Posted in #BookTours

Find Me At The Disco

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Find Me At The Disco
Diahanna Aurora Hampton
Publication date: January 8th 2026
Genres: Action, Romance

New York, 1977. Liza Collins is struggling to reconcile her relationship with her father, Will, after a lifetime of secrets and betrayal. Upon graduating from boarding school in London, Liza returns to her hometown of New York City seeking answers about her childhood that Will has largely left unanswered. Instead of answers, Liza unearths a series of illicit affairs, sham marriages, and financial troubles her father has tried to keep buried.

As Liza struggles with these findings and navigates adulthood, she meets Jennifer Blake-a woman who introduces her to a world of drugs, alcohol, and disco. In the midst of it all, Liza then discovers something about her family that she never could have imagined, clouding her judgment and sense of self. Consequently, Will is forced to either confess his mistakes or give up on his relationship with his daughter entirely.

Goodreads / Purchase

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EXCERPT:

Jennifer grabbed Liza’s arm. “Let’s go boogie!”

“I don’t know. It’s kind of crowded.”

Liza stood awkwardly, watching people bump into each other. “That’s the best though, people moving their bodies against you. No one cares if you can’t dance, you just move to the beat and have fun.”

Before Liza could respond, a different song came on, Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love,” making people cheer and dance faster than before.

“Oh my God! I love this song, come on!” Jennifer squealed.

Liza let Jennifer pull her onto the dance floor. At first, she wasn’t really dancing. She kept getting shoved and pushed as she stood in front of Jennifer, who automatically moved to the beat. She tried to mimic her friend’s movements, but she felt unsure of herself as she struggled to get the right rhythm. Jennifer must have noticed Liza’s efforts, as she turned Liza around and placed her hands on her hips to help guide her. The song’s beat got easier for Liza to follow as she heard Donna Summer’s voice hum from the speakers.

Liza relaxed as the alcohol coursed through her veins. She let her body move under Jennifer’s direction and stopped overthinking. Jennifer turned Liza back around to face her, moving their bodies closer. Jennifer reached into her pocket to show Liza a few pills in a small plastic bag. She still moved to the beat when she popped one in her mouth and then promptly kissed Liza, transfer-ring a piece of the pill from her tongue to Liza’s. When Jennifer pulled away, she smirked.

After a few moments, Liza threw her head back as she felt the drug take hold. She saw the disco ball spinning above her, and the multicolored lights flashing around the club. Her vision blurred, coming in and out of focus like a kaleidoscope. Jennifer was behind her again bumping and grinding, leaving no room between them. Liza’s heart rate sped up, and she felt sweat drip down her neck. It was hot on the dance floor. Although she was breathing heavily, she continued to dance, letting the beat take over her movements.

They danced for several more songs, each one faster than the last. Liza’s skin was slick from sweat.


Author Bio:

Diahanna Aurora Hampton is a Boston based writer with a B.A. in Art Studies. Find Me At The Disco is her first novel.

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Posted in #Romance

Snake Snack (Arrowtown Book 2)

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Simon liked the idea of having a Fated Mate; after all, Ra and Seth certainly seem happy enough. A random encounter in Jackson changes his thinking though, making him wonder if he should have thought that mate thing through more thoroughly. As a snake shifter, he was used to being alone. Who cared if he upset anyone or not? But his old behavior wasn’t going to win him any hearts, including his mate’s.

Darwin works three jobs to survive. On his own for more years than he can count, he stays away from shifters and shifter towns. Trusting no one, he works and sleeps and while his life is dull, it’s safe and that’s all Darwin cares about. When he comes across a snake in his apartment, his first instinct is to hit it with his trusty bat. But the mate pull works both ways and Darwin’s forced to consider some changes in his life.

Two stalkers, two kidnappings, life is rarely dull in Arrowtown. With Ra running for mayor and Liam’s and Lucien’s life threatened by their past, Simon and Darwin have their work cut out for them. Being mates is one thing; love is a totally different matter.

Usual warnings associated with stories about men falling in love with other men. If it’s not your cup of tea please don’t buy this. NOTE: This is an MPREG story and includes a scene with a flying mouse, a very clever Fae child and a grumpy snake.

Posted in Daily Thought

Verse of the Day January 13, 2026

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Posted in My Likes and Dislikes

The Collateral Part 1

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Please remember that this story is set in a dystopian future where the illegal immigration problem was solved by reducing people to slavery. Is it dark? Yes, Is it against our current laws? Yes. Could it happen? One last time, I feel compelled to answer “Yes.” – Reluctant Retiree

“It’s just a formality.”: An Intense MM Dystopian Saga

This isn’t supposed to happen to guys like me. I’m not a criminal or an illegal alien. I’m a middle-class boy from a good family.

But my dad’s business hit a rough patch, and he needed a loan to save it. And he only had one asset left that the bank would accept as collateral.

Me.

Dad said that it wouldn’t be so bad. That it would only be for a few years, and I’d be a free man again as soon as he paid off the loan. He made it sound like I’d be waiting tables or mowing lawns. Hard work that would “build character,” he told me.

But Dad hadn’t thought about how things would change once I was in the collar.Or what other uses the bank might find for a blond eighteen-year-old slave.

Note: This is the start of an intense dystopian MM saga. While the series ends in an HEA, the first few books are a descent into the shadows. Expect high angst, psychological intensity, and a hero pushed to his limits.

The Reviews!

The Collateral — Part 1: “It’s just a formality.”: An Intense MM Dystopian Saga by Josh Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a great start to the series!

Let me recap what we have learned about our main characters:
1. Dominic (the father) is a restaurant owner who has no idea how to change with the times. When the town was booming, he built a successful restaurant business. However, when things in the town went downhill, he either had no idea how to keep his business afloat, or was unwilling to make the necessary changes.
2. Doug (the older brother) apparently has been a bully all his life. Unfortunately as he has endeared himself to his father, he can do no wrong in his father’s eyes. Doug is the one who convinced his father to talk Wes into becoming a slave so Dominic can use Wes as collateral for a loan. Dominic apparently hasn’t researched anything about owning a slave but you can be sure that Doug has.
3. Wes (main character) is within mere weeks of turning 18 and becoming a citizen. Unfortunately the only way his father can get a loan to save the family restaurant is for Wes to be enslaved and used as collateral for the loan. Wes loves his little sister and doesn’t want to see her homeless. So he naively believes his father’s promises.

View all my reviews 
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars 
A great dystopian novel
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2025
Verified Purchase
The Collateral is a great dystopian novel masquerading as an mm dark romance/erotica. Set in an ordinary California town in a future not so far away (and startlingly realistic) where slavery is back as a way of solving the problem of rounding up undocumented workers en masse, it chronicles the slow and steady degradation of Wes, an ordinary middle-class blond, blue-eyed teenager who agrees to allow himself be enslaved for four years to solve his father’s money problems, as a way of getting his father to love him. He is so naïve, so innocent.
In the first volume, the outline of his likely future is laid out in some telling short episodes: as a slave, he is simply regarded as a sexual object. The power of the enslaver to abuse slaves sexually, to make them the object of sexual violence and humiliation, is at the heart of slavery (shades of Toni Morrison and any other number of Black theorists) in Hunter’s analysis: this is where the genre of gay erotica and dystopian novel overlap. Most of his father’s promises to him are quickly broken within the first few hours of his enslavement: this first installment only covers a few hours, with some backstory. It only gets worse. This series really got me by the throat, in part because it uses the violence that is now being made visible in our politics and takes it one step further. Is this our future?
Posted in #BookTours

Forrest House

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Forrest House
E.M. Hamill
Publication date: January 11th 2026
Genres: Adult, Fantasy

Ander Forrest renounced blood magic to become a nurse-healer in his rural hometown, far from the drama of wizardry and espionage his sister Kate craved. When Kate goes missing in action, Ander finds himself the legal guardian of her gifted twins and receives a cryptic warning from Kate’s husband to protect them before he, too, disappears.

Six months later, his former lover crash lands in the kids’ bedroom via a spell only Ander’s sister could have cast. Druid Cai Piper doesn’t remember how he got there, but he knows he never stopped loving Ander, and that he was sent to protect him and the twins. Cai is strangely drawn to Forrest House and the land it stands upon.

With the secrets of a clandestine wizards’ order hanging between them, Cai and Ander must remember how to trust each other as sinister forces move against the Forrest family—magical terrorists who want to exploit their rare sorcery and bring the world to its knees.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

Cai cleared his throat. “You said I’m in America?”

“Yeah.”

“And if I was sent by a bloodspell, does that mean Remy and Raven are here?”

“Well, of course.” Ander blinked as Cai closed his eyes and sighed. He wasn’t sure if it was relief or defeat. “You didn’t know,” he said.

“No. Edwyn kept it a secret, even from me.” His fingers touched the blood-matted knot at the back of his head in tentative exploration. “I must have been out. I would never have let him send me otherwise. He was bleeding badly.” His hand tapped an area high and to the outside on his left leg. “Shot in the thigh.”

Ander thought of all the major blood vessels there and breathed a plea to the Goddess that none were severed. “I didn’t think the Fellowship used bullets.”

“We don’t. We were on a joint mission with intelligence agents. Someone started lobbing spells at us and our allies turned and shot each other. He was hit in the crossfire.”

“A Judas spell?” Ander frowned.

“I think so.”

“Were you working with British intelligence?”

Cai opened his mouth to answer, then flinched and rubbed both sides of his head. “Some of my memories are missing. It’s painful to think about.”

“I think you might have a concussion.”

“Maybe. But this feels more like it was blocked by a spell.”

“By Edwyn?”

“I don’t think he would have had time. Not surrounded by guns and magic.” His breath became uneven again, and he sat unsteadily on the bed. “The harder I try to think about it, the more it hurts.”

“Don’t try right now.” Ander came closer and put his fingers under Cai’s jaw, forcing him to look up so he could peer into his eyes. Still no signs of a more serious head injury, but he wasn’t satisfied until he ran his fingers under Cai’s clotted hair to cradle the bruised lump beneath his palm, his senses open for new bleeding. He didn’t discover any.

Cai stared at him as he pulled away, his face inches from Ander’s. They both became aware at the same time of how close he was standing, his hands gentle on the back of Cai’s head as if he were going to draw him into a kiss. Ander slowly stepped back.

“I have to find a way to get back to…” Cai frowned. “To…damn it! They took that, too. I don’t know where we were.” He looked to Ander with a desolate gaze. “I don’t even know if Edwyn’s alive.”

“You can’t ask the Fellowship?”

He stiffened. “No, I can’t.”

“I’d feel better if I could get you to a hospital.”

“I’ll be fine. I think it’s clear I’m meant to protect you and the twins.”

“Protect us from what?” He sat on the bed next to him. “What’s going on, Cai? Why wouldn’t Ed tell you where the kids were?”

He didn’t answer, his gaze slipping sideways.

Ander had not missed this infuriating silence. Kate had pushed Ander away with it, Edwyn maintained it, and Cai had used it to shut down questions when they were together.

He’d left Wales and come home because the people he loved most in the world could barely talk to him unless he was inducted into the Fellowship.

Fury rose in scarlet floods with Cai’s refusal to speak. Ander let it crest. “That’s fantastic. Of course you can’t say anything. Then tell me how to protect them and get the fuck out.”

“You don’t—”

“They’re all I have left of Kate! I need to know how to protect them!”

“If you’re going to shout at me, then I will take that paracetamol now.” His voice was soft, defeated. A crease furrowed the skin between his brows, and the tight lines of his body spoke of more pain than a headache. Ander didn’t have to imagine the grief of not knowing if his brother was dead or alive. He knew only too well.

“I’m sorry.” Ander exhaled, forcing himself to calm. “We aren’t done,” he said in a less strident tone. “You will tell me what’s going on. Fuck the Fellowship and your code of secrecy! Those kids are my priority now. They’ve already lost their mother, and now maybe their father. No more.”

To his surprise, Cai nodded. “I promise I will tell you what I know.”

Disconcerted by his unexpected victory, Ander reluctantly let his anger drain away.

“Are you hungry? I’m making dinner.”

“Starving. I can’t recall when I last ate anything.”

“It’ll be ready in half an hour. Make sure you drink the rest of that water.” He turned to go.

“Ander.” Cai’s expression was gentle as Ander looked back over his shoulder. “It’s good to see you.”


Author Bio:

E.M. (Elisabeth) Hamill writes adult science fiction and fantasy somewhere in the wilds of eastern suburban Kansas. A nurse by day, wordsmith by night, she is happy to give her geeky imagination free rein and has sworn never to grow up and get boring.

She lives with her family, where they fend off flying monkey attacks and prep for the zombie apocalypse.

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