This is the tale of a crappy witch who's faced with saving the world -- and the amazing man and the phenomenal cat that set out to help him do it.
(The Aloysius Tales Series, #2)
By Tara Lain
Blurb:
Sammy Raphael is a crappy witch, and on top of that, he can't seem to get a boyfriend. Where other supernaturals can bring down lightning and manifest wealth, Sammy can paint. Granted, the “prophetic” paintings he creates at night always come true, but they never predict anything important. Sammy feels like a total loser with a worthless ability.
One night he paints a gorgeous guy who turns out to be his secret crush, the human Ryder, but Ryder’s changed so much he's almost unrecognizably beautiful. Then Sammy paints an angel who turns out to be a witch. But is that witch also a devil—a devil who can bring down Sammy’s whole community and everyone he loves? And why the hell does Ryder keep changing? Aloysius, the black cat familiar, always backs a winner. So why is he backing Sammy?
This is a 2nd Edition of BRUSH WITH CATASTROPHE
Available for purchase at
Also available in paperback
Excerpt
Sammy looked down into the soup. “That’s the only kind of guy who would ever be interested in me. A cheating rat.”
“Sam, that’s not so.”
His voice shook. “Why the hell do you think he even bothered with me to begin with? What would he want with a stupid loser if he was planning on cheating with half the fucking college?” The tears squeezed out and started to drip down his cheeks.
Ryder put the tray on the dresser and wrapped Sammy in his arms. “You’re not a loser at all. You’re one of the finest people I’ve ever known. You’re kind and funny and so smart. You paint like a master. Even if you do pick strange subject matter sometimes.” Ryder chuckled and nodded toward the painting on Sammy’s easel.
“You saw that?” Sammy snuffled. Maybe if he didn’t move too much Ryder would forget to let him go.
“Hard to miss that painting in a room the size of most closets.”
Pretty embarrassing. But compared to having had your energy drained by a cheating pig and your neck chained by the selfsame bastard while you were blacked out, painting a picture was small potatoes in the shame department.
“Ready to sleep?”
No. “Yeah.” Sammy pulled the pillows out from behind him and lay back down. Al crawled up next to him. His eyelids felt weighted. “Thank you so much for taking care of me. I’ll rest tomorrow, and I should be able to go to school on Monday.”
“Yes, you’ll rest tomorrow, and I’ll see that you do. I’m not going anywhere. I want to make sure that asshole doesn’t come back. I’ll sleep on your couch and be here to take care of you in the morning.”
Sammy shook his head. “No way a human can sleep on that couch. Aloysius won’t even do it. It has lumps the size of Everest. I’ll be fine. Really.”
“Not leaving, so forget about it.”
Sweeter words were never spoken. I don’t want to be alone. He opened his eyes a slit. Ryder gazed down at him. That expression. He remembered it—from the painting. His deep eyes. So soft. So much like love.
A thick fog of exhaustion rolled over Sam, and his eyes wouldn’t stay open. “Sleep in the bed with me and Al. We don’t move much. Sleep here… prommmmissse….”
Character Bio – Brush with Catastrophe - Sammy Raphael
Name: Samlyn “Sammy” Raphael
Age: 20
Height: Over 6 feet 2 inches
Weight: Skinny as a scarecrow
Hair: Auburn red
Species: Witch/human mix
Powers: Considers himself a crappy witch because all he can do is prophetic painting – he wakes up on the floor in front of his easel where he’s painting things that predict the future, but they never seem to be important
Profession: Art student in college
Family: A powerful witch father and lovely human mother and several siblings; they lived as human for many years and, unlike most witches, are not wealthy
Friends: Best friends are Jimmy Janx, Chen, and Alvish, his closest buddy on whom he has a secret crush. Over one summer, Alvish transforms into the mystical, magical Ryder McMasters
Allies: The Witch Master, Killian Barth, and Aloysius, the world’s most powerful witch’s familiar who appears as a black cat.
Love: Though he tries to love someone else, he really loves Ryder McMasters
The Aloysius Tales Series
Book #1
Spell Cat
Available for purchase at
Also available in paperback
About the Author
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 32. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!
You can find Tara at Lain
Thank you so much for having us! Delighted to be here. : )
ReplyDeleteCongrats and thanks for the excerpt, and I like those character bios. Sounds like another good one. I've liked the Laguna and Cowboys Don't series so far, now I'll have to get started on this one. - Purple Reader,
ReplyDeleteTheWrote [at] aol [dot] com
Thank you, Purple Reader. I hope you enjoy them and i'm so glad you're liking the two series! : )
DeleteCongrats on the release & thanks for the excerpt!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa!! : )
Delete