Channeling Morpheus for Scary Mary

Title:  Channeling Morpheus for Scary Mary

Author:  Jordan Castillo Price

Publisher:  JCP Books

Length:  216 pages

Rating:  A List

Up All Night Satisfaction

Blurb:  Michael is a waif in eyeliner who’s determined to wipe vampires off the face of the earth. Wild Bill’s got the hots for Michael, and will stop at nothing to go home with him.

Forget about moonlit castles and windswept moors. These bad boys haunt all-night diners and cheap motels, cut-rate department stores and long, lonely stretches of the Interstate. Ride along with Wild Bill and Michael as the twists and turns of Channeling Morpheus for Scary Mary unfold in America’s Heartland.

Ebook box set contains the following novelettes: Payback, Vertigo, Manikin, Tainted, Rebirth.

 

Review:  Dark, angsty, sexy and complicated love affair between a beautiful young goth and a vampire.

This is a box set of the first five short stories in the addictive Channeling Morpheus series: Payback, Vertigo, Manikin, Tainted, Rebirth. With the perspective switching between Michael and Wild Bill in each story allowing us to have a deeper understanding of each man.

Since Michael lost his best friend, (Scary) Mary to vampires he’s been working to take them out. Following the trail of dead bodies he finally finds his mark and meets the hottest guy he’s ever seen. One night of passion leaves the world free of a nasty vampire and begins a very strange, sweet and twisted romance.

Neither man can forget or resist the other. Although Wild Bill tries his hardest to avoid the pain and drama of getting involved with a human, Michael hits every instinct, desire and need he’s ever had and even helps him find a few new kinks he never knew he had.

“He was vamp-heroin and he wanted to know if he tasted good. Unbelievable.”

This is not a happy, shiny vampire book. Rather it is dark, snarky, fun, sometimes sweet yet always riding an edge of danger and peril. Michael has made himself a vampire hunter while almost simultaneously mating with one. It was a toss up at times to decide which one was more dangerous. Wild Bill has the skills that Michael lacks (Michael is both amazingly lucky and crafty while being incredibly inept at times) but Wild Bill lacks the heartlessness to be an evil, scary apex predator. Michael has an anger and a darkness while still retaining a sweetness and an impression of innocence. Maybe that is what makes him so very dangerous.

The relationship that develops between Wild Bill and Michael is strangely beautiful. The flirting and sarcastic banter. The devotion and understanding even as they hesitate to give voice to their growing bond. The way they take turns pursuing each other before admitting the futility of resistance.

“I was really annoyed that we’d be good together. And not just run-of-the-mill good. I could see the two of us sharing a hive mind and finishing each other’s sentences. We’d be the kind of good that makes everyone else in the room hate you while they secretly hope you’ll bring them home with you for a little variety.”

There is so much blood. OMG! there is blood. It’s an integral part of their relationship and Wild Bill’s survival. It’s a part of their sex life. It’s spilled every time Michael finds another bad vampire. It’s a commodity that flows through the pages and drips, splashes and pools. And it changes everything. It could almost be considered its own character.

The sex is intense and plentiful. Dirty, fun, emotional, kinky, loving, sweet, rough, hot. That intensity increases with every story, as their relationship develops and feelings deepen. They are forging bonds ands creating a life together and you see that in the way they touch each other as well as their increasing need to maintain that contact.

For those of you who find yourselves as addicted as I am the second Channeling Morpheus box set, A Bitter Taste of Sweet Oblivion, the omnibus edition of #6-10 in the Channeling Morpheus series was released on April 21, 2015. As well as a brand new Channeling Morpheus short called Canine that came out that same day.

Curl up with your beverage of choice and enjoy the ride. You’re not going to want to stop until you’ve finished.

Reviewed by Nina