Wander This World

by G.L. Tomas

Some people are just attracted to darkness…

Penley thought he had his life figured out. So why does his world turn upside down when Melanie Blue walks back in it?

Melanie’s lived a thousand lives--possibly taken even more. Targeted by serial killer, she’ll find she has more to worry about than resisting own her nature.

When Penley and Melanie’s path collide, they’ll find that want and need often lead to the same thing.

Will Melanie lose everything when she meets her match?

Genres: Vampires, Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy, Queer, New Adult, Interracial Romance

ebook

First published April 26, 2016

About the author

G.L. Tomas is a USA Today bestselling twin writing duo and lover of all things blerdy, fearless and fun.

When they're not spending their time crafting swoon-worthy heroes, they're battling alien forces in other worlds but occasionally take days off in search of mom and pop spots that make amazing pasteles and tostones fried to perfection.

They host salsa lessons and book boyfriend auditions in their secret headquarters located in Connecticut..


For Romcoms and Contemporary Romance, sign up here---> smarturl.it/GLTomasRomanceNews

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Reviews

[Gisele Walko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was steamy sexy and sweet, There was a black vampire with red hair, a sexy tatted up Asian, and a serial killer. What else could I possibly want? The characters were realistic. This was the perfect blend of romance and supernatural elements. I loved the ending! I loved Penley and Melanie! Great supernatural IR romance. Great writing.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Criminal Minds fanatic, I hereby declare Wander This World as one of my ultimate kink books. Everything about it makes me delirious. It contains most of the qualities I crave.

It’s a dual POV book, the female protagonist is Afro-Latinx while the male protagonist is Filipino. Bonus: neither of them are straight. There’s enough romance and cuteness that lit my core. I really love that Melanie is an unapologetic spitfire girl. This is the kind of New Adult book we all need.

Verdict: This won’t be my last G.L. Tomas’ book.

[Jamilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love and blood

Oh gosh, where to start?

-Likes

-The cover! Look at that glorious red curly mane, and those tats!
-The quotes at the start of each chapter.
-The formatting of the book, it had a real professional look.
-The diversity! Hello, a Filipino hero? Yaas!
-The blood sucker mythos was different! I wanted to find out more about that, and I was intrigued by the female MC's past.
-I really enjoyed reading about these characters, they were lively things.
-The side story with the serial killer? Random, but cool!
-The femMC's style!
-Dislikes

-Hmm, I don't think I have any.

Would I recommend this? Yup!

Would I read it again? Yup!

[Gia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted here on my blog. (May contain spoilers)

Like many of the New Adult narratives by G.L. Tomas, Wander This World offers unique and fresh character perspectives that go against expectations of the genre in the best way. For instance, an unconventional vampire, a creepy and (almost) darker character other than said vampire—that’s learned to curb her blood lust with mint chocolate—and Doctor Who.

I mean, need I say more?

Well, since you insist, I loved how this book had this dark and ominous undertone throughout the book that was entirely separate/independent from that fact one of the main characters is a vampire. Presented in both first and third person perspective, I think every reader will feel the horror/fear factor when it comes to the sadist, serial killer in this book. I mean I almost felt bad for him when Melanie turned on him—almost.

I thought that particular scene—the entire sequence actually—was amazing. If anything, I wish we had seen more of Mel’s dark side (puun!). I think she’s sexy-cool and it would be great to learn more about her life so far (or life as a) vampire.

On that note, I loved the fact that Mel’s character isn’t even presented as the typical, cookie-cutter idealization of the vampire in the narrative. She is who and what she is. I might be over using the word here, but again, I also loved that we find out her character not only chose her name and new identity, but her apparent appearance as well; as in her ethnicity!?.

GL, that was way cool. :-)

Also, as a Whovian, I really enjoyed all the Doctor Who references in this book and Mel’s love and connection to the Doctor. I garner that the little tidbit about her choosing her appearance was influenced by the show as well. As she is the last, only and first of her kind in the entire world and universe. (Sorry. I got existential there for a second)

The little dance between Penley and Melanie was cute and the two played off of each other really well, but I found that I saw his character as too much of a freshy (freshman) for a majority of the story.

Nevertheless, I liked how quickly his character came around when he discovered the truth about her and accepted her as she was. If you love vampires/ vampire romances and that ever-present fear factor when you’re reading, you should definitely check this book out. :-)

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no words ... yet! Review to follow soon ... now, I have to go gather my thoughts. Just know, I love it when people truly get what they deserve. In the meantime, sink your teeth into this book NOW. This sister writing duo are awesome! You should read all their books ... you will not regret it.

That is all ... for now.

[The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears · Rating 4 out of 5]

First things first. Yes, I received a copy of this book from the authors just because they know my tastes in reading. Be that as it may, a free copy doesn't equal a glowing review, something this dynamic twin sister writing duo has always appreciated.

Thankfully, this New Adult vampire tale is for us vampire snobs who've been hungering for something that isn't "that book".

Can I like totally fangirl over the cover? So much epic WIN here! Black woman with natural hair and red??? Sexy Asian tatted dude? If I saw this at a bookstore, I'd grab it right off the shelf and cheerfully max out my credit card. Yes Virginia, PoC on the covers DO sell if given a chance.

With that out of the way, I wavered between 3.5 stars and 4 stars, eventually settling for the full 4 star rating due to how awesome Melanie Blue, the female vampire, was. Outside of Atta Olivia Clemens and Sonja Blue, there really aren't many good female vampires in fiction, sad to say. And what I liked about Melanie was she was who she was - a hunter. She preyed upon humans when she needed to and there was no angsting over it. She was, in essence, a killer. The first chapter opens up with Melanie taking care of her need for blood. I also liked how comfortable and in charge of her sexuality she was. Seriously, New Adult authors really need to cease with the slut shaming and allow their heroines to be more in touch with what turns them on. Lastly, nothing says "cool points" than a Black (in this case Afro-Latina nerd chick.

Then there's Penley. Hmm. He was interesting. How often are we given a Filipino/Hapa hero? I liked his beta male sensibility but he felt a bit unfinished to me. He definitely knew what he wanted and went for it. And when he discovered there was way more to Melanie than her quirky fashion sense and love of all things Doctor Who, he was right there. Still it read a bit like insta-love (a trope that I normally hate).

Add to the story a really creepy stalker, serial killer (shades of Barry Lyga you two, which is definitely NOT a bad thing). Overall, I liked this book though I think it could be a bit longer. The climax though, whoa! Melanie was no joke - revenge is a dish best served warm and bloody, lol. I love my heroines with an edge.

[Constance Burris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a STEAMY Paranormal Romance. I liked theStrong Female lead who could easily be considered a villain depending on who you were talking to. and of course, there was the sexy male lead, unashamed to let his stronger lady take the lead.

Wander This World would have been a strong Five-star read but the paranormal and the romance weren't distributed evenly enough during the first part of the novel. It needed just a little more tension towards the first act, but I'm more of a paranormal reader than a romance reader. So I may be biased.

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I was not quite as thrilled with this as I would have liked to have been. Some things in this story didn't quite mesh for me. And the beginning was a bit tedious. I'm still not sure what to think of it beyond understanding the simple plotline.

[Loes M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give less than one star, I would. I really did not like this book. Where to start?

The writing style is ridiculous. It sounds like it was written by a 16-year-old. Some examples:

"He was light skinned, but clearly black, with serious style, not much different than my own. We shared dap out of mutual respect..." Serious style? Sharing "dap"? Nobody over 18 talks like that! I had to look up what dap means, just say fist-bump already!

"He gave off the hippie vibe, and smelled like weed, so I could roll with that. The other one, total dude bro." I can't even... This entire sentence offends me!

"I wasn't nerdy, but there was just something about a nerdy girl..." What? Why do you need to be nerdy to be interested in nerdy girls? Also, this is the male character thinking about the female character. A female character who is constantly and quite furiously described as a fierce woman who won't let anyone mess with her and who is tortured by the fact that she kills people. But she likes Doctor Who, because she can identify with him. But she has been alive for centuries and has killed hundreds of people. But she is back in school, studying for her fifth MBA-title. I mean, how many inconsistencies can you fit into one character?

I don't like the male character who is only thinking about how hot the girl is. I also didn't like the female character because she acts like a 16-year-old with a crush one minute, then she's an old soul tortured by her past and then she is a 25-year-old who likes Doctor Who and is against social media. Like I said before, way too many inconsistencies.

The entire book is about the relationship between the two of them, but then they throw in a serial killer that is obsessed with the female lead. Why? To make things interesting I guess? The fact that she is a vampire, has lived for hundreds of years and kills people all the time (including once in front of her boyfriends) is clearly not enough. So a serial killer gets a hold of her and boyfriend, so she moves into full vamp-mode. And this is what bothered me the most in this entire book. Not that she kills him (and quite brutally with loads of blood too), but what she says to the serial killer. She's like: "yeah, you enjoy pain and blood. I'm like that too. If only you had come to me." If only he had come to you, what? You would have gone on a killing spree together? You would have cured him of his lust for blood? What exactly would you have done, you stupid vampire?

And after all that, the boy is still in love with her. When they meet up again, they are in love again. Period. Even though he wanted her to be good, even though she will live forever and he won't... They aren't looking beyond the next time they end up in bed, basically. And this is supposed to be new adult? Yeah, right!

Suffice it to say, I did not like this book. It was silly and made no sense at all. I was mad at having wasted my time when I put it down, since I kept on hoping it would get better. It did not. I do not recommend you read it.

[IC · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I first off want to say thank you Netgalley for giving me Wander This World to review.

I chose Wander This World because of the cover, there is a different cover on Netgalley but this one is great too.

Wander This World is about Penley a Fillipino freshman in college.


In Sociology class doing a project, he meets Melanie Blue for the second time. The first being in high school when he was a freshman and she was a senior, and they haven't spoken at all before meeting in college again.


And in the background there is a serial killer hunting Melanie.

The things I loved about this novel was the college setting since that is what I am really into these days and that there are people of color. We do not see that often so when it happens I get excited, especially an African-American woman.

G.L.'s writing was easy to fall into and was steady.

The one thing I did not like was that Melanie is a vampire but doesn't call herself one, but there was really no history as to when and how she was changed into a vampire. Was she born that way? Bitten?

I felt that it lacked because there was no proof of her vamperism?

But nonetheless, I did enjoy it. Wander This World is mostly focused on the Melanie and Penley not the serial killer although he does have a POV in this novel it isn't focused as much on him hunting her.

You will love this if you want to read more diverse characters, want another take on vampires, and a woman is a pansexual as well as non-binary.

[EroticaAfterDark (Lilith)]

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU

[Vivienne Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Supernatural Thriller

‘Wander This World’ is a gripping, page-turning romance/love story with a twist of mystery, suspense and murder. The backdrop is a university in Minnesota, where Melanie Blue and Penley Green attend and are brought together to work on a class project but can’t decide which subject matter to tackle. But as Penley’s attraction toward the eccentric Melanie and her lure to Penley become more intense, specifics about the two characters will slowly be revealed, delving into gender, ethnic, and racial identity, blood thirst, paranormal occurrences, and a plot that will shock you to the core. If you are a fan of Tananarive Due, Dariel Raye, and Ronald Harvey Gordon, you will definitely enjoy this well-written narrative.

[Angie Dokos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was good, but the cover/blurb is a little misleading in my opinion. I like the characters, like the plot, like the ending. But for some reason it just felt incomplete for me. I wanted more backstory, more detail about how certain things happened, etc. I thought it was a good story, but not one of my favorites. I would; however, read more stories from this author.

[Rogelio Abelard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got one of those first copies. They crazy, but I already know how they do. If you like different vampire mythos, here you go.

[kory. · Rating 3 out of 5]

what.

content/trigger warnings; blood, murder, kissing, explicit sexual content, racism, stalking, rape threats, physical violence, misogyny, nonconsensual voyeurism, physical abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping, gore,

rep; melanie (mc) is afro-latinx, pansexual, and nonbinary/genderfluid (uses she/her and they/them pronouns). penley (mc) is filipino/hapa and “kind of straight”.

(for romance readers, this has a “happy for now” ending.)

i have no idea what this is or why anything happened. i wanted vampires, i got one sort of kind of not-vampire with very little vampire shenanigans. the racist rapist murderer plot was super fucking random. melanie is fucking awful to penley, like consistently, yet he keeps begging to be with her. i have no idea what he sees in her or why he loves her. there is so much backstory that we’re just not given. so much time is spent on their college project for no reason. i just. what.

but there are things sprinkled throughout that i did enjoy and that make me wish the book had been better. the setting, the voice, the representation, the cover, most of the characters and dynamics, little things like a character’s hobbies or interests that just a little more to them, melanie’s moment at the end taking down the bad guy, penley’s easy acceptance of who and what melanie is, melanie not being ashamed or shy about her sex life and what she wants out of relationships, penley saying he’s “kind of straight” and explaining that he prefers women but wouldn’t say no if an opportunity presented itself.

as always, pansexual character talking about their pansexuality: “June learned me well enough over the years to accept that I was drawn to people. Not men or women, or even ones who didn’t conform to gender, just people.” / “she seemed to understand that I had no preference or loyalties—she just accepted it.” / “I don’t do well with labels, but based on sense of community, I see why people use them. There are a lot of labels I’d fall under, but to me they’re all social constructs anyway. But if I had to choose...being non-binary and pansexual are what I identify with most.”

[Marbea Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I'm glad the other antagonist of the story played a major part in the story, I wanted more from Melanie's character being she's immortal and a predator. I liked that the author didn't make this all cartoonist fictional in the dramatics of "what" Melanie is. Penley is what made me stick to reading the story all the way through. He brought interest and believability to the story. I thought there was going to be a more thorough conclusion. But yet the story had interesting aspects at times to complete my interest to complete the book.

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will start this review by saying I was honestly impressed with this book, and not from a horror, erotic, or even PNR/fantasy perspective. I was highly impressed with how realistic I felt the characters to be, despite dealing with pretty strange circumstances, and I found all of them relatable. If I had a single issue, it would be how the plot was handled -- at times, it felt a bit rushed, but this is not some glaringly noticeable oversight. The characters are thoroughly engaging and as the author develops them they become very relatable. I will not lie; I actually went into this as about as closed off to the idea as I could be. I normally do not like the portrayal of PoC in many books of various genres, it is either too much one way or the other with no regard to the shades of gray in between; however, I’ve found a kindred spirit in Melanie (sans the whole vampire thing). This does not go to say that this book did not deliver in the horror, erotic, or pnr/fantasy areas – in some respects it did, to varying degrees.

Also, random, but I am in love with that cover art.

Spoilers ahead…

The book starts off with one of our main characters, Melanie Blue, having just finished a meal and detailing how she feels about it. She does not do this sort of thing for fun or without thought, it does not have to be this romantic ordeal or a bloody massacre, except sometimes she gets carried away. Melanie provided us with a mildly detached, analytical approach to things and is a wonderful foil to our other main character… Penley Greene.

We switch perspectives to dear Penley, who is our media/mass communication majoring protagonist, who happens to be of Filipino descent. He is quite the doll as he is funny, smart, practical, and down to earth. From this point, we are largely introduced to Penley, his life and upbringing, and his growing attraction to Melanie. Naturally due to this, we learn more about Melanie; for example -- she is black/African-American, a vampire, and drinks blood purely to survive. She does not have fangs and she does attempt to satiate her blood cravings with mint chocolate. (I found that to be adorable, also, cause I mean why not? Trying to curb a blood craving with mint chocolate and a Dr. Who series binge? Yes. Yes. Yes.)

While many of the chapters continue along that train of thought, the author brushes on the issues of race, stereotypes, and tensions – though in the lightest way possible. It is not some heavy issue that we are burdened with, in fact, most of it is dealt with through the various group members we are introduced to at the beginning of the book. It would seem that the author brought the subjects up and then handled them briefly and in the lightest tone possible; however, this was not a means of dismissal, it felt along the lines of “I’m going to leave this [subject] right here for you to think about while I continue the rest of this book” sort of thing. In between that, and the romancing of Melanie Blue by Penley Greene, we are given these occasional micro snapshots of our presumed antagonist via his internal dialogue. Through these we are given the notion that he is a stalker, he picks his victims carefully, and he does, in fact, murder them. We are not given much more than that to work with, he essentially reveals a little bit of himself via internal dialogue for most of the book until about 60% through (maybe 75%) when Penley finds a hidden camera in his room. He is alarmed because since Penley and Melanie have started dating they have been engaging in some rather sadistic practices that could get them both in a lot of trouble. Penley immediately suspects his technologically savvy roommate, Luis, and quickly goes to question him. This is the first real time that the author has addressed the antagonist in a tangible way, and that the protagonists and antagonist have had any real “interaction”. Things, plot wise, move fairly quickly from here as Melanie and Penley after a minor (and rather brief) falling out, decide to go and confront this attacker. This confrontation ends in Melanie vanishing from Penley’s life and (thankfully) Penley moving on from the incident; transferring to a college in New York as he moves on with his life and continues pursuing his chosen course of study. It is there that Melanie Blue returns to Penley, explaining why she had to leave him as she did and the novel ending with the two of them kind of tentatively speaking again.

My only issue would be how the author handled the plot. It was not a bad plot, however, I found that the main plot of this book (one of two or three different developing plot lines – that I can see) took a back seat to world building and character development, so that it was mentioned in brief snippets throughout and then was quickly brought to a head and then resolved towards the end of the book. This is not the first book I have read that muddled through plot to present characters to me. But, because the latter part (presentation of characters) was handled so well, it makes the aforementioned issue only an issue because as the book progresses you start to wonder when/what/how the author will address it.

I received this book at the Goodreads Lovers of Paranormal group for free in exchange for a fair and honest review!

[Saraih Korber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Woah.

I picked up this book because I wanted something a little darker to read. Now this book wasn't that dark but it was good. I love Melanie and Penley's relationship, they we're just too good.

Now I was upset that we got teased with this stalker but we didn't go deeper into it than I would have liked. It was hyped up so much! But that didn't ruin the book for me.

[Cathieebee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book got real weird towards the end, overall it was just meh.

[Annabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
I loved this book. Vampire gore+ DW references+Latinx and Philipino undertones= me, intrigued. It's different, it's fun, it doesn't have a genre-determined route. And, as weird as that may sound, Mel is relatable as hell. Ps: now I seriously wanna try Venezuelan cooking, though.

[Shantal Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can honestly say that I am really impressed with this book, from the cover art to the protagonist, to the kink between Penley and Melanie.
The plot is written in dual POV between Melanie our female protag and Penley our male protag. Melanie is an Afro-Latin mixed “teenage” who also happens to be a vampire, but she’s been attending university like a normal kid, where she encounter Penley who is Filipino, who’s crushed hard on Melanie since high school and now is dreams are about to come true when they finally hook up. I loved both characters and how they interacted with each other, and even though I loved the plot and the chemistry between the protags’ I wasn’t really “suspenseful” for lack of a better word when things took a turn for the thriller side of the book.
While the scenes with Penley and Melanie were hot and heavy and sometimes frustrating ( like any good ship) certain other areas of the book left me wanting more, especially when things went from just paranormal romance to thriller/suspense of a sort. All though I did like the scenes between Melanie and Penley, I have to admit that their college project and their classmates were equally boring, I feel like if you’re going to through in extra characters you may as well make them a little bit interesting even if they’re not going to be in the story line for long.
But overall, I really enjoyed reading Wander this World and give it 4 out of 5 hearts.

[Corrine Pickering · Rating 5 out of 5]

### 3.75 Hashtags ###

This was certainly one very different read.

Whilst I did enjoy this book, I felt it was quite slow getting started and the mix was very unusual for this genre.

We have the seriously hot and handsome Penley (yum)! and then there's Melanie, well I'm not sure, even throughout the book, that I fully understand what Melanie is or where she came from - apart from the fact that she's immortal and has cravings similar to a vampire. Together Penley and Melanie's chemistry, friendship and banter is great. Then.. to spice things up a little we have the rather odd stalker thrown in. I personally found the stalker part a little disjointed from the story - almost like an afterthought.

All in all this is an enjoyable read with a great ending, and worth it just to meet and fangirl over Penley!

[Louise Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melanie an immortal being has been wandering this world for years unable to let anybody close enough to learn about her dark side. When she meets Penley and forms a friendship with him. Things go a little wrong and he learns what she really is. She opens up to him and he excepts her and loves her for who she is. But Melanie has an evil stalker who wants he to yield to him. So when Melanie and Penley come face to face with her stalker will there love survive what she has to do to keep them both alive? I for one love reading Paranormal and I love reading erotica and with this book you get both. The sexual scenes are quite hot but it's not over the top. The storyline is exciting and the characters are cool. I found there college project a little boring tho I think it would have been better if the author didn't go into as much detail about this. But all in all a good read for paranormal erotica/romance lovers. I would definitely would recommend

[2OCC Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a stunning modern take on the age old story of vampires that will change you point of view on the creatures. The setting is your typical Midwest university that affords the evil doer an anonymous cover to perpetrate his awful deeds. This is also a game of cat and mouse, the deviant watches from a far, making your heart race wondering just how far this man is willing to go and why.

Melanie is spunky and not your typical college student. Meanwhile Penley is such a freshmen that he gets caught up so easily in the things that could ruin him. Together they make the cutest couple that have to fight for there lives, hopefully together.

I didn't know what was lurking around the corner and I was nervous every time I turned the page. I found it to be a good combination of sexy and scary, a combination I find difficult to pull off. I would recommend this if you want a different spin on a classic story.

#2OCCSC

[dandelion · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I had no trouble in finishing this, it just didn't really do it for me. I'd still recommend it to certain folk because of it's representation--this is the first book I believe I've read that had a non-binary character and as a protagonist at that. I struggled with knowing the timeline in the book. There would times where the narration gave the impression that weeks had gone by only to follow-up with a line that stated it had only been one week.

I wasn't impressed with the ending. I felt there should have been a real confrontation between Penley and Melanie after what happened, especially with her ghosting him for nearly half a year. Perhaps it's because I can hold a grudge like nobody's business. But the ending was lacking and I was very surprised at how abrupt the ending felt.

I didn't have a real connection to Melanie or Penley, which in a book like this, the characters are the driving force. All in all, it was just very underwhelming for me.

[G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting...

I liked the storyline and characters. I wanted to know more about the villain. What were his motivations and why he truly targeted Mel besides her hair color. I wish we knew more about Mel, her past lives and why she ticks.

The reason why I this book got a 4 out of 5 is due to the characters being well developed, being well paced, the story of vampires being unique, and the plethora of Doctor Who references. I just felt like it was missing something. The book needed more back story in the main characters to be fleshed out. Nevertheless, I can't seem to get enough of the twinjas!

[Mk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the writing, the romance and the characters. I think it was missing a quarter of the book though. I wished the authors had given us more of the vampires back story instead of putting time on a serial killer that was as developed as a disney bad guy. There was a lot of focus put on their relationship, I loved that. But I wanted more focus on the implications of an immortal falling for a mortal. And also the characters personalities, backstory could have driven the story enough without taking in the annoying serial killer.
But it was a fun read.

By the way, why is there a white girl on the cover?

[Yeri (wildflowerreader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. I paced myself because I didn't want it to end but I was dying to get to the end. It contains hotness, romance, vampires and suspense all my favorite things. I recommend it to any of you looking for a hot romantic paranormal suspense.

[Ashley Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different paranormal romance, but 5 stars as well

I've been reading book after book by the twins and they never disappoint. I would love to read a sequel with mel n pen in the future.