QSFer Adam J. Ridley has a new MM fantasy romance out, The Witch Brothers Saga book 1: Emerald Earth.
Cursed to never find love, Crea is shocked when he finds the perfect man. Choosing to fight the curse could cost him everything, including his life.
After his father cursed him, Crea has faced decades of dead end relationships. Just as he’s almost given up hope he finds a handsome stranger broken on the side of a desolate road. Once he drops the stranger off at the hospital, he figures all is done. Nothing could be further from the truth. The stranger becomes so much more as he pursues Crea, threatening the curse. Crea learns quickly falling in love is easy, but surviving a nasty cantation that’s determined to destroy you, isn’t as much.
Eli isn’t what you’d call a social person. His love for isolation in his beloved forest fully defines him. After breaking his leg in a mishap, Eli’s life is turned upside down as his life is filled with things he didn’t even dream of having before.
Unfortunately, those dreams turn to nightmares as he and Crea, the man he’s become bonded to, battle a curse that should’ve never been cast.
Crea and Eli’s bonding must be strong enough to overcome the curse, or they could both be lost, forever.
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Excerpt
“No son of mine is going to be with another man!” my father said, his face flushed with anger.
My older brother, Lance, just about to turn eighteen, gave back as good as he was getting, “What are you going to do, kill every guy I date?”
My father looked at him, and I knew that was exactly what he thought.
“Dad,” I said, trying to soothe the situation, “I’m gay too. I don’t know why you’re so upset. Grandma said it’s normal for our family. Your grandpa and great-grandad were both bi.”
My dad turned toward me, his eyes like targeted missiles. “Crea,” he said, then pointed his finger at me. “You and he are both abominations.”
“Oh, please,” Lance replied. “Like you’re going to throw the Bible at us? You’re from a long line of pagans, Dad. Why are you pretending you aren’t?”
“The devil is in each of you,” he said, and stomped out of the room. Lance rolled his eyes. Dad had been a devout witch, until Mom had convinced him to run for political office. Now he was acting like some kind of evangelical minister.
Lance rolled his eyes again when Mom came in behind our father’s dramatic exit, saying, “You know your father has found the Lord, and you need to as well! I should never have let you boys be around that witch,” she said, with crocodile tears pouring down her face.
“I want you out of my house,” my dad said, storming back into the room. “Both of you, out!”
Twelve-year-old Kyle came into the kitchen, sobbing, “You might as well kick me out too, Dad. I’m… um gay, or… bi too.” Poor Kyle had approached us before this started, telling us he thought he might be gay, but that he wasn’t sure. Unfortunately, we’d assured him it wouldn’t be a problem. How wrong we’d been.
Kyle’s confession was more than my dad could handle. He might have chosen a new religion, anything he could do to promote his new political ambitions, but he still had his powers.
His face began to glow, as he screamed at us, “No progeny of mine will taint the family name with sinful faggot love. Ever.” Dad pointed at the three of us standing together. “You will never know the love of another man. I forbid it, I forbid love for you three! Now get out!” he screamed
A breeze stirred through the room. I felt cold and hot, a thousand pinpricks torturing me all at once. Dad and Mom both wore shocked looks as the energy in the room swirled around us. Realizing what he’d done, he paled.
“You see that? You can’t deny who you are. You want to play that way, fine… fuck you,” Lance challenged our father. His eyes changed from brown to light blue, the way Grandma’s did when she was about to cast a heavy spell, then raising his hands, he looked toward our father. “Vengeful hate you dare to cast, toward your children no love shall last, where once in your arms you held us three, now there’ll be no love from us passed to thee!”
Our mother screamed. “No!” But, the spell had been cast. I could see it in my father’s face.
He walked over to Lance and backhanded him into the sunken living room. Lance staggered and fell, his head striking a glancing blow on the coffee table.
Blood poured from the head wound, and both my dad and mom stood transfixed, while Kyle rushed toward our brother and placed my mother’s prize pillow against the bleeding cut.
“Blood spilled, and the curses are cast, I… I cast a curse.” Dad said.
“Call 911,” I cried, but neither of my parents moved. I rushed out of the room, knocking my mom to the side, pulled the house phone off the receiver and dialed.
Neither parent came to the hospital. It was just us—Lance in the hospital bed, and Kyle and me waiting. The Department of Children’s Services came by and got the story, well, most of it—not the part about the spells that’d been tossed about—just the part about us coming out, and our father knocking Lance into the living room. No, he didn’t mean to hurt him, not to the point of hospitalization, but that didn’t discount the fact that he’d cursed us then struck him.
We sat silently staring at one another until my grandmother arrived. She was cheerful, with tie-dye skirts flowing around her ankles, smelling of roses, lavender, and happiness.
“Looks like I just inherited a trio of wayward youths! Well, get on with it, Lance, you okay to stand and walk?” she asked.
He nodded, then winced. “I’m fine, Grandma.”
Despite her forced cheer, I could feel the pain she carried that day. That was the only time I’d ever seen my grandmother’s joyful spirit dim. No, none of us were fine. She knew we weren’t, but the woman was nothing if not full of hope. Before we got up, she leaned over my brother, and kissed him on the uninjured side of his head. “You will be, baby,” she whispered. “I promise, you will be.”
Author Bio
Adam J. Ridley is the pen name for the fantasy novels written by Blake Allwood.
I realized after doing a survey in my newsletter that not all of my readers want fantasy and of course, not all fantasy readers want romance, so, as a way to differentiate my fantasy books from my romance, I’m created the pen name Adam J. Ridley.
My novels always have a bit of a romantic twist to them, but they are not all romances and I don’t guarantee a happily ever after in my fantasy books. However, I’m a sucker for a love story, so whether you are reading my Adam J. Ridley books or my Blake Allwood books, you can expect a little love between the pages.