Welcome to the Blog Tour of In Liam’s Wake: The Makeshift Soldier book one of the Toys & Soldiers Series by Ashlyn Forge!  I am today’s blog tour host here at Moonbeams Over Atlanta maintained by yours truly, Eloreen Moon.  I have posted previously that this is coming and now it’s here!  Now, without further ado, on to the review…

5 out of 5 Stars

MM, Gay, GBLT, Romance, Science Fiction, Dystopia

I’m not very formal, nor am I lengthy.  I don’t talk about the plot, nor do I do spoilers either.  You will either decide to read it based on how the synopsis sounds to you,  how many stars averages and how the persons posting reviews line up with your taste.  There are others who provide the more in-depth reviews and they have their places.  Since I don’t necessarily remember specifics of a book past the emotional content, I leave the plots and spoilers to the others.

I was provided a copy of the book for this review.  In fact, I was going to give it a week to read the book as I had other beta reading, work, and review commitments, including posting for this blog tour.  And then I decided to pick up my Nook Color one Saturday a week and a half ago and started to read.

I couldn’t put it down.  I read for three or four hours straight. I’m not entirely certain how long it took me to read since there was this time warp where I was in Liam and Riley’s world and didn’t want to leave.  I had to finish the story, and did so in less than a day.  I do read fairly fast, but I hadn’t been sucked into a plot like that in a while.  I loved it.

It’s not a perfect story.  There were a few slow scenes in the beginning; but just as I wanted to understand what was going on in the world, the answer appeared.  This continued throughout the rest of the story.   For a science fiction/futuristic/dystopia storyline, it had its realism and moments when you want to cry.  Sometimes, I did. But, it also had its good moments and you were cheering on Liam and Riley.  It’s a coming out theme, a hurt-comfort theme, and an angst theme all rolled into one.  Most of all, there is love.  It’s not in your face.  It’s not simple.  And like life, it sneaks up on you.  You then discover that you have come to love the characters as they love each other by the end of the last word.  I think I even said “no, no, I want to know more!” when I read that word.  Something about “you can’t stop here,” also flitted across my mind. J

All in all, the characters, both main and supporting, were believable. I look forward to seeing more stories.  Half-way through, I thanked Ashlyn for intending this book to be the start of a series, because I wanted to find out more about the imps.  All of the characters moved me, especially the “alien” ones.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and can’t wait for the next story.  Finding an author who likes to write a series is a plus in my book.  Despite the few slow places in the beginning, I have to give it five out of five stars.  You deserve it Ashlyn.  And now I leave you with a quote from the book that I think says it well:

“Life is a struggle. It’s just as hard as, if not harder than, the blood sports you participate in. If you really want to tempt fate, you should try actually playing the cards you’ve been dealt for once.”

A revised version of this review will also appear in Goodreads under the ebook.

Synopsis

For eight years, Liam has been trapped underground in The Colony—a sanctuary so determined to stay hidden it forbids anyone from leaving once they’ve entered. His only hope of returning home rests on his best friend Riley who, on the eve of their escape, slipped into a coma.

Despite staggering debt, vengeful mutants and bounty hunters, Liam continues a seemingly never-ending quest for a cure to end Riley’s unnatural five-year sleep. Every night, Liam stares at the listless man who not only holds his escape, but his heart. The suffering can end, however; Liam must only forsake all hope of ever returning home again, abandon Riley to his fate, and wholeheartedly serve as a soldier for The Colony—the very people he’s trying to escape.

Live the life within his reach, or continue chasing the one just beyond his grasp? He need only submit.

More details and sample downloads – http://www.ashlynforge.com/in-liams-wake/

Buy Links:

Amazon (ebook) – http://amzn.com/B00FPYT5V6/

Amazon (paperback) – http://www.amazon.com/Liams-Wake-Makeshift-Soldier-Soldiers/dp/0989506010/

Kobo – http://bit.ly/1g5vJKL

B&N – http://bit.ly/HddnHT

Smashwords – http://bit.ly/Hq5Kyt

Goodreads – http://bit.ly/19mo9r9

Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below for a chance to win one of the following:

1 Paperback copy of In Liam’s Wake

3 ebooks of In Liam’s Wake

1 In Liam’s Wake Audiobook (Available Dec 15)

1 Personalized audio message from Liam

5$ Amazon Gift Card

<a id=”rc-d3e3d60″ href=”http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d3e3d60/” rel=”nofollow”>a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>

<script src=”//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js”></script>

If the above does not show or link correctly, go here.