Today I am so pleased to welcome R. Phoenix and Megs Pritchard to Joyfully Jay. They have come to talk to us about their books in the Grim & Sinister Delights collection, Shards of Ice and Beauty Bound. They have also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving Megs and Phoenix a big welcome!

 

Shards of Ice

Though The Snow Queen wasn’t as dark as Grimm fairy tales, it still had potential to be expanded upon — and I couldn’t wait to do it. I was so excited to get to take this tale and twist it. Disney might’ve done their own take on it with Frozen, but I did my own much darker interpretation in Shards of Ice. The original tale focuses on the rescue of the Snow Queen’s captive, but Shards focuses more on the impact the “queen” character has on the captive’s life. The Ice Prince is drawn to Kai as he lies bleeding in the snow, and from there, it seems he’s never going to let him go again.

This is the story of Kai, who was introduced in the tale without ever receiving much attention to what happened between the time he was swept off by the Snow Queen and his best friend rescued him. There are dark themes, such as abuse and blood play, but there is also hope and perhaps even a friends to lovers theme. 😉 Hey, it is a fairy tale, after all.

Set in the contemporary world, Shards of Ice is an urban fantasy where witches and other creatures live among us, and fae travel between realms during certain times of the year. Their presence always has an impact, and no one is safe from their whims once they’ve set their sights on something. Their powers might be lessened in the mortal realm, but that doesn’t mean they’re powerless…

 

Beauty Bound

Where do you get your ideas from?

Usually Ikea! I overhear so many conversations while I’m writing there that I always end up coming up with something. I also love reading and watching paranormal shows so that always helps to.

I was told I had an overactive imagination and that helps. I’m makes sure to have a notebook and pen with me so if something pops into my mind, some random thought or idea, then I can jot it down and don’t forget it.

So many times, I’ve woken up or been somewhere when a great idea has appeared and I’ve thought ‘I’ll remember that’ and then don’t, so I’ve learnt to write it down straight away.


Excerpts

Shards of Ice

Cold seized him to the core, threatening to overwhelm him. The only warmth Kai could find was that of the blood steadily oozing out of him onto the white, white snow next to him. The grime of the sidewalk hadn’t crept through just yet, and the pale handful he took up was so stark in comparison. He didn’t know if he was dying, but surely no one could undergo so much agony and survive.

He whimpered, wishing for Tristan, wishing for anything — even his fucking abusive father and his cunt of a mother, just someone to hold his hand while he bled out.

He wasn’t sure if he even wanted to be saved.

Kai sagged back against the snow, staring up at the sky until a flake whirled into his eye, leaving him trying to rub out the sting of it. But one after another, his body started to become covered in a blanket of it. The pressure he’d placed against his jacket to try to stem the bleeding was lessened now — maybe loss of hope, maybe loss of strength. He didn’t know.

All he knew was that Tristan would be devastated if he didn’t return home.

That was enough to make him try to sit up again, only to cry out in pain and sink back into the snow.

Everyone sane was inside, and no one was going to find him until he was a corpse, blue and frozen with his eyes forever open.

But through the dusting of snow, he could see a figure. He didn’t know what the figure was. An animal, perhaps, or maybe trash bandied about by the wind. He blinked, though, and it started to come into focus.

It was a person.

He nearly wept with relief. “H-help me,” he begged through chattering teeth.

The individual turned out to be a tall man. Kai could make out his features enough to tell that his hair was nearly as pale as the snow dusting his shoulders, and his eyes were so blue they threatened to pierce him to the core.

“Do you want my help?” the man asked, his voice lyrical, soothing somehow.

“Y-yes,” Kai whimpered, though he couldn’t fathom the oddness of the question.

“There will be a price.”

Of course there would be. No one would do anything for free. But he didn’t want to die.

“I’ll pay… pay it.”

Surely he could swallow his pride and ask Tristan for a loan if it meant living.

The man nodded. “So it shall be done,” he stated, his voice oddly formal. He knelt down beside Kai, ripping away the blood-soiled clothing as though they were tissue paper, and examined the wound. “What is your name?”

“Kai,” he said, shivering even more violently now that the wound was fully exposed, now that the wound was spilling even more blood without the layers of cloth between it and the open air.

“Be still, my Kai.” The man’s hand touched his stomach, and where his fingers brushed the flesh, it was warm, impossibly so.

He inhaled sharply.

“Who are you?” he asked dumbly. How were his bare hands so warm in the midst of a blizzard?

The man’s fingers began to push into the wound, but it wasn’t warmth that spread through his body. It was ice cold, and Kai cried out again. The man met his eyes, impossibly intent, and considered for a moment. It was almost like he wasn’t certain of his own name, or maybe he was thinking up a false one. “Avery,” he finally said.

Those fingers dug even deeper inside of him, and Kai was sure he’d been found by a sadist instead of a savior. He cringed back, tears freezing on his face, and despaired.

But the man persisted, pressing those impossibly warm fingertips inside of him with their impossibly cold touch until he felt them brush things that never should’ve been touched by another person. He cried out in pain, though the sound was swallowed up by the snow, never to be heard by anyone but the two of them.

“What… what are you doing?” he rasped, trying to push Avery’s hand away.

Avery ignored it, still pressing until he was inside Kai’s innards to the wrist and cold was surrounding those impossibly warm hands. “Healing you, my Kai,” he stated when he finally stopped moving.

Healing him? That didn’t make any sense, but then, none of this did.

 

Beauty Bound

Keegan followed the path leading to their allotted pitch but slowed when he heard a rustling behind him. He held his breath, then jumped as a hare hopped onto the path and disappeared.

“Fucking idiot.” He managed a couple of steps before being knocked of his feet. His bag was yanked off him and he tried to kick out, hitting nothing. His hair was grabbed and his head banged on the ground. Keeg lay stunned, barely moving as hands rummaged through his coat.

His phone was shoved in his face with a voice whispered, “You won’t be needing this.”

Keeg pushed up, running as fast as he could, hearing the sounds of pursuit. Fuck! What the fuck was going on? He pumped his arms and legs trying to get away, whimpering when he heard the sounds of laughter behind him.

He rushed through the trees, dodging from one direction to another, trying to shake the person chasing him off. After a few minutes, he slowed down as silence descended and turned around, his eyes looking everywhere, but seeing nothing.

His heart hammered in his chest, his breath rushing in and out of his lungs. Sweat dripped down his body as he leaned over, his hands on his thighs as he tried to catch his breath. What the fuck, who the hell was chasing him? If it was one of the guys, Keeg was gonna punch the fucker in the face. This was a step too far, even for them.

He swallowed, lifting his head as he heard movement ahead of him. He carefully stepped back, retreating as the sound approached and once the noise was on top of him, he spun, in an attempt to flee and ran straight into someone. The momentum of which caused him to fall backwards onto the ground, leaving him to stare up to the face above him, hidden in the shadows.

A hand reached for him and the last thing Keeg heard was, “I’ve waited a long time for you.” Then there was nothing.


Blurbs

Shards of Ice

Grim & Sinister Delights #9

A retelling of: The Snow Queen

smarturl.it/shardsofice

What happens when your rescuer becomes obsessed with you? Even worse, what happens when that rescuer isn’t even human…

Kai’s life has never been easy, and bleeding to death in the snow seems the perfect fated ending to his miserable existence. A beautiful stranger drags him back from death’s door with a touch that is pure magic. Kai soon discovers that such magic lingers when Avery persists in seducing him. He starts to fall for him, but with every sliver of affection he gives Avery, his appreciation for his best friend Tristan gets stripped away to loathing, destroying every chance at love they might have had.

Tristan has been in love with Kai for years, but he’s too afraid to admit it for fear of what Kai’s reaction might be. When the ice prince enters their lives and binds Kai to him with fae magic, it seems like there’s nothing anyone can do about it. But Tristan has his own powers, and he’s determined to save Kai from Avery’s deadly clutches. The only problem is…

Kai might not want to be rescued.

This is a loose M/M retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.” Please note that it contains emotional and physical abuse as well as knife/bloodplay.

Grim and Sinister Delights is a dark romance series based on classic fairy tales and stories. You will find standalone tales of gay romance that range in darkness and kinks. If you dare to take the challenge, read them all to find yourself lost in a classic that you think you know. These stories are for adult readers and may contain morally ambiguous themes.

 

Beauty Bound

Beauty Bound is my book in the Grim and Sinister Delights series. It’s book ten in the series and is loosely based on Beauty and the Beast.

When Keegan’s vacation takes a turn for the worse, will he be the same when it’s finally over?

Keegan Sinclair was looking forward to summer break and a long weekend away with his friends. Keen to get the party started, Keegan arrived at their campsite first, giving him the opportunity to set up his tent for him and his girlfriend and plan their nights together. Before Keegan could reach the campsite, he was taken hostage, and held against his will.

With this strange man holding him captive, Keegan has no choice but to do what he wants: whether he likes it or not. The longer he’s with this man, the more Keegan begins to question whether he wants to stay or go. When the opportunity arises, Keegan has a decision to make.

Does he return home to the life he knows, or stay with the man who has altered him forever?

Beauty Bound is a standalone MM gay romance with wonderful dark twists, enough heat to have you panting and a HEA.

Grim and Sinister Delights is a dark romance series based on classic fairy tales and stories. You will find standalone tales of gay romance that range in darkness and kinks. If you dare to take the challenge, read them all to find yourself lost in a classic that you know. These stories are for adult readers and may contain ambiguous themes.

Available for preorder now: Beauty Bound


Bios

Phoenix

Phoenix (code name: Raissa) has an unhealthy fascination with contrasts: light and dark, humor and pain, heroes and villains, order and chaos. She believes love can corrupt, power can redeem and that the best of intentions can cast shadows while the worst can create light. She agrees with those who say that the truth is best told through fiction — even though fiction has to make sense while reality can be utterly baffling.

She loves chatting with readers, though she often awkwardly rambles. No matter how much she tries to keep her bad and often perverted sense of humor in check, it seems to escape at the most inconvenient moments. (Thanks, universe.) Feel free to friend Raissa on Facebook and chat or send her an email!

 

Megs Pritchard

What can I say about me? I have two boys who keep me on my toes and a cat who adopted us. She walked in one day and hasn’t left. We might be getting a dog too. Who knows?

I love to read about men in love. Flawed, but strong men, who need some TLC and find their happy ending. I love to write about those same type of men too, sometimes with added kink! I also love to read horrors, thrillers and crime novels.

When I’m not trying to keep my boys in line, or writing about hot sexy men, I like to work on my allotment. I also like to read, to take walks in the countryside, and visit historical places. Recently, we went to Stonehenge and Avebury. It was an amazing experience.


Giveaway

Megs and Phoenix have each brought a book to give away (two readers will each win one book). Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on at 11:59 pm ET.


  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
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  • Void where prohibited by law.