with Book One in the Smilodon Pride series:
Softpaw: Reviewed here with 5 marbles

Connor’s life used to be the dream of any cultured werecat. He spent his days in Paris’ gay quarter with comfortably little real work, playing the piano, surrounded by art, fine food and good friends. Now, a feral vampire preys on the prostitutes of ‘his’ quarter, killing the boys of the Marais one by one.

When Connor invites a newly arrived hooker to stay on his houseboat, the last thing he expects is Michel to be a member of the Brigade Criminelle - a troubled, hunky rookie cop sent undercover to explore Connor’s connection to the murders, picked mostly because he had been a boy of the Marais himself, not so long ago.

Hiding their true natures becomes a problem for both when their initial attraction becomes much more than they ever thought possible. But in order to bring down the serial killer and maybe have a chance at making their relationship work out, one of them will have to take the first, critical leap...
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About the authors

Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus are a couple currently living their happily ever after in the very heart of Germany, under the stern but loving surveillance of their cat.

Both of them are voracious but picky readers, they love telling stories and drinking tea, good food and the occasional violent movie. Together, they write novels of adventure and romance, hoping to share a little of their happiness with their readers.

Beryll
An artist by heart, Beryll wrote stories even before she knew what letters were. As easily inspired as she is frustrated, her own work is never good enough (in her eyes). A perfectionist in the best and worst sense of the word and the driving creative force of the duo.

Osiris
An entertainer and craftsman in his approach to writing, Osiris is the down-to-earth, practical part of the team. Broadly interested in almost every subject and skill, with a sunny mood and caring personality, he strives to bring the human nature into focus of each of his stories.

Website: http://www.brackhaus.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Osiris-Brackhaus/100011014541510
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brackhaus

Softpaw (Smilodon Pride Book One) by Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus

Title: Softpaw (Smilodon
Author: Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus
Purchase at Amazon 
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
(Preorder, available July 14, 2016)
Cover Artist: Natalia Nesterova
Genre: paranormal, shifter
Length: 78,000 words
Formats Mobi, epub, PDF, print

Connor’s life used to be the dream of any cultured werecat. He spent his days in Paris’ gay quarter with comfortably little real work, playing the piano, surrounded by art, fine food and good friends. Now, a feral vampire preys on the prostitutes of ‘his’ quarter, killing the boys of the Marais one by one.

When Connor invites a newly arrived hooker to stay on his houseboat, the last thing he expects is Michel to be a member of the Brigade Criminelle - a troubled, hunky rookie cop sent undercover to explore Connor’s connection to the murders, picked mostly because he had been a boy of the Marais himself, not so long ago.

Hiding their true natures becomes a problem for both when their initial attraction becomes much more than they ever thought possible. But in order to bring down the serial killer and maybe have a chance at making their relationship work out, one of them will have to take the first, critical leap...

This book had me at the title - how could I resist a smilodon shifter? Connor was everything I hoped he would be and more, a man of culture and a saber-toothed panther. Michel, the hooker turned cop, was equally amazing, with his history, his climb to a better life, and his doubts about himself, his mission, and his new companion.

The prose was beautifully evocative, putting us right into the heart of Paris, from elegant offices to dank alleys, zinc rooftops, and the smoke filled clubs where aging torch singers put on their drag and mesmerize the audience. I felt transported, every bit as much as in the Maigret detective novels. Certain turns of phrase added to the effect, perfectly understandable but just a little strange to the ear, a "foreign language translated" effect. The few words of French make sense in context even if you don't know them as I did not.

There is a murder mystery here too, perfectly mysterious to those who don’t believe in vampires, and chilling to those who do. Connor believes, and his midnight patrols to protect the streetwalkers put him front and center as a suspect. His shifting form is just as unimaginable to the police as the undead.

Connor is a lovely character, with his very mixed heritage (he spent his extreme childhood as a kitten), his dark skin and thin dreads, and beautiful erudition. His music and understanding of art transfix Michel as much as his sensuality. Particularly excellent is that Michel sees him as a complete person, not as a fetishized collection of physical traits. He lives on a houseboat on the Seine, which can't possibly get more romantic.

Michel knows less of the City of Light than does this American transplant: for all that he grew up in Paris, his experiences were of the seamier side rather than high culture. He’s been through the streets, paying for his addictions with his body, and only the intervention of Captain Thierry Plouescat gave him the chance to redirect his life. Now, in his first case, he’s faced with going undercover in the very life he escaped.

The story itself pits the two men against each other in every way—Connor wishes to protect this crazy prostitute from the evil force Michel courts so blatantly, while Michel still cannot rule out the man who’s stealing his heart as a murder suspect. The heat between them is enough to scorch the ereader, while the trust between them is chilly enough to crack the screen. They must come together in spite of their shock at each other's true roles in this dangerous game.

I tried very hard to read this book in one sitting, and I think I’ve found my newest auto-buy authors. Connor's litter has 3 siblings, and I hope they all get stories! 5 marbles