RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'Brush with Catastrophe' by Tara Lain
Title: Brush with Catastrophe
Series: The Aloysius Tales Book 2
Author: Tara Lain
Published: April 14, 2017 - 2nd Edition
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Genre: Erotic Romance, Paranormal Romance
Length: 200 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Friends to Lovers; Urban Fantasy; Paranormal: Witches; Suspense; HEA
About Brush with Catastrophe
Sammy Raphael is a crappy witch, and on top of that, he can’t seem to get a boyfriend. Where other supernaturals can bring down lightning and manifest wealth, Sammy can paint. Granted, the “prophetic” paintings he creates at night always come true, but they never predict anything important. Sammy feels like a total loser with a worthless ability.
One night he paints a gorgeous guy who turns out to be his secret crush, the human Ryder, but Ryder’s changed so much he’s almost unrecognizably beautiful. Then Sammy paints an angel who turns out to be a witch. But is that witch also a devil—a devil who can bring down Sammy’s whole community and everyone he loves? And why the hell does Ryder keep changing? Aloysius, the black cat familiar, always backs a winner. So why is he backing Sammy?
First Edition published by Loose Id, 2012.
4 HEART READ
REVIEW:
If you hunger for a “cuteness fix,” head straight for Tara Lain’s Brush with Catastrophe. The second book in her Aloysius Tales (which reads well as a standalone novel) provides unexpected twists and turns, many giggles, hot sex, loveable heroes, and villainous villains.
Sammy is dissatisfied with himself as a witch. Tall and skinny, his only special power is to paint predictive canvases while in a blackout. They aren’t even in his own style! And so far, he’s predicted nothing important.
Plus, he’s had a three-year crush on his straight human best friend, Ryder, who now returns to their Senior year of college transformed, more handsome than ever. Luckily, Grand Master Killian’s “familiar,” a feline named Aloysius, decides to adopt Sammy, purring away his heartache.
“What in hells am I going to do with a cat?” he asks Killian.
“Anything he wants,” Killian replies.
Into the mix arrives Lucien, a disconcertingly stunning European witch, who zeroes in on Sammy. Sad about Ryder, how can the gawky young man resist such allure? But readers quickly learn Lucien has an unknown nefarious purpose.
What do Lucien and Aloysius really want with Sammy? Is Ryder truly human, having morphed so completely into this exquisite creature? Why is Ryder’s dad insistent he return home in the middle of the semester? And what is happening to all these young witches who suddenly act, well, bewitched?
Brush with Catastrophe is a quick-moving, simply written, but delightfully complex storyline. Though I’m rarely a “cuteness” fan, I was be-spelled from start to finish.
Sammy’s self-consciousness is highly identifiable, his banter with friends is charming, and kitty Aloysius is purrfect, right down to his “Merwaooowr,” and angry “Errrrr.”
A copy of Brush with Catastrophe was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Dreamspinner Press, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Meet the Author
Tara Lain never met a beautiful boy she didn’t love – at least on paper. A writer of erotic romance, mostly ménage and male/male, Tara loves all her characters, but especially her handsome heroes. A lifelong writer of serious non-fiction, Tara had the first novel she ever wrote accepted for publication in 2011. She’s now on book 27 and counting. After an exotic life of travel all over the world and work in television, education and advertising, Tara settled in Southern California with her soul-mate husband and opened her own small marketing business. She paints, collages, and started practicing yoga “way before it was fashionable”. Passionate about diversity, justice, inclusion and new ideas she says on her tombstone it will read, “Yes”.
For more from Tara visit her website.
