by
Hailey Turner
Series:
Soulbound 2
ADULT title
Publisher:
Self-Published
Release
Date (Print & Ebook): March 19, 2019
Length
(Print & Ebook): 104,100
Subgenre: LGBTQ Urban Fantasy
Reader
Warning: This book contains on
page sexual assault.
Book
synopsis:
You
can’t bargain with death if you’ve already sold your soul.
Special Agent Patrick Collins has been
reassigned by the Supernatural Operations Agency to New York City. Learning to
navigate his new relationship with Jonothon de Vere, the werewolf he’s now
soulbound to, is nothing compared to dealing with territorial disputes between
the vampires and werecreatures who call the five boroughs home. But the
delicate treaties that have kept the preternatural world in check are fraying
at the edges, and the fallout is spilling into the mundane world.
Manhattan’s club scene is overrun with
the vampire drug known as shine and the subways have become a dumping ground
for bodies. When the dead are revealed as missing werecreatures, Patrick and
Jono find themselves entangled in pack politics twisted by vampire
machinations.
Learning to trust each other comes
with problems for both of them, and the gods with a stake in Patrick’s soul
debt aren’t finished with him yet. Bound by promises they can’t break, Patrick
and Jono must find a way to survive a threat that takes no prisoners and is
stalking them relentlessly through the city streets.
Old and new betrayals are coming home
to roost but the truth—buried in blood—is more poisonous than the lies being
spun. Trying to outrun death is a nightmare—one Patrick may never wake up from.
All
Souls Near & Nigh is a 104k word m/m urban fantasy with a gay romantic
subplot and a HFN ending. It is a direct sequel to A Ferry of Bones & Gold, and reading the first book in the
series would be helpful in enjoying this one. Please see the disclaimer in the
Look Inside for content some readers may find triggering.
Author
Hailey Turner says All Souls Nigh &Near is: An exciting sequel that builds on the series plot and will
keep readers wanting more!
The action, mystery, and heat are
kicked-up another gear in this second installment of Turner's addictive,
original and immersive Soulbound series.
— Layla Reyne, author of the
Agents Irish and Whiskey and Trouble Brewing series
Nobody writes like Hailey Turner.
Her world building is extraordinary, as are her edgy action scenes. However,
she never loses sight of her central relationship, or her razor sharp and witty
characters.
This series is amazing.
— Bestselling author, Lily Morton
Q&A with Hailey
Turner:
What comes first, the plot or characters?
This is like the
chicken or the egg question. For me, it’s a mixture of both. I feel my
characters play off the plot, but I need the outline of the book and series to
really create a character and their motives. Characters and plot are pretty
intertwined when I create a book, so I can’t say one comes first above the
other.
Describe a typical writing day.
I usually write in
the morning and evenings around work on weekdays, and for a block of hours on
the weekend around errands and time spent with friends and family. On weekdays,
I get up early in the morning (I’m talking 5:00am here) to get some writing in
before work. I try to make time to write every day otherwise it would be
difficult to finish a book if I didn’t.
How do you come up with the titles to your books?
I
like to have themes with my titles and they tend to have the same sort of word
structure for the entire series. For my Metahuman Files series, the titles
spoke to the missions in each book. For Soulbound, every title has a hint of
the mythology I’ve incorporated into that particular book. It varies with every
series but I honestly can’t start a book without a title.
*********************
Excerpt
Patrick kicked the door shut behind
him, which was fine with Jono because it gave him something sturdy to shove the
other man up against. Gently, though, because Jono didn’t know what other
injuries Patrick sported besides the ones on his face. Jono framed Patrick’s
face with his hands, staring at the slightly swollen nose with a strip of
medical tape arching over the freckled bridge and faded bruises around
bloodshot, tired green eyes.
Jono rolled his eyes before sliding
his right hand down to Patrick’s throat, discreetly scent-marking him. The
stench of travel, of too many bodies packed too closely together, clung to him.
Beneath that was a hint of forest and blood, neither of which stopped Jono from
worrying. Beneath all that was the
familiar, bitter scent that was Patrick’s alone, and it felt like coming home
to Jono.
Patrick’s mouth quirked at the
corners. “Gonna kiss it better?”
“Cheeky. Could’ve just asked rather
than go out looking for a fight.”
“Hazard of the job.”
“Bollocks.”
Jono shook his head before leaning
down to gently press his mouth to Patrick’s. Those familiar plush lips
immediately parted, letting Jono in. The quiet sigh he drank down told him more
than words how tired Patrick must be. The mage wasn’t one to show weakness, even
amongst friends, but Jono had started to learn the little quirks and
half-hidden actions that spoke of Patrick’s true feelings.
Patrick was still a hard read on the
best of days, soulbond or not, but Jono was figuring him out.
Buy link
********************************
About
Hailey Turner:
Hailey
Turner is big city girl who spoils her cats rotten and has a demanding day job
that she loves, but not as much as she loves writing. She’s been writing since
she was a young child and enjoys reading almost as much as creating a new
story. Hailey loves stories with lots of action, gritty relationships, and an
eventual HEA that satisfies the heart.
Newsletter link: You can keep up with Hailey's
future projects by joining her newsletter, where you can instantly download two
free Metahuman Files short stories and the Soulbound short story Down A Twisted
Path
My review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
All Souls Near & Nigh by Hailey Turner is the second
book in the ‘Soulbound’ series and continues to follow the adventures of
federal agent Patrick Collins and werewolf Johnothon de Vere. Their lives
continue to be complicated by the gods meddling in politics and territory
disputes and there is still a possibility that Patrick will have his typical
effect on his new home city—chaos and destruction—but this time he has backup.
This gay urban fantasy story is a nonstop adventure and kept
me mesmerized by the believable conflict, engaging characters, and amazing
combination of pantheons who meddle in the lives of their followers. I think
it’s better to have read the first book in the series, A Ferry of Bones & Gold, in order to get to know some of the major characters, but the action
will probably draw you in even if you don’t know all of the backstory. There is
a list of the cast of characters in the back of each book that will come in
handy but I think it is just as fun to jump right into the story and get to
know all of these engaging characters, including the gods masquerading as
federal agents! Those with triggers should read the introductory warning very
closely and those who are squeamish are advised that there are plenty of gory
scenes since the were-creatures, vampires, various allies, gods, and, of
course, the two main characters, are not shy about fighting their way through
whatever obstacles are impeding their progress.
This series evokes the feelings of glee I get from reading
Jim Butcher’s and Faith Hunter’s books and I found myself cheering for the good
guys and groaning at the capriciousness of the gods involved while booing at
the machinations of the villains. I am still a little puzzled about the
hierarchy of the paranormal creatures within New York City and bemused at the
turf wars between the various human factions even as I slowly absorb the
complicated rules governing Patrick’s use of magic. I love books that are
multi-layered and unpredictable and this one definitely has some nice
surprises, including a understandably sullen teen who threatens to eat his
hosts out of house and home plus the lovely romance that is continuing to
unfold between Patrick and Johnothon who are learning to trust one another even
as the heat between them continues to be incandescent.
I am so thankful I got a chance to read and review this
series because I have found a new favorite author to follow and I look forward
to reading more of her imaginative and exciting stories (and seeing how the “kid”
progresses)!
A copy of this title was provided to me for review
(1st book in the series)
