“Soul Moon: First Encounter” by Camelia Bennett

Soul Moon: First Encounter by Camelia Bennett is a blend of fantasy, mythical creatures, and wolf-shifter romance. The story circles around two main characters: Caden Mitchell, a wolf shifter, who finds himself assigned to sit at a seedy strip club and wait for his target to secure a weapons deal. It’s not just any weapons deal; this could “shift the balance of power to their enemies.” Meanwhile, his head of security responds to a tip about an illegal shipment of drugs at a harbor. Then there is Erick Shaw, a young bartender with stark, grey eyes that Caden can’t seem to take his eyes off. He is well-liked by his patrons and coworkers.

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“A Soul’s Caress: Breathe” by Camelia Bennett

Camelia Bennett’s A Soul’s Caress: Breathe is the first book in A Soul’s Caress series. It is a fusion of murder investigation, psychic suspense, and M/M romance that introduces us to Zayne Matthews, a police sketch artist, who is having a dream from inside a murderer’s perspective. He sees a woman being slaughtered mercilessly as she screams in torment, and the murderer has this insatiable craving for more blood. Zayne can even smell and taste her blood. Copper. Metallic. The nightmares and visions are beginning to torment him to the point of exhaustion, especially over the past six months. Then there is Detective Bodie Hale, who was brought onto the investigation. He is good at finding patterns and thinking like a serial killer. When Zayne and Bodie’s paths cross at the Lotus Club one night, Bodie seems to be captivated by the way Zayne plays the piano. But soon they find themselves working closely together on the investigation, which establishes that this story is just as much about two emotionally wounded individuals as it is about catching a murderer.

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“Shadows in Dream Stone” by Kelly K. Branyik

Boy oh boy, is this novel a big-hitter. Shadows in Dream Stone – and therefore author Kelly K. Branyik – does not shy away from the truly heavy topics in life. Incredibly political, the novel addresses the treatment of women in a dystopian United States of America hundreds of years into our future. While the oppression of varying minority groups is a prominent issue in the novel, the crux of the conflict comes from the severe, authoritarian control governments have over women’s bodies. In a world where a miscarriage can send a woman to prison for nearly a decade, how can women stand up for themselves? Branyik addresses that through her protagonist, Abaddon Ordell.

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