QSFer Emily Brandish has a new MM fantasy book out: Monsters & Mind Games.
The monsters are winning. Tentacled, brain-eating gyle have unleashed a full-scale invasion, and humanity is helpless against their mind-control powers.
When novice elf mage, Ambrose, is commissioned by the King to halt the invasion, he thinks there must be a mistake—he’s wildly underqualified. Fortunately, he’s paired up with Kilgore the Conqueror, a brooding orcish war hero Ambrose has secretly been thirsting over for years.
Unfortunately, their mission is headed by Grist—a sociopathic gyle traitor who’s as cruel as he is clever. The manipulative gyle can read his companions’ every thought, and enjoys torturing Ambrose and Kilgore with their darkest secrets and forbidden attraction to each other. The trio has only seven days to save the world, but they must learn to trust each other first.
Monsters & Mind Games is an exciting MM fantasy adventure with complex characters, plot twists, and a wickedly funny villain that will keep you guessing right up to the happily ever after.
Note: This standalone novel contains extra-spicy spice, and is intended for mature readers.
- Orc/Elf MM Fantasy
- Size Difference
- Protective Top, Horny Bottom
- Boyhood Hero to Lover
- Alien Invasion in a Fantasy World
- HEA guaranteed
Get It At Amazon
Excerpt
Kilgore barked a laugh. His countenance lightened, as if he was enjoying some delicious irony.
The orc’s derision struck Ambrose like a slap. “What’s so funny?”
Kilgore quirked an eyebrow at him. “Getting picked for this mission isn’t a good thing. It’s a suicide mission, kid.”
Ambrose frowned to himself. Omry had suggested the mission was deadly, too. But if that were the case, why would they send someone as amazing as Kilgore? “What do you mean?” After a moment, he added, “And I’m not a kid. I’m twenty.”
“Too young to die for no fuckin’ reason,” Kilgore said.
Ambrose furrowed his brow. “I’ll know the reason after you tell me what this mission is about.”
Kilgore sighed through his nose.
“I assume it’s about the gyle?” Ambrose pressed. “I heard about the fall of Tir-Asleen.”
“It is,” Kilgore said. “We’re meeting with a contact. Says he knows how to stop the gyle invasion.”
“Stop? Like, completely stop?” Ambrose repeated, incredulous. “I heard that’s impossible.” The gyles’ spread was slow, but inexorable. According to soothsayers, the gyle invasion could spell the end of all human and elven life in as little as a decade.
“Right,” Kilgore agreed. “It is.”
“Clearly His Majesty thinks there’s a chance,” Ambrose said. Perhaps their contact knew a secret about the gyles’ weaknesses that could change everything. If anyone could turn the tides and execute that plan, it was Kilgore. Ambrose thrilled at the chance to be part of it.
“Sure,” Kilgore said. “On the remote possibility this pans out, the King had to investigate. But he’s only risking two of us ‘cause this mission is a death sentence.”
Ambrose’s heart thudded. “Why?”
“Our contact is a gyle defector,” Kilgore said.
An icy fist clenched Ambrose’s chest. They were going to meet a gyle face-to-face? They were creatures of nightmare, not something to sit down and converse with. Ambrose didn’t even realize they could speak. “My God.”
“Yeah,” Kilgore agreed.
“I don’t get it,” Ambrose said. “Why would a gyle defect?” The monsters were already on the winning side.
“That’s part of our job to find out. He supposedly reached out to the King directly.”
“You mean…?” Ambrose tapped his temple with a finger. Mind-to-mind? What if the King himself was compromised?
Kilgore shook his head. “Used a mercenary as a messenger. Said he’s got secret information to stop the invasion. Needs hired muscle to pull it off.”
“That’s insane. What’s in it for him?”
Kilgore scowled, clearly agreeing with Ambrose’s assessment. “He wants to get rid of all other gyle. Be the sole survivor of his kind. That’s the deal. He tells us how to stop the invasion. You and I pull it off. In return, he’s under the King’s protection for life.”
“He’d sell out his whole species just to be the last gyle standing?” Ambrose tried to picture the human equivalent, and it was chilling to imagine anyone so coldly sociopathic. That was the sort of gyle they were riding to meet: a monster among monsters.
Author Bio
Emily Brandish writes MM fantasy stories with thick plots, extra-spicy spice, and unforgettable characters you’ll love spending time with.
She lives in Sacramento, CA and has been saying, “I’m going to be a novelist when I grow up!” since she was old enough to write a sentence.
Monsters & Mind Games is her debut novel.