Book Name: To Touch The Sky
Series? Leap of Faith If yes, what number? Book Two
Standalone? The book ‘could’ be a standalone, but it would work better read in order.
Release Date: April 3, 2015
Author Name: M.A. Church
Author Bio:
M.A. Church is a true Southern belle who spent many years in the elementary education sector. Now she spends her days lost in fantasy worlds, arguing with hardheaded aliens on far-off planets, herding her numerous shifters, or trying to tempt her country boys away from their fishing poles. It’s a full time job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it!
When not writing, she’s exploring the latest M/M novel to hit the market, watching her beloved Steelers, or sitting glued to HGTV. That’s if she’s not on the back porch tending to the demanding wildlife around the pond in the backyard. The ducks are very outspoken. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, and they have two children.
She was a finalist in the Rainbow awards for 2013.
Where to find the author:
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Blurb(s):
He can run, but he can’t hide…
Centuries ago, Hawk made a terrible mistake which has haunted him since. Fear of responsibility and feelings of unworthiness leads him to denying the mate Wha-tay showed him in a vision. So now Hawk runs his bar, has casual sex, and never, ever dates men with blond hair and brown eyes. But then Simon walks into his bar, and the future he’s feared is about to end up in a brawl if Hawk doesn’t do something—fast.
Simon Carter has a smart mouth and a bulldog temperament. So when Hawk runs, Simon pursues the sexy man, only to be rejected. Just as Simon decides to give up, someone—or something—visits him to change his mind… and scares him to death. Now Simon is backpedaling, and Hawk is in pursuit.
Desperate to reassure Simon, and keep him safe, Hawk is forced to reveal his secrets before he’s ready. Can Simon learn to accept things aren’t always as they seem? Is the connection between them strong enough to help Hawk overcome centuries of pain? The only way the two men will move beyond Hawk’s past is for both of them to take a leap of faith.
Categories: Fiction, Gay Fiction, Humor, M/M Romance, Paranormal (shifters), Romance
Excerpt:
Two hours later he was back up, pacing the floor, beyond annoyed. Why was he doing this now? He knew who his mate was supposed to be, and he wanted no part of it. He was responsible for himself only, and he liked it that way. Too bad the spirit that shared his body didn’t agree.
Really? What about all those people at the bar who depend on you?
“It’s not the same thing, and you know it.” A quick glance out his bedroom window confirmed dawn was about to break.
Freaking A, arguing with you is like arguing with a signpost. Why don’t you go stretch your wings, old man? We’ll chill on the breeze. Shift and we’ll find a nice juicy pigeon or rabbit for breakfast. That sounds dee-lish.
Hawk rolled his neck. His totem spirit’s mentality was that of a fifteen-year-old hopped up on sugar and running on three hours of sleep. The spirit was very old, but damned if it acted its age.
Whatever, dude. Just do something, will ya?
Pages or Words: 67,000 words
Mari’s Review:
* ARCs provided to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for a fair and honest review. *
I hadn’t read any stories by MA Church before being offered both stories in the Leap of Faith series and I have to say that if all her books are like these two, I’ll have to track the others down ASAP.
First of all I have to say: what a fantastic, original take on Shifters! I adored how the author weaved all the Native American lore into this and made it so, that it felt that something like this could actually happen. It didn’t feel far-fetched at all and had a realism that just grabbed my attention.
In the Shadow of the Night the author focuses more on the relationship of both Jason and Chipper and the impact that it causes to Chip learning that Jason is a shifter and that he is his mate. I adored that Chip, despite being attracted to Jason like he’d never been to anyone else before, didn’t fall instantly for Jason or did his bidding just because, he needed time and he wasn’t shy to ask for it. The story is emotional and intense, very hot and both characters are strong willed and felt like equals, which I loved.
To Touch the Sky, on the other hand, focuses a bit more on the past and we learned more of The People and Wha-tay, and many of the questions that I had from Book 1 were resolved here regarding how they’d ended up in the town this series takes place in.
It isn’t all it deals with, though, as we get to see Simon fall for Hawk and pursue him relentlessly even when Hawk is running away from him. I admired the way Simon kept going back to the bar to see Hawk, even when he wasn’t sure the other man wasn’t gay or that his attraction was reciprocated. He was stubborn and went after what he wanted, no matter what.
Hawk, however, was not as easy to convince. Not even knowing that Simon was his mate. I loved that all his friends and his totem spirit—whose interactions with Hawk were hilarious for the most part, by the way—meddled so that Hawk finally stopped running away from what was his destiny.
These two couples, Jason and Chip, on book 1, and Simon and Hawk, on book 2, were awesome together and they had great chemistry. I think I liked Simon and Hawk a bit more because their story had a bit more of humor than the first one, but they were both equally awesome and interesting from beginning to end.
I truly recommend this to any Paranormal lover and if you haven’t read paranormal before, this series will be an excellent start!
Rating: 5 Shifting Stars!!!
Interview with the Author:
What made you decide that you wanted to put yourself out there to publish?
What finally pushed me into pubbing was winning a winter themed contest on Literotica several years ago. I’d been writing The Harvest series there. So I wrote a Christmas story having to do with the characters from Harvest and entered it. *laugh* It won first place. What’s significant about that was this was *not* a M/M contest. Most of the entries were M/F actually. That helped make my mind up.
Which of your books was the most difficult to write?
The Bad Boys Club. It’s a dark desires series and there aren’t really any good guys in it. Oh, the sex is still smoking hot, but there’s no halos in this series. It was so hard because this isn’t what I normally write. No fluff here, lol, or sweetness.
What did your parents want you to be when you grew up?
Honestly, they didn’t care as long as I did what made me happy. The main thing they wanted was for me to go to college, get a degree, and be able to support myself.
Tour Dates & Stops:
16-Mar
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3-Apr
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Sales Links:
ebook: http://www.
paperback: http://www.
paperback: http://www.
Rafflecopter Prize: E-book copy of Shadows in the Night (#1) and To Touch the Sky (#2)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for the awesome review! Glad ya like the books. :)
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You're welcome! I adored the books! They were awesome and I adored the world you've created in this series! Are you going to write more stories in this universe?
DeleteHi, I quite a lot of good authors writings on Literotica and was so sad when the The Harvest series vanished, to get it ready for publication, as I did not have a chance to finish it :) Now I have many more books of yours to read, yay win win :) Thank you for your helpful review Mari and thank you MA Church and a chance to win this series :)
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