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Awakenings #1
Virgin
Awakenings; Next InstinctJoam is a varnal, a shape-shifter endowed with otherworldly sexual powers, but his talents go untapped because he fears the beast within himself -- not to mention he can't let anyone know he's gay. Working a dirty job for slave wages, Joam is unaware that his boss at the auto shop, Higgs, has his own reasons for keeping him a virgin. Higgs is part of a cabal of evil sorcerers who control the tiny, isolated town of Beulah, and they've made a deal with Gregor Walsh, a powerful varnal from the big city who needs a special sacrifice for an arcane ritual.The last thing hustler Blake ever wanted to do was discover that Walsh, the most dangerous pimp in the city, is secretly a varnal. Now, Blake is running for his life. When his car breaks down outside of Beulah, he finds more than just a mechanic in Joam. Blake has done it all, but when it comes to making love with a varnal, he's a total virgin. It doesn't stop him, or Joam, from enjoying the experience to the fullest.But when Higgs and Walsh discover that their pristine sacrifice has been deflowered, there's hell to pay.Publisher's This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find Anal play/intercourse, bondage, masturbation, male/male sexual practices, mild violence, sex while in shifted animal form.
73 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
2 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Freely
34 books110 followersJessica Freely can't resist a wounded hero. As a reader and a writer, her favorite stories are of soul mates finding redemption in each other's arms. Married to the love of her life in a beautiful relationship based on mutual goofiness, Jessica also warps minds as an instructor in Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction MFA program. Her dog, Ruthie, doesn't seem to care that Jessica's an award-winning and best-selling author in multiple genres. She just wants to play tug of war with Jessica's pages.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 8, 2011
Ok, I know short stories cant really be full of detail and plotline, so I guess I shouldnt be that surprised.. but damn.. this is bad..
Its a shifter story, and the premise is Ok, but the writing... *shakes head*
Just the fact that the two boys, Blake and Joam, "fall in love" 2 seconds after they meet, ruins everything.. I cant stand it, when that happens.. but again, its a short story, so it has to be rushed, just not this fast for Gods sake..
There is also a blowjob while Joam is in doggie-mode..
What?!
Yes, thats what I said.. A dog blowjob.. *rolls eyes*
February 8, 2010
This is a shorter story that has classic stereotypes, a lot of action, hot sex, and a happy ending. It may sound clichéd and certainly has its moments, yet there is something about these characters combined with a fast paced plot that, however ridiculous, is entertaining. The story has humorous undertones amidst the dramatic and intense young men, which give a bit of levity to the overly dark and evil bad guys. The touches of originality and hints of depth to the characters added to almost non-stop action. This isn’t the most unique story but again, it’s fun to read.
Joam is the typical innocent, poor, and mistreated youth who’s been used and abused at the hands of his employer. Joam is a varnal, which is never exactly explained but seems to be a type of shape shifter that is part dog like. Varnals feed off sexual energy but due to their intense power can be rather scary. Joam is living under the threat of Higgs exposing his secret so he accepts the abuse, starvation, and manipulation thrust upon him while secretly dreaming of a life with someone to love him. He is the classic stereotype virgin, yet has a core strength and innocent charm that makes him rather likeable as a character even considering the unoriginal basis.
Blake is somewhat less well defined, although his past is hinted at with an explanation that Blake was thrown out of his comfortably middle class home when his mother discovered he was gay. Since then Blake has survived by hustling and selling himself, yet somehow has managed to hold onto a core of innocence and hope even amongst everything that happened to and around him. Blake’s immediate rapport with Joam and his protective instincts were at odds with his past, but a welcome facet to his character. Again Blake runs along the lines of a “hooker with a heart of gold” theme but he still works pretty well in combination with Joam.
Together these two characters grow and change from the brief course of their interaction. Apparently varnals mate for life and presumably with either the first person they love or have sex with, luckily for Joam that Blake fits both of those categories. Joam moves from an insecure, bashful boy to a strong, courageous young man who is just as essential to his grand escape as Blake is. Blake loses his cynical, hard edge the more he’s exposed to Joam’s deep and almost worshipful love. It is a bit much though considering they know each other all of one day before the happy ever after.
As a reader sometimes a scene will make or break a book for me. In this case, the scene where Joam enters Blake’s hotel room is surprisingly charming and emotional. Although both characters were already likable, this scene solidified their appeal. The innocent, almost heart breaking hope Joam brings showed promise for the author’s writing amidst the sometimes overly dramatic plot and characters. Such as the characters of Walsh and Higgs, Chambers, and Freemont, who are all very classic evildoers as the pimp and sorcerers respectively. They all come across as flat with little to no real motivation offered for their actions in addition to their dramatic actions scenes.
If you can see beyond the surface of the story, this is an easily readable and fun tale. It twists the classic ideas just enough to keep it from re-telling the exact same story yet stays true to classic stereotypes most enjoy. If you read it for the sake of entertainment, you wont be disappointed.
Joam is the typical innocent, poor, and mistreated youth who’s been used and abused at the hands of his employer. Joam is a varnal, which is never exactly explained but seems to be a type of shape shifter that is part dog like. Varnals feed off sexual energy but due to their intense power can be rather scary. Joam is living under the threat of Higgs exposing his secret so he accepts the abuse, starvation, and manipulation thrust upon him while secretly dreaming of a life with someone to love him. He is the classic stereotype virgin, yet has a core strength and innocent charm that makes him rather likeable as a character even considering the unoriginal basis.
Blake is somewhat less well defined, although his past is hinted at with an explanation that Blake was thrown out of his comfortably middle class home when his mother discovered he was gay. Since then Blake has survived by hustling and selling himself, yet somehow has managed to hold onto a core of innocence and hope even amongst everything that happened to and around him. Blake’s immediate rapport with Joam and his protective instincts were at odds with his past, but a welcome facet to his character. Again Blake runs along the lines of a “hooker with a heart of gold” theme but he still works pretty well in combination with Joam.
Together these two characters grow and change from the brief course of their interaction. Apparently varnals mate for life and presumably with either the first person they love or have sex with, luckily for Joam that Blake fits both of those categories. Joam moves from an insecure, bashful boy to a strong, courageous young man who is just as essential to his grand escape as Blake is. Blake loses his cynical, hard edge the more he’s exposed to Joam’s deep and almost worshipful love. It is a bit much though considering they know each other all of one day before the happy ever after.
As a reader sometimes a scene will make or break a book for me. In this case, the scene where Joam enters Blake’s hotel room is surprisingly charming and emotional. Although both characters were already likable, this scene solidified their appeal. The innocent, almost heart breaking hope Joam brings showed promise for the author’s writing amidst the sometimes overly dramatic plot and characters. Such as the characters of Walsh and Higgs, Chambers, and Freemont, who are all very classic evildoers as the pimp and sorcerers respectively. They all come across as flat with little to no real motivation offered for their actions in addition to their dramatic actions scenes.
If you can see beyond the surface of the story, this is an easily readable and fun tale. It twists the classic ideas just enough to keep it from re-telling the exact same story yet stays true to classic stereotypes most enjoy. If you read it for the sake of entertainment, you wont be disappointed.
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April 30, 2009Blake is a 19 years old hustler running away from a pimp who gives a total new meanings to the soul-sucking genre... Having seen his fellow hustler and friend dying an horrible death, Blake is trying to put as much distance as he can from the city. But his car decides to leave him near a very very small town in the middle of nowhere. Dressing as a gay pride participating, Blake doesn't blend too much with the setting (it reminds me a lot Australian Movie Priscilla, but above all its American remake, To Wong Foo...). But he is in all his splendor the wet dream of Joam, another 19 years old gay boy sticks in a town where being gay could only led him to certain death; and so our Joam is a virgin, even if he virtually loses his virginity everyday dreaming of Jasper, his hot cowboy. And Blake, in flesh and blood, is the realization of all his dreams, and Joam is more than happy to finally lose for real his virginity. But he has not taken in count that his boss, an hateful society garbage, has sold it to a city customer, and he is not at all happy that Joam has bargained it for a car repair with Blake.
All this very complex and detailed story in less than 80 pages? Yes. Jessica Freely builds an entire and original plot and develops it in a flash of action, managing to entertwined also 3 sex scene, 1 solo and 2 in couple! The story is very entertaining, and for how much she tries to make it terrifying, I always read a funny undertone, maybe since both the main characters are 19 years old guys more interesting in having sex than slaying the villains. The setting reminds me a bit of those horror movies where some city guy is trapped in a zombie town; actually the town in question, even if it is a very small town, it's strangely depopulated, and still has a drug store, a motel, a garage, two saloons...
Joam's character is a bit more developed than Blake; of Blake we have some background information, but with all he had to suffer, I think it would be interesting to know something more. And also the ending leaves space to further development... But all in all it is right since, don't forget that this is for any standard a medium lenght story, I repeat, of only 75 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SW2MOA/?...
All this very complex and detailed story in less than 80 pages? Yes. Jessica Freely builds an entire and original plot and develops it in a flash of action, managing to entertwined also 3 sex scene, 1 solo and 2 in couple! The story is very entertaining, and for how much she tries to make it terrifying, I always read a funny undertone, maybe since both the main characters are 19 years old guys more interesting in having sex than slaying the villains. The setting reminds me a bit of those horror movies where some city guy is trapped in a zombie town; actually the town in question, even if it is a very small town, it's strangely depopulated, and still has a drug store, a motel, a garage, two saloons...
Joam's character is a bit more developed than Blake; of Blake we have some background information, but with all he had to suffer, I think it would be interesting to know something more. And also the ending leaves space to further development... But all in all it is right since, don't forget that this is for any standard a medium lenght story, I repeat, of only 75 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SW2MOA/?...
June 18, 2012
Virgin and Instinct are a simple 2 book series about Joam and Blake. Blake's a male prostitute who ran away from the city after witnessing the murder of a friend and fellow hustler by a dangerous man. He ends up running into Joam, a varnal which is similar to a type of shapeshifter, who's lived under the thumb of one of the three men who run the small town he was born in.
I was impressed with many aspects of this short series, including the aim to create a totally new version of what a shapeshifter is, and the clever way that the author took a theme that the reader would expect (someone or group showing up to explain things and teach the couple about their new lives) and handle it in a completely unforeseen way.
Despite many good points, there were a few things that I thought would've made the story much better that didn't exist and were never handled such as any background or descriptions to explain the world the characters lived in. The whole concept of the varnal and that magic was used in this world wasn't explained well, if at all, which made understanding and having an image of the settings very hard. It took away somewhat from the enjoyment of what was going on because the reader didn't have any background or knowledge to work off of.
One thing that was never really explained was the reason for Walsh, the dangerous varnal, to continue to pursue them no matter the cost which was a huge plot hole.
Overall though, I found it a fun read and would definitely recommend it to all shifter fans simply for the neat twists and turns, plus the unique shifter concept presented.
I was impressed with many aspects of this short series, including the aim to create a totally new version of what a shapeshifter is, and the clever way that the author took a theme that the reader would expect (someone or group showing up to explain things and teach the couple about their new lives) and handle it in a completely unforeseen way.
Despite many good points, there were a few things that I thought would've made the story much better that didn't exist and were never handled such as any background or descriptions to explain the world the characters lived in. The whole concept of the varnal and that magic was used in this world wasn't explained well, if at all, which made understanding and having an image of the settings very hard. It took away somewhat from the enjoyment of what was going on because the reader didn't have any background or knowledge to work off of.
One thing that was never really explained was the reason for Walsh, the dangerous varnal, to continue to pursue them no matter the cost which was a huge plot hole.
Overall though, I found it a fun read and would definitely recommend it to all shifter fans simply for the neat twists and turns, plus the unique shifter concept presented.
October 20, 2009
This one wins all it's points with the characters. Joam and Blake are an adorable couple.
That said the fantasy part was a bit ... odd. Ok, you've got what is supposed to be a shapeshifting creature whose shifted form looks a lot like a dog. Close enough to your normal werewolf legend where the shift is full, not to the man-wolf form. How the hell did the furry sex include a hand job and oral (both given by the shifted man)?
A fully shifted shapeshifter would have claws and paws not hands. And the big bad wolf, or his nearest cousin, has a mouthful of teeth. Not exactly what a man would want down there. A little licking I'd buy, but actual oral sex? Very odd.
If this creature, this varnal, could shift individual body parts with ease, I would have liked to see that spelled out more. As it is, it sounded like an all or nothing shift.
And, yes, I'm picky on my sf/fantasy elements being internally consistent. I come to the whole paranormal romance/ paranormal erotica/ urban fantasy genre from the sf/fantasy side, not from the romance side.
That said, I already bought the next book in the series, and I'm looking forward to diving into it very very soon.
That said the fantasy part was a bit ... odd. Ok, you've got what is supposed to be a shapeshifting creature whose shifted form looks a lot like a dog. Close enough to your normal werewolf legend where the shift is full, not to the man-wolf form. How the hell did the furry sex include a hand job and oral (both given by the shifted man)?
A fully shifted shapeshifter would have claws and paws not hands. And the big bad wolf, or his nearest cousin, has a mouthful of teeth. Not exactly what a man would want down there. A little licking I'd buy, but actual oral sex? Very odd.
If this creature, this varnal, could shift individual body parts with ease, I would have liked to see that spelled out more. As it is, it sounded like an all or nothing shift.
And, yes, I'm picky on my sf/fantasy elements being internally consistent. I come to the whole paranormal romance/ paranormal erotica/ urban fantasy genre from the sf/fantasy side, not from the romance side.
That said, I already bought the next book in the series, and I'm looking forward to diving into it very very soon.
August 31, 2011
Although this is a rather short story, I really liked it :)
I really enjoyed the interactions between Joam and Blake, it was wonderful to read how this two found and saved each other. Joam is a lonely and wounded young man and although no one in his life has ever been there for him, he maintained his sweet and caring nature. Blake on the other hand has had to face a lot of problems in his life so far and he is a little bit jaded but still he is sensitive towards Joam and puts his feelings first.
The paranormal elements in the story are a little bit sparse and I would liked to have more details about the varnals but it didn't really bother me.
...and I loved that a shifted varnal looks like a greyhound! That's just too cute :)
So, great job with this book Jessica, I will go and buy the sequel :)
I really enjoyed the interactions between Joam and Blake, it was wonderful to read how this two found and saved each other. Joam is a lonely and wounded young man and although no one in his life has ever been there for him, he maintained his sweet and caring nature. Blake on the other hand has had to face a lot of problems in his life so far and he is a little bit jaded but still he is sensitive towards Joam and puts his feelings first.
The paranormal elements in the story are a little bit sparse and I would liked to have more details about the varnals but it didn't really bother me.
...and I loved that a shifted varnal looks like a greyhound! That's just too cute :)
So, great job with this book Jessica, I will go and buy the sequel :)
July 23, 2010
Sometimes, for me, my love for one or both characters can win over "weird" setting or scenes. This is one examples. I love Joam (the abused varnal / shifter) and Blake (the young gay hustler) so much, I'm willing to close my eyes on a couple of things that bothers me: the lack of world building (this is a fantasy, after all, should've been enough information about the world -- and how the heck does Joam, in his varnal form, which I believe is closer to wolf, can give Blake a blowjob -- what about those teeth and paws?!?.
Sure it can be cliché at times -- the abused young man and the hustler with heart of gold -- but with heartbreaking scene like their first love making in a hotel room, I really would like to know what happens next in the sequel ...
Sure it can be cliché at times -- the abused young man and the hustler with heart of gold -- but with heartbreaking scene like their first love making in a hotel room, I really would like to know what happens next in the sequel ...
September 24, 2011
I really like this book--I want to read more about Blake and Joam. Poor Joam, held against his will thinking he had committed the murder of a loved one, runs into his "January" boy, Blake. The 24 hour mad escapade that ends with them naked, together and with some seed money is a breathless ride. The sex is hot, the boys absolutely huggable and sweet. Looking forward to reading more by this author!
May 30, 2015
If you like a true love story, you'll love this novel. Well written, easy to read, keeps you interested 'till the end.
I would recommend writers (of heterosexual romance novels) read this novel to see how a real romance novel should be written.
Thank you, Ms. Freely - I'll look forward to reading your other works. :)
I would recommend writers (of heterosexual romance novels) read this novel to see how a real romance novel should be written.
Thank you, Ms. Freely - I'll look forward to reading your other works. :)
September 17, 2009
3.0 stars of 5
This was a simple, yet sexy story with a paranormal touch. While I enjoyed the story overall, I would have loved to have the themes and characterizations expanded upon. I’d like to read the sequel to see if that happens.
http://iheartpaperbacks.com
This was a simple, yet sexy story with a paranormal touch. While I enjoyed the story overall, I would have loved to have the themes and characterizations expanded upon. I’d like to read the sequel to see if that happens.
http://iheartpaperbacks.com
February 24, 2013
This was an unusual shifter story and so sweet also. We have a virgin shifter and a rent boy who are both so broken but manage to find something in eachother that they desperately need. A little intrigue, a little sex and voila, an enjoyable way to spend a little time.
June 9, 2013
awk cuz I read this a while ago.
I liked it. I thought the idea of a varnal was interesting and it was something I hadn't really encountered before. Joam was adorable. Blake I don't remember pissing me off to any extreme. The villains weren't completely stupidly melodramatic.
Yeah.
I liked it. I thought the idea of a varnal was interesting and it was something I hadn't really encountered before. Joam was adorable. Blake I don't remember pissing me off to any extreme. The villains weren't completely stupidly melodramatic.
Yeah.
December 5, 2013
Hustlers, strange shifters, sorcerers and a small homophobic town :)
I've read this and I'm still not sure if I understood what a varnal was. The description was a bit unclear... but it seemed interesting enough! And clearly something more original than the classic werewolves/demons/etc.
I've read this and I'm still not sure if I understood what a varnal was. The description was a bit unclear... but it seemed interesting enough! And clearly something more original than the classic werewolves/demons/etc.
October 3, 2008
Fabulous, quick read in the M/M erotic romance genre. A little paranormal, a little rescue, a little shapeshifting sex. I loved every word.
Want to read
October 17, 2008Oh my god. I want to read this book. It sounds so freakin good
August 6, 2011
I was totally surprised at the turn in this book. Def something to pick up. It was really good.
May 7, 2012
Didn't really excite me all that much. It was an okay story.
August 9, 2013
I read this book twice. I just love it. The characters have a nice development and the storyline is very beautiful.
September 9, 2014
An interesting story line and entertaining characters. This is the 1st book in a 2 book series and I highly recommend getting the 2nd book too - that is where most of the story happens.
May 6, 2014
2.5 rounded up -
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews