#twisted shadows

[noahhawthorneauthor]

that feeling when a new book gives you life

[dkafterdark]

*I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Image & summary from Goodreads*

Empath hunter Evan Grayson is the Dead Man, transformed by a dark past into a perfect weapon against corrupted empaths. Nothing can distract him from stopping these superhuman killers—until he’s mired in a new battle, fighting a forbidden attraction to an empath on the verge of corruption. For pacifist Reece Davies, every day is a struggle to keep his darker side in check. It’s only his complicated relationship with Evan that keeps him grounded—a relationship that, despite his growing feelings, must stay at arm’s length. But when an empath’s murder on the East Coast points to a treacherous plot back west, with Reece as the next potential target, Evan races across the country to be by his side. Together, they search for missing empaths, their proximity heightening the chemistry they must resist. But corruption isn’t the only danger they face as sinister forces close in from the shadows, sights set on empath and empath hunter alike…

Mercy me! This sequel to Liar City absolutely had me riveted and reading late into the night! There's all the banter and tension of the first book, but leveled up as Reece and Grayson are put in even closer proximity on their search to find answers to the latest empath emergency. Reece is walking the fine line between pacifism and corruption, while also the toeing the line of his attraction to Grayson. What I especially loved is getting more of Grayson's POV and backstory. These two have intoxicating chemistry and a delicious slow burn that's made even hotter by the high stakes and danger closing in around them. I liked how the book contains so many light, cute moments between Grayson and Reece, while simultaneously following the increasingly dire investigations by Jamey and Aisha. There are plot twists and jarring revelations, and the ending left me needing the next book ASAP! Action packed and big feels!

Tropes I love: size difference, enemies to lovers, can't feel/has all the feels, forbidden romance, can't touch for Reasons, hunter/target, forced proximity, wearing LI's clothes, "I trust you to stop me", tragic backstory, Protect/Protect (makes sense when you read it), the list goes on and on

Pub date December 10, 2024

[iwilleatrocksandglass]

Jamey: I spy with my little eye something that begins with the letter “s”.

Liam: *looks over at Evan and Reece* 

Liam: Is it “sexual tension”?

[themonstercals]

I don't think I know about the OCs you've tagged! So I'm going to do random asks for each! Fizz: 15, 16, 17 Tez: 29, 35, 80 Cyrlen: 20, 36, 50 and Eris: 10, 39, 75? Can I also ask ones for OCs of yours that weren't tagged?

Thank you so much for these asks!

Fizz and Tez and Eris are all from my current WIPs of novels. Cyrlen is from Dragon Age: Inquisition. Thank you so much for taking interest in them!

Also, funny enough, a lot of your questions hit close to spoilers or important character development. It was really fun either hinting at these, or writing them out!

And of COURSE you can ask questions about any OC :D I just didn’t want to flood my tags with too many names.

Fizz

15. What was something their parents taught them?

The one thing that his parents taught him was to ignore responsibility and have fun. His parents loved their parties, loved letting loose, and encouraged Fizz to enjoy every second of life. He unfortunately has sort of chosen to ignore this in his later life and is a bit of a downer.

Everything else Fizz had to fight to learn, and he learned it on his own.

16. Are they religious?

Funny enough, there aren't necessarily any religions in this novel. No gods. But! There are a lot of myths and ideas of interconnecting worlds. And he does believe in those - along with ghosts and psychics and etc.

17. Where were they born?

This is actually really funny because this is minor spoiler territory for the novel. I can't answer this! But I can let you know that throughout the years he's traveled wide and far, and has a new story about his childhood every time someone asks.

Tez

29. How would they describe their own personality?

I think this would be best if I wrote this like an interview;

"Uh, I don't know! I tend to think I'm pretty easy going! I like to bring others up and I think it's pretty hard to get me down. Though a lot of people might say my enthusiasm is a bit annoying..."

He's a happy-go-lucky sorta guy. Lots of smiles and laughter with this one.

35. What is the easiest way to annoy them?

Honestly, it's really hard to annoy Tez. He'd get hurt before you annoy him. And if you did manage to annoy him, you've probably just pissed him off. You would have to be a really, really crappy person to make Tez annoyed.

I'd say the person he gets annoyed with the most is himself.

80. Are they a morning person or a night owl?

Tez is one of those annoying people that always seem like they're up bright and happy at any hour. But due to some secret ailments, he usually doesn't sleep well or sleep at all. So, when he does sleep, it's usually a hard crash of 12-15 hours or so for a day, then he's good for the month.

Cyrlen

20. Do they have any titles? How did they earn them?

Uhhh, “The First”, “The Herald of Andraste”, “the Inquisitor” - titles he never wanted, all sort of necessary because of how things fell into place. But there are titles like “Ser Lordybloomers” “Lord Too-Tight-of-Breeches”, or “brother”, or “my love” that he’s earned. And he keeps all of those very close to his heart.

36. What is their sense of humor like? Give an example of a joke they would find humorous.

Dry humor is where Cyrlen’s niche is. He likes quips and banter - inappropriate jokes just mostly make him embarrassed. He will drop a pun time to time just to make people groan. Though because Cyrlen is extremely hard to read, his heavy sarcasm is often missed.

--

“Boss, you fell.” The Iron Bull lifted Cyrlen up with little to no issue. Cyrlen suspected that the man mostly flexed to show off his muscle, not so much because of the strain.

“Oh? Is that what happened?” Cyrlen said as dryly as he could, despite the heat rising to his cheeks. “I thought that the river was trying to eat me.”

Sera snickered behind him.

50. How would you describe their style of clothing? How would they describe their style of clothing?

Left to his own devices, one could best describe Cyrlen’s garb as “casual” if they’re kind. Though, after becoming somewhat of a notable figure, Cyrlen started to care a bit more about his fashion. Especially because he was trying to impress a certain mustached man.

He would define his clothes as practical, but elegant. Though, he does love to wear tight pants.

Eris

10. What are some of their talents/skills?

This is a difficult question to answer without diving into the lore of the book, so I’ll say it lightly; Eris is equivalent to a wizard or a mage, and he knows his magic very well. But unfortunately, that’s about all Eris really knows.

Oh! I guess I could also say, Eris knows a great portion of the world like the back of his hand. He is a living map. You would never get lost if you traveled with him.

(I’m laughing at the idea of Eris being a living GPS)

39. What does their happily ever after look like?

Diving into the full of this would be more spoilers! So, again, lightly, Eris’ happy ending is the simplest ending of all. All he wants to be is in love, and remembered and loved by the one he loves. Simple, really.

But his story borderlines a tragedy.

75. If given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen?

That depends - is there a likelihood someone will see this? Where is this paper? Who left it?

In Eris’ life, if someone hands an item to him and walks away, they’re not likely to remember him at all. So, usually he would just doodle something silly or write something mischievously cryptic and walk away.

The fun thing with Eris is that even if someone watched him doodle silly things on a paper, as soon as Eris left, they wouldn’t remember who doodled it at all.

[iwilleatrocksandglass]

Evan: Will you at least try to stay out of trouble?

Reece: No.

[velvetminefield]

OK. Now that Edge of Mercy is coming out and I’m not stuck in hellhole as I was when Twisted Shadows comes out, I can finally carve out time for some art. I’ve been struggling to find some good references for the perfect latinx specimen that The Dead Man is. But I present my favorite model for Reece Davies: Blake Roman, the voice of Angel Dust from Hazbin Hotel!

(also I have a THING for Paolo Ramos and think she’d be a shoo-in for the twinky sexiness of one Alex Grayson) also how the heck do you spell shoo-in? shoe in?

[velvetminefield]

The Edge of Mercy is out in ARC form! please please please please NetGalley let me reeeeead. The things I have to say about these books. Reese and Grayson have taken up quite a lot of space in my head for the past three years.

At one point I even had an unhealthy obsession with F150s (they are serious gas guzzlers! any obsession with them is unhealthy. I was sitting in one just a month ago and I looked at the dashboard and it seriously said 16mpg, which I commented on and was told that it was only that high because they had just gotten off of the highway! 😩😩😩)

And one day I will show off my designed #drivelikeanempath bumper sticker

Also one day I will sit down and do my fantasy Liar City cover redesigns because Harlequin has not done these books justice!