RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Beasts of Burden (The Black Blade Chronicles 2)

Author and Publisher: J.K.
Hogan

Cover Artist: Wicked Pixel
Designs

Release Date: March 29,
2022

Genre: M/M Fantasy Romance

Tropes: Enemies to reluctant friends to lovers

Themes: Swords and sorcery, adventure quest

Heat Rating: 4
flames

Length: approx. 75 000
words

It is not a standalone story. It
is the second book in The Black Blade Chronicles
series.

This book ends on a HFN,
with the understanding that the HEA will be at the end of the 3 book arc.

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle
Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

The journey
continues…

Blurb

Senne Clayward and Kasimir vas Hjardar continue their
quest to rescue Senne’s young ward, Princess Sigrid, from the evil tyrant who has taken her
hostage. After they follow through with a mad plan to sneak into King Prosper’s fortress that
only halfway succeeds, the princess slips through their fingers once more. As they travel
across the continent of Taleth, they are one step behind their quarry at every
turn.

Encountering numerous obstacles and enemies
both old and new, Senne and Kasimir doggedly pursue their goal while coming to rely on
each other more than ever. The two unlikely companions enlist the help of a small band of
adventurers to track the princess and intercept her captors while the armies of Toivonen
march westward behind them.

Kasimir continues to grapple with the beast on his
back—a lifelong struggle—while Senne must bare his soul to earn the trust of those around
him. Can they survive the journey? Will they save Sigrid in time to keep her from harm and
prevent the realm from plunging into eternal darkness? And what will be left for them after
the dust settles?

Excerpt

“You there. Halt!”

“Here we go,” Kasimir murmured under his breath. He
turned to confront a group of greycloaks who had approached them from behind. None of
them seemed to have any visible rank higher than foot soldier. Kasimir put on a carefully
blank expression. “There a problem?”

“By royal decree, bearing arms within the city walls is
prohibited. You are in violation of this order.”

“Oh, aye.” Kasimir nodded dumbly. “Saw the notices, I did.
Smart idea, that. Only the notices was addressed as to say ‘Attention Senkalese citizens and
Yesenians traveling within the city, by royal decree’ an’ all that. But y’see, we’re not
Yesenian, an’ me mate here, well, he cannae read at all. So I figures it ’ad naught to do wi’
us.”

Senne cast him a puzzled look, no doubt wondering why he

was putting on the thick Lunarii peasant burr. Kasimir’s reasoning behind it was sound.
These guards were merely grunts. He had to confuse them enough to report to their
commander, because without someone of higher rank noticing them, they had no chance of
being put before the king.

Just as Kasimir predicted, one of the grunts, the one who
seemed to be somewhat in charge, scratched his head and looked at the soldier to his right.
“Does it say that?”

The other guard shrugged. “Well, yeah, seems right
enough. Never thought about what happens if we catch an outlander armed up in the
city.”

“We ought to fetch the captain, then,” said the
grunt-in-charge.

His right-hand man nodded sagely.

“I mean you, ya bloody imbecile,” he spat. The
foot soldier flinched and scarpered off. “Youse two, don’t move a muscle until the captain
gets here.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Kasimir said in his normal
accent.

Senne snorted quietly. The soldier gave them an odd look
but didn’t comment. After countless minutes of the tension-filled standoff, the messenger
returned, leading a man wearing a red officer’s cloak.

Upon further inspection, Kasimir realized he was not only
an officer, but a decorated one. His cloak was pushed back off his shoulders so Kas could see
he wore epaulettes studded with silver stripes and dripping with braided silver cords. The
dragon emblazoned on his armor appeared to be inlaid with real silver, and the regulation
bycocket hat had been replaced by an obsidian dragon-winged battle-helm. It all made for a
fearsome sight, and Kasimir had to fight the urge to take a step back when the man
approached.

When the captain reached them, he flipped up the visor of
his helm, and Kasimir was surprised that he appeared much younger than he would’ve
thought for a high-ranking officer, though the gray threaded through his dark hair
proclaimed him to be middle-aged. He was handsome in that craggy, chiseled way Yesenians
had—they always seemed to look as though they’d gone straight from mother’s womb to
the battlefield and never looked back—with his square jaw, closely trimmed black beard,
and slightly bent nose, as if it had been broken a time or two.

“I am Vilhelme, Commander of the King’s Army. Who are
you and why are you in my city?”

“Commander,” interrupted the head guard. “These blokes
said the arms notices only refer to Yesenian citizens, so I didn’t know what to do with
’em.”

The look Vilhelme turned on the man was nothing short of
murderous. “That is absurd.” He turned back to Kasimir and Senne, effectively dismissing the
ignoramus, and repeated his question. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Just travelers passing through,” Kasimir hedged. “Here to
trade for supplies.”

Vilhelme glared over his shoulder again. “In that case,
welcome. If you wish to trade in the city, I am afraid you must surrender your weapons.
They will be stored in the armory until you are ready to move on.”

Kasimir’s jaw tensed, his pulse thudding in his throat.
“Can’t do that, friend.”

Vilhelme attempted a smile, though it was more a baring of
teeth than anything. “You may address me as Commander Vilhelme and nothing else. If you
do not wish to disarm, you will be escorted to the main gate so you may leave. In fact…”
Vilhelme narrowed his eyes. “You should not have even gained entry with all those
weapons. I shall have a chat with the watch captain.”

“No need,” Kasimir said conversationally. “We snuck
in.”

Despite the smile, Vilhelme’s eyes glittered with danger.
“Why would you do a thing like that?”

“We want to see the king,” Senne said. “Thought if we
breached the wall, he’d come down from on high and deliver the mighty blow of
justice.”

Vilhelme scoffed. “His Royal Eminence does not entertain
petty criminals.”

“Oi,” Kasimir said. “Why don’t you give him a message for
us, then?”

Vilhelme turned to face him head-on and crossed his arms
as if he were bored. “I’m dying to hear what that might be.”

“Tell him,” Kas growled through clenched teeth, “that
we’ve come for the girl.”

Vilhelme raised a fist to chin level, almost casually, and they
were instantly at the sword points and arrow tips of the guardsmen who had tripled in
number and somehow surrounded them. Easily thirty weapons, at least half of which would
be aimed at a kill spot somewhere on Kasimir’s body. His vision wavered. His blood ran hot,
pounding wildly in his chest and up through his neck, nearly choking off his breath.

“That,” said Vilhelme, “would be inadvisable if the two of
you are in any way attached to your hides.” He cast a bored glance at the men around him,
oblivious to Kasimir’s torment and the danger they were all in. Kas didn’t think Senne had
noticed either.

“All the same,” Senne said, his jaw bunching with his frown.
“Tell him the knight and the sellsword have come to collect our charge.”

“Well, I can’t say whether or not you’ll ever see the king,
but you’ll certainly get a good long look at the inside of our dungeons,” Vilhelme remarked
blandly. Then he gave his head guardsman a small nod. “Take them.”

About the Author

J.K. Hogan has been telling
stories for as long as she can remember, beginning with writing cast lists and storylines for
her toys growing up. When she finally decided to put pen to paper, she found her true
passion. She is greatly inspired by all kinds of music and often creates a “soundtrack” for her
stories as she writes them.

J.K. resides in North Carolina
with her husband, two sons, and their pets. If she isn’t writing, J.K. can be found designing
book covers at Wicked Pixel Designs, creating fiber art and supplies at Earthbound Fiber Arts
watching Hurricanes Hockey and, of course, reading!

Social Media Links

Blog/Website | Facebook | Twitter

Instagram | Amazon | Pinterest

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RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Meduso: A Greek
Mythology Gay Retelling

Author: B.J.
Irons

Publisher/Cover Artist:
Spectrum Books

Release Date: February 19,
2022

Genre: Fantasy M/M
Romance – Greek Mythology

Tropes: Forbidden
love

Themes: Coming of Age,
Innocence, Betrayal, Tragedy

Heat Rating: 3 flames

Length: 75 000 words/270
pages

It is book 1 of 9 in the
Mythologay Series

Warning: The
book has a sad ending.

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle
Unlimited

Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Greek Mythology with a Gay
Twist

Blurb

Venomous snakes for hair.

A glare that will cast people to stone.

Beheaded by the tragic Greek hero,
Perseus.

It’s a safe assumption that we all know the basic facts
about one of Greek Mythology’s most famous monsters, Medusa; the beautiful maiden
cursed and turned into a Gorgon. Her tragic story and death at the hands of the hero,
Perseus, has been told countless times for thousands of years.

But the thing with Greek Mythology is just that. They are
myths. Narrated, fictional legends as old as time that have been passed down from
generation to generation. Time has a way of changing the original tale. So, how can we be
sure that the myths we think we know are the real story?

What if important aspects of these myths have been
altered? What if the monster wasn’t really a monster at all? What if Medusa wasn’t actually
Medusa? What if her name was Meduso? And what if she wasn’t a her, but a him? This is
the tale of Meduso and his death at the hands of the hero Perseus’ sword. It is a tale of
innocence, love, betrayal, and tragedy.

Excerpt

Stheno and I continued to descend the mountain until we
passed the precipice. The slope flattened, leading to a narrow trail. We followed this trail
until we were able to see a bare hole right in the middle of the mountain. Stheno led the
way inside, grabbing a lit torch at the entrance, carrying it with her as we explored deeper
into the cave.

It felt like a never-ending tunnel. We continued to walk for
several minutes until we finally reached a very large and circular room within the cave. The
torch was no longer of use to us since there was a massive oculus overhead, allowing light
to enter.

A figure came forth, stepping into the light. My mouth
gaped open. For being Typhon’s wife, I was expecting to see a monstrous female creature. A
repulsive, murky beast with fangs and talons, smelling of putrid, rotting flesh. But this was
not what stood before me. She had similar features to my mother. The lower half of her
body was composed of forest green scales, coiling into a snake’s tail. Her upper body was
that of a human, but not just any human. An alluring one. Pleasant to the naked eye.
Fair-skinned with shiny hair, the color of emeralds.

“Come forward, brother and sister,” the figure

commanded.

Stheno and I approached her, now allowing me to get a
closer glimpse of her jade eyes that matched the jeweled tiara on her head.

She slithered just inches away from us. Her palm rubbed
along my cheek, with her fingertips tracing my chin. She studied me carefully.

“My. Oh my! And to think Ceto and Phorcys had the
capability to produce such a lovely creation,” she said to me. Her fingers now spun in a
circular motion to feel my hair. “And these beautiful golden locks. You will tempt all of the
mortals with this face. Dare I say the goddesses and even the gods too?” Echidna winked at
me before stepping back to give us separation.

“Meduso has yet to be introduced to the mortals, Echidna.
He will begin to socialize with them soon,” Stheno proclaimed.

“Ahhh. Is that so? His gorgeous features and now the
added layer of innocence and naivety will do wonders in the mortal world,” Echidna
declared.

My face began to turn as red as the rose of Aphrodite. I did
not know whether to be appreciative or stunned by her flattery. I’ve never had anyone pay
me such compliments in my entire life.

“Tell me, my dear, what is it you desire?” Echidna
asked.

“Desire?” I questioned.

“Yes. What is it you seek from this world? Power, riches, a
gorgeous woman… or maybe a handsome man?”

Stheno cut her off. “That will be enough, Echidna. There is
no need to tarnish the boy’s mind.”

I was unsure of what Echidna meant by desiring a handsome man. I’ve never even set sight on a mortal to know what aspects of them I was captivated
by. Most of the stories I’ve been told involved a male being in love with a female. However,
Euryale did share some rumors she had heard about certain Olympian gods taking some of
their male servants as lovers. But I did not know where my attractions lied, based on my lack
of experience.

“Oh, don’t be so dull, Stheno!” Echidna exclaimed. “At least
give the boy some direction! He’ll wind up as dull and stupid as Koalemos if you keep him
secluded any longer.”

Stheno shook her head. “I think you of all people are the
last immortal that should be giving me advice. Look at the direction you chose for yourself.
And know where it put you!”

“Hmph. I’ll never understand you and our parents.
Choosing to stay isolated in the oceans while the rest of the world around you is drastically
changing.” Echidna continued to express her disdain for the traditions and beliefs of our
family.

As my sisters continued to banter back and forth, I stood
still, just staring ahead at them. Their silhouettes became blurry and then non-existent in my
line of vision. Was I having an out-of-body experience? Instead, a new sight was before me.
Some sort of rope. No, it was a net with a
gigantic fish caught in it, in the water, except the water was fairly shallow. I could see its
translucence and the glimmer of light shining through it. I swam toward the caught fish,
trying to free it with my bare hands. The fish was able to escape, but as I tugged away, I
realized I was snagged within the confines of the net. I tried my best to yank away, but to no
avail. As I glanced upward, I realized I was being pulled towards the surface, until…

Stheno called out to me, bringing me back to reality.
“Meduso! Are you okay!?”

I just glanced at her blankly. “Yes. I’m fine. Why? What is
wrong?”

“Your eyes…” Stheno began, with a worried expression on
her face. “They turned pure silver, for a moment,” she revealed.

“What? Are you sure?” I was extremely bewildered, not
even sure if I believed what she had just shared.

“A vision.” Echidna slid close to me and raised my chin up
with her hand, glaring into my eyes. “Did you have a vision, Meduso?”

“A vision? I mean, I saw a fish being caught in a net just
now. I’m not sure where. I’ve never experienced anything like this. What is happening?” I
felt shook up.

“It’s nothing to worry about, dear brother. You just had a
vision. Call it a gift, if you will. A sight into the future or a major phenomenon
happening elsewhere in the world. Such things gods usually experience. I’m surprised you,
as a mortal, are able to have them,” Echidna confessed.

“This truly is your first time experiencing this, Meduso?”
Stheno asked.

“Yes,” I admitted.

“Hmm. I wonder what it could mean. A fish in a net?”
Stheno was puzzled.

“View it as a mark of destiny, Meduso.” Echidna advised.
“Whatever you do, never run from these visions you have. The Fates are reaching out to
you, for a reason. They want you to see this. They want you to be brave and follow through
with these visions.”

“Do you really think so?” I turned to Stheno to see if she
had the same opinion.

“I think you should inform our mother and father about
this first,” Stheno recommended.

“Oh. Don’t listen to her, Meduso! They’ve held you back
long enough from whatever your destiny may be. Press onward, dear brother. If I were you, I
would leave the oceans the second you get the chance to, and never look back,” Echidna
advised.

“Yes. Echidna did the same, Meduso, and look where she
ended up. Locked away, alone in a barren cave in the mountains!” Stheno wittily
remarked.

Echidna’s eyes flared at Stheno as she made this comment.
Her once pale skin shifted to a dark green color to match her scales. She was now angered.
“I’d watch your tongue, Stheno! Although I am your sister, I am not to be made a fool of! Do
not trifle with me!” Echidna threatened.

Stheno stood her ground. “And what are you going to do?
Make any tumultuous action and the gods and goddesses will know of your location. An
empty threat, if I’ve ever heard one.”

“How dare you! Get out, now!” Echidna vilely
screeched.

Stheno grabbed the torch and turned back to face me.
“Come, Meduso. We leave!”

I just stood there, equidistant between both of my sisters.
Echidna glided to me, caressing my cheek one last time before our departure. “You are more
beautiful than I had ever imagined, brother. It will serve you well in their world. Never put
that beauty to waste.” Those were her parting words as Echidna swiftly skidded out of sight
in the blink of an eye, deeper into the dwelling of her cave.

I followed behind Stheno as we left, ascending the
mountain once again.

“That Echidna! Curse her!” Stheno grumbled.

“I don’t think she was so bad, Stheno. Much more pleasant
than I had imagined.”

“Meduso, that was only one side of Echidna that you saw.
Remember, she is the wife of the most cruel and vicious monster known to existence. Do
not forget. It takes a certain someone to be able to commit to that,” she explained.

Once we reached the summit, Stheno held out her hands
to me for me to take. I clasped onto them and we closed our eyes, summoning our mother
for our return. Within a flash, I opened my eyes, and I was once again standing on the ledge
of the cliff in our grotto.

“How does Echidna fare?” my mother, Ceto, asked.

Stheno shook her head and dismissed herself.
“Troublesome as ever! We have much to talk about, mother!” She headed back into the
palace, with my mother following in pursuit.

I chose not to join them, knowing Stheno would have
private affairs to discuss with my mother and father. I sat on the edge of the bluff, gleaming
into the crystal blue water, reflecting on the vision I had.

A net with a fish? What could it mean?

I found myself coming up with little to no answers or
guesses.

I was then reminded of Echidna’s counsel and the last
words she spoke to me.

Never put that beauty to waste.

Little did I know that I would carry this guidance with me
for years to come. Never did I picture that it would end up shaping my future.

About the Author

BJ Irons works in the field of
education as an educational leader and college professor. Many of his personal experiences
as a gay man, have contributed to his works. Being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community
himself, BJ hopes to continue to bring more fun fictional works to his LGBTQIA+ readers. The
world could always use a little more color and fun.

Social Media Links

Blog/Website |
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