We are SOOOO excited at Two Chicks Obsessed to be a stop on the blog tour for Susan MacNicol’s newest book Double Alchemy: Climax. We have a Guest Post from the author herself, a giveaway for two ebooks, as well as a review of this great ending to her paranormal series.
- Title: Double Alchemy: Climax (Double
Alchemy Book #2) - Author: Susan
Mac Nicol - Publisher: Boroughs
Publishing Group - Release
Date: 22nd May, 2014 - Genre: M/M
Paranormal Romance
ecstasy with the silver-eyed and not-quite-human Cade Mairston, but to know
true happiness the pair must best both the shadow of a long-ago lover and an
ancient enemy who seeks to destroy love, light and all they hold dear.
A BLINDING LIGHT
London coven. The grimoire is as dangerous as it is rare, which is why it
evokes modern-day warlock Quinn Fairmont’s desire. He collects objects of great
power and beauty—like his lover, Cade Mairston.
Against all odds he and Cade found each other,
but their perils have just begun. First is the ex-lover who once held Quinn in
thrall. And, someone has been killing warlocks. Could it be one of his own
kind? There are those too who would challenge Quinn’s power in their quest to
overthrow him as Grand Master. Or is the danger something darker, something
invoked inadvertently, rising from the shadows, building from the very inside
of a man until it brings an end with a quick flash of light? Of the truth, the
surface has only been scratched. Now Quinn and Cade must go deeper and find both
answers and an end. They must learn what lurks in the hearts of men…and whether
it seeks to love or destroy.
Excerpt
his uncle. “I am not fucking losing him to the depths of a bloody Hampstead
Heath pond.”
beside Cade again, closing his eyes as he tried once more to heal, but the
wound just kept seeping blood, now at a much slower rate than before. Cade’s
face was ash white, his dark hair standing out starkly against the deathly
pallor of his face.
put him in the water now before it is too late. There is no time for your
modern medicine. He will not survive unless you do it now. The Water Sprites
will take him and heal him as long as there is still a spark of life left in
him.
ask me to do that. I can’t.” Quinn’s voice was strangled as he struggled to
compose himself. His body was cold, his mind sluggish and he had never felt so
desperate.
forward and despite his small and wiry frame, he picked Cade up in his arms. He
looked at Quinn, his voice resolute. “He’s dying. This may be the only way to
save him.”
and reached out with a hand to hold him back. Daniel sidestepped him and looked
at him with a resolute expression. “You can hurt me if you want but it won’t
help Cade. This is all we have left to try before he dies.”
still gripped him tightly and the older man winced.
going to do this, it’s going to be me.” Quinn’s voice cracked and he held out
his arms. Wordlessly, Daniel placed Cade in Quinn’s outstretched arms and Quinn
pulled his lover closer to his body. He walked down to the water’s edge and
waded in as Daniel watched helplessly from the bank, his face stark. Quinn
gently laid Cade down in the water. He seemed to float for a while, hair
spreading about in the water like black smoke. His face was still, eyes closed
as Quinn held tightly onto his cold hand, rubbing his thumb over the engagement
ring. Quinn’s vision blurred as tears filled his eyes.
kind below the water. Trust me.
was soft, compassionate. Quinn heaved a shuddering sigh as Daniel joined him in
the water, laying a comforting arm on his.
shook his head in grief, his heart breaking.
hold of his shoulders, firmly holding him back. “There’s no other way, son. Let
him go.”
relinquished his grip on Cade’s hand, standing there as he heard a soft splash
and saw the water rippling around them. As they watched, two sets of pale hands
emerged out of the water, and slowly, lovingly, Cade was dragged gently beneath
the dark waters of the pond. Quinn saw the hand with his ring on it slowly
disappear under the water. It was the last glimpse he had of the man he loved.
Susan MacNicol Guest Post:
opportunity to tell you a bit more about me and my writing.
Where do you write?
TV is normally blaring as hubby watches it, the dog is going crazy wanting to
go on a walk and various people swing in an out like may flies. My laptop is on
my lap and I simply zone out from the chaos and get into my own head. Sometimes I’ll put the earphones on and try
and drown out the noise.
Tell us about your book(s).
would do, as I’ve never read it before now. And yes, of course I’ve read 50
Shades. It got me started. But through my complete and utter fan girl crush on
Benedict Cumberbatch, in my fantasies I started writing a story with him as the
main inspiration for the lead for my male character and now I’m hooked. I
started off writing M/F -male /female and then discovered the enticing and
exciting world of M/M – male/male. Man love, including man sex, and romance
between two men. I love this genre. It’s opened my eyes to the world of the gay
man and I doubt I’ll ever leave it.
Alexander, Worth Keeping, Waiting for Rain and Double Alchemy. My novels deal
with dark themes like sex abuse, kidnapping, child prostitution. I’ve obviously
also just ventured into the paranormal realm and loved it. My books aren’t
always easy reads but they are emotional and the underlying message I think is
HOPE.
What was your publishing experience like?
most wonderful publisher, Boroughs Publishing Group in Ventura, California.
They saw the raw talent of a writer who had no idea what creative writing and
formatting was and took her under their wing and made her what she is today. I
have a fabulous editor called Jill Limber, herself an author, and she is my
wise Guru and teacher. They have been very supportive and have welcomed my
British sense of humour and my wrong spelling 🙂 I’m also contracted to a
specialist M/M publisher called Dreamspinners and my first book with them is
due out in February this year. They too have been very supportive and again,
their editors have honed my creative writing skills and taught me about ISA,
ABP – Involuntary Simultaneous Action and Autonomous Body Parts. Oh and the use
of epithets. Uh-huh, that’s what I said. Only I wasn’t so polite.
How have you balanced your online author
platform with writing?
It can take over from the writing if you’re not careful. My husband constantly
accuses me of being permanently attached to my smart phone and laptop to the
extent that he’s threatened to divorce me and calls me ‘rude’ when I do it in
public. Sigh. I know I’m obsessive about
this area of my business. Because that’s what writing is. It’s a business that
takes a lot of building to keep it viable. People think you sit on your arse,
drink tea, gaze out dreamily through the window into the green valley beyond
and then turn around and write thousands of words. Hah. Little do they know
that it can be cut throat, demanding, sulky and damned capricious. It’s about
engaging people into your business, so they are interested enough to buy your
books. It’s about constantly trying to market yourself and your talents so that
people don’t forget you. Readers can have a short attention span- I know I do-
and you need to keep them amused and entertained. Hence why I started a Male Pole
Dancing Group with many of the world’s top class performance artists as
members. *Drops that in slyly and waits for the gasps*
Do you work with a writing partner? If not, have you ever considered it?
going to be. Sue Brown, a fellow M/M author and I are collaborating on a
fictional autobiography I’ve started about the life of a man who was sexually
abused by his Scoutmaster. It’s a fascinating story and we’ve just started
working together.
Denise’s Review of Double Alchemy: Climax
Double Alchemy (Book #1) was my first blog review (you can check it out here if you want to read the original review) back in March. It was also only the second paranormal book I had ever read-nope not even the Twilight series. I guess I prefer my books somewhat grounded in reality, at least a little, which is actually why I have LOVED the Double Alchemy books. Yes, they have a lot of supernatural events in them, but the characters are still living in the current reality, with humans getting in the way, and cell phone issues, etc. It helps me to relate to the characters and situations more if I can envision the environment they are living in a current state I can understand.
Double Alchemy: Climax picks up after Quinn and Cade have their HFN. And they are truly happy, which I love, and that happiness is quite evident in this book…along with more of the Susan Mac Nicol HOT sex scenes!!! As the world around them begins to come together in a vortex of evil, Quinn and Cade still find a way to connect when they can, but still are able to be independent people. I really enjoy that aspect of their relationships. Quinn is a dominant alpha male, and yet, he knows that it is Cade who runs their relationship, and he tries his best not to upset his man if he doesn’t have to. Meanwhile, Cade puts his foot down, when he knows Quinn is out of line.
As the new character, Valensia, is introduced, you can see that it is going to be a challenge for our MC’s to not allow her to come between them, even as the Warlocks and Witches find a way to an alliance. She initially tries her best to use her Fey influence to bring Quinn back to her bed, but is thwarted in her goal. Meanwhile, our villain from Book 1 returns, along with a very strong presence wanting to make his way into the current world and rid it of Warlocks and Witches.
Side Note: As I read what I considered the “Climax”, which was at about 50% in the book (it wasn’t the only one, but it sure seemed like it to me at the time), it was 3:00 in the morning here and I was reading it. I noticed about halfway through this scene, that I had one hand on my leg, and was rubbing my leg from the stress. THAT is the sign of a well written book, my friends. I was drawn in so much that I was physically stressed waiting to see what happened…and its a DOOZY!!!
After that point, things began to wrap up quickly, and probably more quickly than I would have liked, I’ll say. Although, I will say that I literally bawled, as in, ugly cried when Quinn had to put Cade in the water (see excerpt above). I actually had to stop reading because I could not get myself to stop crying for a while–Susan warned me on this when I sent her a message and told her of my stress in the “Climax” scene (my response was “evil woman”). Silly me, I wasn’t sure I believed her…I was very, very wrong.
I would have loved another 1,000 locations in it. If I had one thing to say that I would have liked to see would be, more…more story, more conflict, more Cade and Quinn. If this book wasn’t called Double Alchemy: Climax I would have thought there was a book 3 ahead, but sadly I think that Quinn and Cade will be destined to live in my re-read collection with two books.
Double Alchemy: Climax gets 4.8 out of 5 pieces of eye candy. Another amazing piece of work by Susan Mac Nicol. Her books are now an auto buy for me. At this point, I can only request…Ms. Mac Nicol…what about a Double Alchemy: Climax Climax? 🙂 (Wow, I didn’t realize how dirty that sounded until I typed it.)
I’m a huge fan of Susan Mac Nicol’s M/M books. In this book, she brings both
genres together & gives us this amazing story. With her master
storytelling, she takes us into the mystical & magical world of Witches,
Warlocks, Withinners & Feys. A world where danger lurks in the shadows.”
– Maria Recchia
all night reading this story. Susan has a way of writing that is different than
anyone else. She’s uniquely brilliant at weaving a tale that brings out my
emotions. I have laughed in every one of her stories. That’s incredible for me.
Not just a smile, but a laugh. I love that. This book needs to be read. You
won’t be disappointed.” – Author Kindle Alexander
and fully realized fantasy world…. Quinn is the star of this novel, taking out
the bad guy and learning how to trust in Cade’s love enough to share his
unsavory past.” Library Journal
completely loved this beautifully and highly detailed written Paranormal story!
This wasn’t a predictable story by any means. How Susan Mac Nicol takes us on a
ride through this very creative and engrossing world that you will not forget,
anytime soon and will be wanting more and more of it. I am a huge fan of this
author and Double Alchemy, doesn’t disappoint by any means at all. I highly
recommend this hot, steamy, love, paranormal and so beautifully written story!”
Paul Berry
m/m romance but also takes us into a magyckal world of Warlocks, Withinners,
Fae, Witchfinders and Witches… I loved the combination of the magyck and the
m/m romance storyline. I am so glad Ms Mac Nicol is not keeping us waiting as
the second book in the series will be released 22nd May 2014. I highly
recommended this book to read and is an absolute five star rating from me.”
Foxylutely Book Reviews
will always be an automatic one-click for us. Her writing is flawless and her
flawed characters are completely lovable. There’s always something quirky and
fun in her stories as well as drama, angst and heaps of passion! We can highly
recommend!!” – Gitte & Jenny – Totally Booked Blog
male/male literature. Her Saving Alexander has been nominated for
several awards and has been reviewed widely. Congrats on all your success, Susan.
You have earned it.” – Gay Lit Authors
#2)
Nicol
born in Leeds, UK, and left for South Africa when she was eight. She returned
to the UK thirty years later and now lives in Essex. Her debut novel Cassandra
by Starlight, the first in a trilogy, was published last year by Boroughs
Publishing Group in the US. Sue’s latest story, Double Alchemy: Climax is
her sixth m/m romance.
thought she would see herself becoming a Romance writer, being a
horror/psychological thriller reader all her life. But the Romance genre is now
something very close to her heart and she intends continuing the trend.
and the Romantic Novelists Association here in the UK.
and Double Alchemy.
Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1496356080577818/
Rafflecopter Giveaway:
What a wonderful review! Thank you for joining us on the tour, Denise.
Thanks for having us! 🙂
Awww Denise, your tissue box is on the way with my compliments 🙂 Thanks so much for a lovely review and who knows, perhaps one day the lads may be back…it's not an impossibility ♥
Keep me guessing….I like that!