The Secret of Talmor Manor

Talmor #1

by Matthew Lang

This book is no longer available.


After a mysterious package arrives on Jake's doorstep, he starts having very strange dreams: when he falls asleep he finds himself in a dilapidated English Manor inhabited by a number of ghosts who believe he can free them from their eternal existence. But when the Lord of the Manor appears in Jake's living room, Jake finds himself facing some very difficult questions. What should he do about the attraction between him and this turn of the century living ghost? Why is someone trying to kill them in their dreams? And what should he wear to the upcoming Halloween party?

Genres: M M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Contemporary, Ghosts, Queer, Fantasy

314 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2011

About the author

Matthew Lang writes behind a desk, in the park, on the tram and sometimes backstage at amateur theatre productions. He has been known to sing and dance in public, analyse the plots of movies and TV shows, and is a confessed Masterchef addict. Over the years he has dabbled in marketing, advertising, event management and the sale of light fittings, but his first love is and has always been that of the written word and is rarely too far from a good book. He likes his men hot and spunky, his mysteries fantastical, his fantasies real and his vampires to combust when exposed to sunlight. Other than that he’s pretty normal. One day we may even take him out of the straight jacket.

web: www.matthew-lang.com
twitter: @mattlangwrites
facebook: Matthew Lang on Facebook

Reviews

[Matthew Lang]

Well, I wrote this, so I'm deliberately not rating it or saying too much about it. It's been a labour of love writing it, and I'm very excited to have it available for people to read and enjoy.

If anyone has any questions about the book, feel free to send them to me and I'll do my best to answer them. If there's enough demand I'm also happy to look at doing a Q&A session as well.

If you'd like to read an excerpt of the text you can find one on my website here.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoy the book.

[Dannielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review posted on Bitten by Paranormal Romance


Overall, I enjoyed this book and the mystery surrounding Talmor Manor. In the beginning you are really drawn into the story with Jake’s repeated visits to the Manor in his dreams. In these visits things keep changing, and he meets new characters. You really get into the story, and want to know what happens next. There is quite a bit of humor throughout the book, and Jake loves to use sarcasm. I definitely found myself laughing out loud while reading.

Once Nate enters the real world things seem to slow down. There are numerous time jumps where nothing happens for a few weeks. Discussions on the Manor pretty much cease, and Jake and Nate act like a couple of roommates getting to know one another. Jake is attracted to Nate, but doesn’t pursue his attraction at first because Nate believes himself straight. Jake does tend to lecture and you feel like he is a know-it-all, which can annoy a person.

As for the romance between Jake and Nate, it left me somewhat confused. When Nate enters the modern day he has the mindset of someone from early 1900 England. He doesn’t know about homosexuality or that people are openly gay. While he’s never had sex with a woman, he’s never considered sex with a man. Yet in the span of less than 2 months he not only considers sex with a man, but actually has sex and falls in love with Jake. It’s a little hard for the reader not to feel like he’s experimenting or curious since he lives with an openly gay man. Plus, with the way the story ends the reader is still left uncertain of exactly what Nate believes.

The ending of the story had a bit of action. And the story as a whole kept the reader wondering exactly what was going on and how things would be resolved. The story wraps things up almost nicely, with the reader feeling a few things were unresolved.

[Kaje Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I have to admit, I loved the character of Jake. He's a very calm guy and somewhat prone to becoming pedantic, but I married a guy like that and his character really works for me. When confronted with a spirit from his dreams becoming undeniably and intimately present his real life, Jake is more inclined to explain how modern electrical appliances work than run in circles screaming. I liked the way there was humor and real-feeling mundanity mixed in here. (After a nightmare Jake doesn't have a drink - he fixes himself a toasted cheese sandwich.) I enjoyed the Australian slang and references scattered through, most quite clear from the context. And the plot was unpredictable enough that I didn't know where the story arc was taking me for most of the book. There were chances for a deeper emotional effect in this book but the author chose to keep the tone a little further out of angst territory. It worked for this story, although I'm a big fan of emotional depth and would like to see this author move a little deeper into his characters' emotions someday. A good read for fans of fantasy/gothic/mystery stories.

[Misty · Rating 4 out of 5]

** 4.5 Stars **

I liked it a LOT! It's an imaginative mystery, an interesting mix of gothic-fantasy and old legends, an intriguing journey between dreams and reality. It was strangely compelling!

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally posted at http://www.smexybooks.com/2011/05/rev...

After a mysterious package arrives on Jake’s doorstep, he starts having very strange dreams: when he falls asleep he finds himself in a dilapidated English Manor inhabited by a number of ghosts who believe he can free them from their eternal existence. But when the Lord of the Manor appears in Jake’s living room, Jake finds himself facing some very difficult questions. What should he do about the attraction between him and this turn of the century living ghost? Why is someone trying to kill them in their dreams? And what should he wear to the upcoming Halloween party? (Goodreads)

I found this a hard book to review. On one hand, the basic premise was very intriguing. A time traveling ghost story wrapped up in romance. We have three story lines that were interesting in their own right; the mystery, Katrina and Logan’s relationship, and Jake and Nate’s relationship. Yet, none of them fleshed out well for me and I felt that I was missing the essence that Mr. Lang was trying to impart. The main line story skips around and we only seem to linger on the fringes-barely scraping the surface of each sub story.

The beginning moves fast and smoothly as we learn how Jake is pulled back into the past and we, along with him share wonder and fear at the manor, its inhabitants, and trying to figure out what they want with ‘us’. When Nate makes his appearance in the future, the story slows down to almost a stopping point as we and Nate are subjected to endless lectures on this era, philosophy, religion, and gender dating. While some of it was interesting; I liked Jake’s non-judgmental views, I still felt that it overwhelmed the book and took away from the main story. I was amazed at the little amount of time Nate and Jake actually spend on figuring out why Nate is in the future and what caused Jake to go back in time in the first place. As I said earlier, everything is touched upon but not taken past the surface.

I found Logan and Jake’s friendship to be a highlight of the story. They were very natural together and their bantering back and forth is humorous. Jake is a bit of a lecturer so at times his need to discuss and dissect is tedious, but doesn’t put you off.

Nate was a quandary for me. While I enjoyed his naiveté in the story, towards the end when he and Jake start a relationship it seems to jump from Nate not being sure who or what he is to straight into bed. While I’m not much on the mind set of historical English men, I found it a bit dis believable that a virgin with no interest in men would suddenly decide he likes men, wants Jake, and initiates sex.

I wish we could have had more involvement of Katrina since she is a key figure in the story. As it was we only get bits and pieces of her.

Our villain is somewhat comical. I never got a clear picture to what he was till the end and yet I was still confused by his attitude. He didn’t “feel” evil. He felt tired and somewhat put upon.

Once we reach the last quarter of the book, the pace picks back up and there is more action and suspense as we race towards the ending. There are a few scenes that come out of nowhere and leave you flipping back through the book thinking you missed something. When the great reveal is shown I was still left feeling lost. Again, the surface is barely scratched. Especially the ending concerning Nate and Jake.

All in all the book shows great promise but I really felt Mr. Lang was trying to put to much in and it left me as a reader fighting to make heads and tails of it.

Rating: D

[Cotilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Simply fantastic.

[Miz Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is bloody brilliant. It has great writing, humour, a superb plot that weaves its way into your heart and mind, and a fabulous ending.


I loved the historical aspect and lapped up the visuals when Jake visits Talmor Manor in his dreams. The quality of visuals in his dream-like state are nothing short of marvellous—it’s creepy in a way, yet at the same time it’s like Jake is meant to be there so it’s okay. I smelled the musty air, saw the dark feel of the place, and absolutely adored the scene with the cook who made Jake some food. God, I really did like this book very much. There’s so much to talk about that I could go on all day, but I’ll stick to the bits I enjoyed the most.


In his dreams, Jake visits the manor and meets some of the people who are stuck in time, stuck in…well, they’re just stuck due to this nasty man and woman who are orchestrating this limbo to suit their needs. The people in the manor also reside in modern-day times. It sounds confusing, but I assure you it isn’t. They are reincarnations, and this idea worked well for me because I firmly believe in this kind of thing.


In real life, Jake has a great pal, Logan, who thankfully believes Jake when he expresses his concern and wonder at being spirited to the manor when he’s asleep. I loved the fact Logan was a true friend like that. He features throughout, and he’s funny, caring, and has the hots for both men and women. He falls for one of Jake’s students, Katrina, who is someone from the past and Talmor Manor…


Oh, I loved the way everyone was intertwined in this way; it made for such a great read that I kept waiting for the next person from the past to pop up in the now. It’s scrummy—one of those books where you get to know everyone and they become familiar, friends of yours, and you invest a lot of emotions in them. I looked forward, every bedtime, to reading another couple of chapters, and I confess this book kept me reading far longer into the night than I should have.


When Nate, someone from Talmor, is able to leave Talmor and be “inside” Jake, knowing his thoughts and feelings, I started to really get into the book, moreso than I had from the start—and I’d liked it from the first page. Then Nate is able to be in the now, and they concoct a tale to other people that Nate is visiting for a while. Then Nate discovers Jake is gay, and the good fun begins.


What I mean by that is Nate, having been brought up in a strict era where you more than likely had a bride chosen for you and were expected to marry her and hope that love came with it, discovers that you can love who the hell you want in this time, and he has trouble getting to grips with it. With everything modern, which leads to much hilarity as expressions we hear everyday, ones we feel are normal, are most certainly not normal to Nate and must have sounded so damn weird! Fantastic moments where the language change, the society change, and the array of electrical gadgets Nate has never seen before or even imagined could be created, give this book an edge that makes it stand out as a class act.


Trent. Now there’s a man you dislike from the minute he’s introduced, because he hurt Jake. Yes, I got so into getting to know the characters that anyone who hurt Jake would be on my shit list. Until I found out some truths that Jake was previously unaware of. Then my feelings changed, but I marvelled that fate had made things happen this way because it knew Nate would be entering Jake’s life. And when Nate meets Trent for the first time, I felt Nate’s unease, knew exactly how he felt. Oh, and the scene later in the book where two people “disappear” at the Halloween party (not saying who; plot spoiler)…really amusing that it came off as a magic stunt.


When Nate asks about being gay, about how you know, it touched me that he had no way of understanding, and that his reason for asking was because he had become attracted to Jake. When you think of how he was brought up, of how confusing it must be to learn that being gay isn’t frowned on as it was back then…ah, it really tugged at my heart. Jake is so open about his sexuality, with a healthy outlook on life in general, that his explanation of how things work was smooth and wonderful.


I loved him, loved Nate and Logan. Loved every part of this brilliant, yummy book.

[Cindi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was unique. Very unique. It starts out good, drags for awhile and then comes together pretty quickly at the end. Perhaps too quickly at the end.

It starts out with Jake (a creative writing professor) receiving a mysterious package at his home. That night he begins having strange dreams where he is transported back in time to Talmor Manor. Then there is Nathaniel, the lord of said manor. Each dream takes Jake farther into a strange mystery and closer to Nathaniel. I really loved all of that. With each dream it got more interesting. But once the paranormal aspect waned a bit, the story dragged on. Granted there are all kinds of details thrown in during that time. It took a bit for me to catch up with some of it. There is a lot in regards to Jake's religious (or should I say "non" religious) beliefs. While I have no issue with anyone who doesn't agree with my views I felt that part went on too long. There are tons of details in regards to witchcraft, runes, etc. I was able to follow along with all of that with no problem. There is so much in this book but yet I felt that there was a lot missing as well. The Jake and Nate (Nathaniel) thing for one. I liked the two of them together but I felt that their relationship could have used more. There is so much about everything else but they seemed unfinished to me... even after what turned out to be a pretty decent ending. Also, there is one thing that happens toward the end that probably would have had me putting it down had this happened earlier in the book. It made sense in regards to the resolution of the story so I was able to (somewhat) ignore that particular part once I got beyond my initial surprise.

I also found it odd that the most graphic sexual encounter in the entire book was not with Jake and Nate... it was with Jake and the green spirit.

I didn't really get a feel for Jake, Nate or any of the secondary characters.

Overall a pretty good book. The story was much different from most books I have read on this subject. As I said, the ending was pretty good but it seemed so unfinished to me. Not the resolution... it made sense... just some of the things that led up to that point.

My lack of love (so to speak) for this will not prevent me from reading more by this author. He has a good writing style and I am moving on now to read Jake and Nate's Christmas story.

[Lena Grey · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Secret of Talmor Manor' by Matthew Lang is a story with lots of appealing elements—ghosts, supernatural occurrences, mythical entities, pagan traditions, divining, history and man love. I enjoyed the character development and the relationship between Jake and Nathaniel. They were witty, charming and oh so fervent. I enjoyed the manner in which their love story was portrayed, with patience and passion; they made a great couple.

The story was promising and, at times, engaging, but the detailed descriptions and dialogue, particularly some of Jake's explanations about modern day life, sorely detracted from my enjoyment of the book. Indeed, there were important topics which needed more explanation, but I feel that some of the topics could have been generalized with the same effect. For example, I found the descriptions of the differences between modern and Victorian dress important and informative, but what they wore out to dinner was less interesting to me. On the other hand, discussions like the one Nate had with Jake's friend about homosexuality, were quite important and I felt needed be explained more. The pacing of the story was a problem for me. Sometimes it was too slow, especially in the middle, and other times a little too rapid, as toward the end. Ultimately, I was impressed with how well Matthew tied up loose ends and revealed all the mysteries, not to mention the happy ending.

'The Secret of Talmor Manor' is Matthew Lang's first published novel and like many new authors, he is still stretching his proverbial wings, trying to find his niche. Matthew's passion for writing definitely shines through his work. If you like a complex story about mystery and love conquering all, appreciate detailed explanations and elaborate descriptions, like having several scenarios to follow at one time, and of course, enjoy a happy ending, you may appreciate this book.

NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Queer Magazine Online

[Byron · Rating 5 out of 5]

FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Matthew Lang puts a new spin on writing.. a little bit of many genre's and some REALLY good characters add a couple of twist's, a healthy dose of humour and Hot Damn... I giggled aloud at some of that humour too.. Was holding my breath in a couple of scenes, late back from lunch and two breaks, all because I HAD to finish it!!! I repeat, FREAKING AWESOME read..

I have to admit that I was a wee bit sceptical as I've read a couple of local authors who sort of weren't overly brilliant but good enough to read.

This story could have been set anywhere, it just happened to be set in Melbourne and the other settings in the book only added to the story line. (trying not to kill the book for other people reading it!)

I really am expecting something even more brilliant from Matthew's next book..(it doesn't have to be set in Melbourne!!) I will be watching and waiting with baited breath.

[Matthew Lang]

Well, I wrote this, so I'm deliberately not rating it or saying too much about it. It's been a labour of love writing it, and I'm very excited to have it available for people to read and enjoy.

If anyone has any questions about the book, feel free to send them to me and I'll do my best to answer them. If there's enough demand I'm also happy to look at doing a Q&A session as well.

If you'd like to read an excerpt of the text you can find one on my website here.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoy the book.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with Nate a little myself...too bad I'm a girl. This was a great mystery and I had no idea where it was going until it got there. It had a certain Beauty & the Beast arc, while both men were beautiful. The characters were fantastic and lovable. Overall I would suggest this to any reader who is looking for a great story about two men looking for love and acceptance.

[Meggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this was some story! I was positive surprised to be frank, not that I expected something different. But reading so many books daily I have to say, this was truly interesting drawn story. I liked the plot and how it developed. There wasn't a moment of boring parts. Jake and Nate acted like a couple and I liked them both. It's unique plotted book with pulling well developed characters.

[Enny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people may find the mixture of gothic horror and sweet contemporary romance weird but I absolutely loved this book.

[Patricia Miller]

Mytery-love em.

[Kiki · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Vespasian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice departure from the usual. I enjoyed it. Wished it had been a little tighter though.

[Damian Serbu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read. Some of the writing is a struggle, especially the dialogue. The concept is great. Original and an enjoyable quick read!