Brimstone: Demon Owned & Operated

Brimstone #1-3

by Angel Martinez

Due to circumstances completely within his control, Shax, the Demon Prince of Thieves has fled, er, emigrated from Earth to seek his fortunes out in the galaxy. With his faithful friend, Verin, by his side, they acquire a gently used ship with a drag-queen AI.

Hell for the Company: Brimstone 1
Everything's going just fine, thank you very much. All right, the anti-gravity cows are a bit problematic and some of Shax's buyers are bad for his health, but he manages until he comes across an injured angel in a psychedelic alien jungle.

Fear of Frogs: Brimstone 2
While Shax recovers from a near fatality, his shipmates have taken the initiative and found them a lucrative cargo run. Shax is horrified to find out what sort of cargo. Unfortunately, he'll soon discover that a healthy fear of frogs doesn't prevent frog-driven disasters.

Shax's War: Brimstone 3
The boys desperately need a vacation. With the not-quite-ill-gotten gains from the Frog incident, Shax takes the Brimstone's crew to the exclusive resort planet, Opal. What could possibly go wrong?

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction, Paranormal, M M Romance, Angels, Humor

414 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2014

About the author

Angel Martinez currently lives part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware and full time inside her head. She has one husband, one son, two cats, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.

Angel's alter ego writes the all-ages science fiction - Sandra Stixrude.

Reviews

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars overall rating for this collection*

Hell for the Company

I really like Angel Martinez, and I like her light-hearted sci-fi stuff. I wish this one had a little more build-up, a little more tension between the two MCs. I thought that their adventures were fun, but the romance was too insta-lovey for me.

So much potential here, though! Moving on to the next book.

Fear of Frogs

Fun, insta-lovey sci-fi. Some POV changes that I didn't love, but this was a cute one.

Shax's War

My favorite so far of the series! Established couples going on adventures and getting into and out of trouble. It was fun and a little exciting, yet still retained that element of irreverence that is characteristic of this series. I hope I get to read many, many more adventures from this group in the future.

[M'rella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drag queen AI. Brilliant!

Well, dang. I couldn't find Data in drag, but then I saw this sexy little number :)



UPDATE:
I don't want to rate the stories separately, I am rating the whole book. It's fun and funny, yet full of dangerous adventures, treachery and vicious villains. It even contains a couple of very delicious bdsm scenes.
Oh, the excitement of attaching so many wonderful tags to this book!!!!! :D Loved it!

MOAR, please! =)

Did I hear rumors of book 4 coming out soon? O.o I think I did, but don't remember where. Off to investigate.

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Hell for the Company: 3.5 stars

While the end felt rather rushed -- and Ness, the angel, seemed to fall in love for Shax way too quick for my taste (was it because he was an angel, thus easily accepted Shax?) -- but the story itself was entertaining. I especially loved the antigrav cows(!).

I enjoyed Shax's voice; he was the demon prince of thieves and surprisingly was nice (for a demon) and not surprisingly so charming .. His grumpy friend, Verin, and the computer with drag-queen personality were also fun to read.

Ness lacked of personal complexities but maybe it was because the story was written solely from Shax's narration. I would love to know more about Ness; he was the 'usual' sweet innocent angel, but I figured that should be more of him, considering that he challenged the idea of killing on orders. The story was light and funny (I mean, the cows!) and I am happily will spend more time with the Brimstone crews.

Fear of Frogs: 3.5 stars

It was still a fun read -- I mean Shax has a deep fear of FROGS!!! I admit the idea of watching frogs doing orgy, with so many of the males 'attacking' the female gave me shudders as well.

The frog disaster led to time travel for America in the 1800s. Cowboy time! It was nice to get perspectives from Verin and Ness here. I especially liked the one for Verin, that demon of impatience! Oh, and Verin finally got his own human! Though I wish, it didn't happen that quickly (but this is a novella length, so I shouldn't complain much)

The early sex scene between Shax and Ness was cute, with the virgin angel be quite demanding since he never experienced it before. Although, the later development of him showing a more dominant role felt weird. But I guess it will be an interesting dynamic to see later on.

Shax's War: 3.5 stars

It was good to finally see Shax in command to save Ness. Don't get me wrong, Shax was a fun demon, but in the previous two books, he seemed to be the one who always needed rescue. Not as bad ass demon as I thought he would turn out to be, you know? But here, he got his chance to rescue Ness, after his lover angel was captured by some very, very bad scientists who took organs from various non-human beings.

I also loved that the crew now expanded to more than just Shax, Verin, and Ness. I would love to read more about the Brimstone's crew adventures. Especially now that we had a nephilim and an imp on board. It sounded like a great recipe for more entertaining stories.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky, bizarre, funny, off the fucking wall.

[Kaje Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you begin with a snarky demon and anti-gravity cows, you can pretty much count on a light, fun, and entertaining ride. This volume comprises three stories about Shax, Demon Prince of Thieves who is making his way out in the galaxy after a falling out with the higher-ups in Hell back home. Shax meets and rescues a fallen angel, and as he tries to help Ness survive, they fall for each other.

This is clearly meant to be light-weight. The science-fiction aspects are designed for humor, not logical analysis, and the relationship is fast and gets nicely hot. I didn't find myself emotionally sucked into the story or identifying with these guys- my favorite character was probably the sidekick demon Verin, who gets some POV time in the third book. But I chuckled, enjoyed it, and kept turning the pages to see what came next.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nearly a five. Wholesome naughty fun. Totally hilarious. Reminded me of MadLibs at their best, just because the seemingly random combinations of ideas. The writing and story is totally solid and I would read more if it were available.

I wasn't totally taken by the sex... it had some light kink/spanking, but nothing too special... nothing very memorable... just there as an accessory to the story.

[BeckieLouLou · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.25 stars. Very fun space cowboy sci-fi fantasy story with demons, angles, assassins, lawless planets, spaceships, lovers, found family and a drag queen AI ship computer. Seven book series filled with fun circumstances, silly situations and wild solutions. Each book is 100-200 pages so very manageable and very binge-able. I read the series straight through and there was very little recap, so it’s actually a good idea to read them close together, especially after book 4 when the crew expands quickly. There are some smaller stories made into collections that I didn’t read. Book 6 refers to a past holiday party and a space rat addition to the crew that must have happened in the novellas, it left me feeling a bit left out but didn’t hinder the story overall. The novella collections are called “journals”, and their summaries on goodreads present them as something to read after the main books, not in between, which is odd if they’ve introduced a whole new character in there.

Easy to read, easy to follow along with the plots and antics. The book mostly focuses one one main couple for the first few books, but crew members pair off and we get some of their stories and bedroom scenes too, they even take over the POV for some chapters. By book 5, everyone has taken a turn giving their POV here and there. The author does a good job of letting us know whose head we’re in. Spice is mild/medium, only a few scenes but they are detailed. The low heat is offset by the huge personalities and wonderfully imagined adventures.

Space adventure, space travel, futuristic, sci-fi fantasy, demon, angel, cowboy, assassin, shenanigans, medium spice, vers, trans, thruple.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read several of Angel Martinez’s other books and loved all of them (Vassily the Beautiful, Gravitational Attraction, Rarely Pure and Never Simple: #1 Variant Configurations Series). Brimstone was a bit different in that it had a lighter tone, more humor and some silliness in it. Anti-gravity cow balloons, frog orgy piles and talking pink hedgehogs aside, what wasn’t different, was the fantastic writing, the complex, appealing characters, remarkable world-building and attention-grabbing plots. And there are still dark nooks and crannies, old hurts and regrets, which are slowly unveiled throughout the stories.

I’m glad I had a copy of this version that contains all three books because once I met Shax, Verin, Ness and Ms. Ivana, I had to keep reading all their adventures. There are many other great characters introduced, along with different worlds. It is Shax, though, who won me over – with his "little, black heart" that, despite his protestations, seems to have some gold at its core (even though at times it needs Ness to help make it shine). There are also several lovely steamy scenes – an angel spanking a demon outside a corral should not be missed!

I loved the ending to the book (book 3 of the series). However, if there should be a book 4, I will definitely read it.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

From the review: " There are multiple points of view, a wild chase, nefarious goings on, more than a few stomach churning scenes (don't worry, the worst of it happens "off stage"), more action and suspense than anyone could hope for and get. Plus a lot of demon sex...this is one wild ride."

For the full review, visit http://wp.me/p220KL-5Vr

For all our reviews, book tours and giveaways, author interviews and more, visit/follow http://www.ScatteredThoughtsandRogueW...

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brimstone is the first three books of the Brimstone series. This is a great series; colorful, quirky, lovable characters, action, humor, romance, brief sex scenes. This has the flavor of Firefly, but the only similarity is a ragtag crew on an old cargo ship taking both legal and illegal jobs. The Brimstone characters are unique and delightful. I picture Angelina Jolie as Mummy. Stunningly beautiful and joyfully evil, with two inch, jungle red fingernails.

[xanthofile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite loving this series I do have issues regarding the homophobia shown in the cowboys in book #2. Historically, a great number of homosexuals and/or POC were cowboys because it granted them freedoms not always shown otherwise at the time. And I know what you're thinking: "okay, but they're time-traveling demons from outer space...." But honestly.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hell for the Company: ★★

Fear of Frogs: ★★★

Shax's War: ★★★

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the entire collection; separate ratings are below.

3.5 stars - Hell for the Company
I'm glad I've read the prequel, since it gave me a better idea of the friendship between Shax and Verin and of how they came to be cargo transporters. In this first part of a collection, we are thrown into one of Shax's messes. It's implied he caused trouble (again) that involved "pretties," which are gems/jewelry that Shax is so fascinated with. This detail was introduced in the prequel. Martinez has an amazing imagination, and each story features something strange that the crew must handle. In this case, it is anti-gravity cows. Yes, cows that float... These cows are quite peaceful, however, but the issue of their lack of feed brings the crew into some trouble. Soon, a new character is introduced. An angel, nicknamed Ness (his real name is a mouthful), is taken into the crew. The interactions between Shax and Ness are adorable and reveal more about their individual personalities. I do wish we got to see more interactions between Verin and Ness, but Ness does prove his worth and place in their ship crew. A romance soon blossoms between Shax and Ness, but it's slow and sweet, as Shax treats Ness very kindly and never takes advantage of him.

One quip I did have with this story is that the ending felt a bit too rushed and tied up too nicely. However, seeing how each of these stories are quite short, it's understandable. Another issue I saw was when Shax explains how he came to exiled. It was briefly mentioned, but I wished Martinez went into more detail about that. I wanted to know more about Hell and exactly what was Shax's and Verin's place/ranking there. How did it come to be that Shax ended up in such a situation? Did Shax do something wrong, or is it just out of misfortune? Nonetheless, the story is quite fun and hilarious to read, and it has its darker, more violent moments.


4 stars - Fear of Frogs
This story starts off right where the previous one ended off. As the title is stated, this story involves Shax's fear of frogs, something that was lightly mentioned in the previous story. While some may feel that Shax was acting like a whiny drama-queen, I did not think that he came off that way at all. Martinez does a very good job of keeping the reader between the lines of feeling pity and sympathy for Shax and delight and glee at his pain. Shax is still his charming self, but here we see just how vulnerable he is. I don't blame him for being so afraid; while I do not have such fears of my own, I could see how daunting it was to be facing them. Unluckily for Shax, his attitude ends up causing trouble between him and Ness. This works to further develop their relationship, as it is not all sunshine and rainbows for them. The crew gets into further trouble when mistakes occur and accidents happen. Time travel occurs! Not wanting to spoil too much, I'll just say that they end up with a new member, who becomes Verin's lover, after the crew gets into another mess (again).

I had one issue with this story, mainly how Verin and Corny's relationship was handled. I wanted to see more of it, I wanted to see the rude, impatient Verin falling in love with Corny. Then again, the stories are quite short, so it was understandable, but somewhat disappointing.

I also wanted to note the change in dynamic in Shax and Ness's relationship. It wasn't an issue for me, but I could see how it would be for others. Ness gets really dominant in one scene. Spanking is involved. *cough* I was pleasantly surprised. I expected Ness to be a delicate, vanilla lover, but seeing Shax all submissive was hotttt.


5 stars - Shax's War
This story picks off where the previous story left off, and the crew is off to have a vacation in Opal, a luxurious resort. Yet the unexpected happens, as Ness is kidnapped. We are shown exactly how deeply that affects Shax, and we see a side to him that we've never seen before. Shax has always been charming and seemingly harmless, but when Ness is taken from him, all bets are off. Shax proves just how much of a demon is really is, and he lives up to his title, the Prince of Thieves.

The humor is ever so prevalent, but this story is a bit more serious, considering what is happening to Ness and other victims. While parts of this story is much darker than seen before, Martinez balances it with humor so that it doesn't make the reader uncomfortable.

New characters are introduced, and the Brimstorm's motley crew is growing steadily. This series has grown on me, and I will definitely be looking forward to new installments.

An excellent, fun read. Glad to have stumbled upon this gem of a series.

One question, however. Who is the guy on the cover? Please tell me that's not Shax. The model doesn't have horns, and I don't think that Shax has highlights in his hair like that.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun quirky set of books. Most of the stories had rather absurd plot lines but since it didn't take itself too seriously and played with the characters it was an enjoyable ride. I liked all the couples and thought each one of them were cute in their own ways. Shax and Ness where completely cute with the trickster demon and the naive angel. I liked how their roles through the three book shifted and Ness became more dominate and Shax both submissive and kinder. Ver and Shax's relationship was also a good of standard trope. I would love to see more of this series since the crew has now increased in size.

[Michael Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can ready my full review of Brimstone over at my web site.

[Jo]

Brimstone Series Bks 1-3

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light, funny and a joy to read.

[Bostjan]

I didn't like the plot and had to stop reading it, I found it boring.

[Bobbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was 3 fun ,funny stores about a demon prince and his fallen angel. Loved all of the characters in this book. The stories where great. Could read again and again.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was WAY more romance/erotica than I expected, though the writing wasn't bad.

[Elayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series of books, it was great getting them all together and just binge reading them.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious and fun, though Shax’s War had some hard to read spots. Just as good on the reread.