Genre: Urban Dark Fantasy, Horror
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Maryann
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About The Book
The neon lights of Las Vegas mask the horrors hiding in the shadows. Horrors like my ancient vampiric maker, the Goddess Tawaret.
Tawaret promises me power in exchange for helping her. She wants to be worshiped again, and has me gathering vampire followers. My boyfriend, Jack, tries to warn me about her, but I don’t listen. Too late, I realize my mistake in accepting.
Now there is no escape. After the slaughter she left behind in Portland, no one wants to risk her wrath. With Jack suddenly abandoning me, no one will come to my rescue.
I’d rather die than be bound to her for eternity. It just might come to that.
The Review
Goddess of the Ancients is the third novel in the “Changing Bodies” series, where Jack and Everett now are facing the evil Goddess.
The two men have been kidnapped by the Goddess after the carnage at the mage’s house in Portland. She’s found the amulet and has bitten both Everett and Jack. With the Goddess’s bite, she can look into Jacks mind and seek out other jackals. There’s no easy escape, and with the Goddess in control, they head to the bright lights of Las Vegas.
After the carnage at the mage’s house, Jack has trouble summoning help from the PCA (Paranormal Creature Alliance). All that can be done is to warn other shifters of the situation that’s developing in Las Vegas. But Jack meets resistance there – shifters won’t help vampires and vampires won’t help shifters.
Jack keeps trying to get him and Everett out of this twisted situation, but the Goddess has a tight hold on both of them. As she starts her Sunrise Ceremony, her following steadily grows. As her grip gets tighter, Everett get’s more immersed in her connection, and Jack becomes disillusioned when he sees what Everett is doing.
As hopeless as things seem, Jack still tries to get the shifters involved before he loses all hope as more of his allies become controlled by the Goddess. But no matter what develops, no one can guarantee Everett’s safety.
As for Everett, he’s not just a vampire, he’s a trans man too. Feeling overwhelmed, he seeks out counseling at a trans group meeting. The group leader, Avery, sees Everett as a vampire first, and doesn’t want him at any more meetings. But Everett also meets Xander there, who’s human and willing to help.
Everett still hasn’t found out the secret of the amulet. He looses confidence in himself, and as the Goddess is ready to take total control and lives are in danger, Everett does the unthinkable.
Rosser delivers excitement, danger, and suspense in Goddess of the Ancients. Jack remains faithful and tries to bring all the different creatures together to fight evil.
But there are also those who would turn on Jack and become followers of the Goddess. It’s surprising to find out who eventually becomes ally or foe.
Everett has to find his confidence and face the fact that he has more power than he thinks he does. The story has a powerful message – even though we’re all different, we have to find common ground to fight for what’s right.
Besides Everett and Jack and the PCA, new characters are introduced in this volume: Avery, head of the trans group meeting and a wolf; Xander who’s human, but wouldn’t mind being a vampire; and Brun, who’s asexual and a jackal. I think there could be some interesting stories for them.
Along with Stacy of the PCA there are other leaders too: Rowan, the oldest vampire in Las Vegas; Pembroke from the Pacific Northwest; and Annabelle, representative for city mages.
As for evil, the Goddess ranks pretty high, along with her followers: Kurt, Miles, and Yvonne, Oakley and Nat and more.
I really enjoyed this paranormal series, and highly suggest reading them in order. All three books were page turners, but I loved the cover of this last one the most – it really tells a story. I don’t know if Rosser has plans for more adventures for Everett and Jack. But I would love to read more.
The author is also offering a sign-up bonus book, Jackal of Hearts! It’s a quick and easy read, a prequel and a well deserved story for Jack, and finally gives Jack his own stunning cover. Officer Jack Prashad, of Indian descent, shares his views of working in law enforcement and the homophobia and racism that come with the job. This story also explains how he became connected with the Paranormal Creature Alliance, and looks into his background and his relationship with Officer Andre Kelly. It tells of his loss, his feelings for his family and how his life changed with the beginnings of a golden jackal. Well worth the read.
The Reviewer
Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018. My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! From a young age Ialways liked to read.
I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.
My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book!
As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb piques my interest I will read the book.
My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading.
I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews. One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.
But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.