Teddy’s Boys – A Glossary

Some of the character in this series speak a northern English dialect (Manc) that may not be familiar to readers from other countries (or even other parts of the UK), so I thought I’d provide a glossary. General British words and phrases are indicated as “British” while words and phrases that are distinctive to Manchester are indicated as “Manc.” 

People from Manchester (Mancunians or Mancs) also use rhyming slang, a dialect that replaces words and phrases with others the original word rhymes with. For example, “stairs” are “apples and pears” in Cockney rhyming slang, so one might say, “I fell down the apples and pears.” I’ve indicated rhyming slang as “RS.” Rhyming slang can be impenetrable to outsiders (it’s meant to be, since it was developed to evade detection by the authorities), it’s highly regional (rhyming slang spoken by a Manc may make no sense to someone from London or Birmingham), and I’ve included it sparingly to give the reader a flavor because it can be so difficult to understand, even in context.

Mancs often shorten Christian names with “az” or “ez” to indicate intimacy and affection. Gary becomes “Gaz,” Charles becomes “Chaz,” etc. It’s more common with men than women, although Teddy’s crew call her “Tedz” and “Tez.”

I’ve also included some places in and around Manchester that have a connotative meaning to Mancunians which would not otherwise be clear to outsiders.

Download the Glossary as a PDF:

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Review – Savage Prince

This series just gets better and better.

I loved-loved-loved Nikolai and Dahlia’s story (Ruthless King), but I think I like Maxheim and Tess’s story even better. Maybe it’s the second dip into the complex world this author is building that made it feel more complete, more fully-fleshed? Maybe it’s that I’m more invested in this family and their struggles? I’m not exactly sure what made this book stronger in my mind, but it is.

This is not light, fluffy omegaverse, so sensitive readers should take care. As with all omegaverse, there are power imbalances and Maxheim, underneath his surface frost, is caring, but 100% alpha. There’s human trafficking, which I find slightly triggering, but it’s done sensitively. As with Nikolai and Dahlia’s story there’s a great deal of angst and some big hurdles for the characters to overcome. But the darker themes are balanced against humor, warmth, triumph of the human (sort of!) spirit, and the building of the Skolov extended family. Ultimately, this is a book that will uplift you, even if it wrecks you a little on the way. 

I’m looking forward to Alexi’s story!

Highly recommended and available here!

Review – The Bully

This is the third book in Sophie Lark’s new Kingmakers series, which is dark, college-age, mafia romance. Her premise – that mafia families from all over the world send their kids to an isolated school where they become the next generation of mafia leaders – is refreshingly different, lovingly thought out and realized (I loved little touches like the classes they take in Torture Technique, Money Laundering, and Espionage), and as always with Sophie’s books, beautifully written.

The “hero” in this book, Dean, was introduced in the first book of this series as part of a love triangle, and my heart broke for him then. He’s even more tragic in this book, desperate for love and yet going about it ALL wrong. The heroine, Cat, is introduced in the second book in the series, and she’s all kinds of wonderful – clever, devious, but heartbreakingly unsure of herself. This book could be read as a stand-alone, but you’ll get more out of it if you read the first two books in the series and they’re wonderful, so why wouldn’t you?

Most of Sophie’s couples bring out the best in each other, and that’s never more true than with Dean and Cat. It’s wonderful to watch them mature into the best versions of themselves in this book. The love story is real and raw and with the constant tug of war between Dean and Cat, super-steamy.

Highly recommended and free to read in KU here.

Review – Lords of Wrath

This is the second book in the Royals of Forsyth University series. I reviewed the previous book here, which I absolutely loved. Big 5 stars.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I was extremely excited for it when I finished Lords of Pain. There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the book and I think sensitive readers (if any of them made it through Lords of Pain) should heed it. This book gets extremely dark, including a punishment scene that I stopped reading twice and took a break from because I found it beyond my personal squick threshold.

Overall, I think the book is good, but not great. The pacing is slightly off, with the first half dragging and the second half feeling slightly rushed, particularly the ending. The editing isn’t quite as tight as the first book, where I noticed almost no typos. There are a number in this book. They didn’t detract from my reading experience as a whole, but there were enough that I noticed. That added to my impression that the book was rushed.

Maybe the theme for this book is the adage (attributed to Confucius), “seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for your yourself.” There’s a ton of revenge going on in these 300 pages. (The book felt much longer than that, perhaps because I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.) The heroine gets revenge on her bullies, but her whole “plan” struck a sour note with me. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the heroine’s revenge in the Rich Boys of Burberry Prep series or the heroine’s refusal to stoop in the Hannaford Prep series. There’s a point where one of the boys says the heroine has two M.O.s, run or make things worse. Unfortunately, that’s true from a plot perspective. When the heroine finally stops running and makes a stand against the boys, her revenge plan is just, frankly, stupid. There was no way the boys weren’t going to figure out it was her, and when they did, their retaliation went beyond sadistic into dehumanising. I can’t see any believable happy ending for these characters after that.

There are also some D/s undertones in this book, particularly between Tristian and the heroine, where he tries to “train” her by giving her aftercare and incentivising her submission. There’s a particularly ugly kink theory that involves “breaking” a submissive, reducing the submissive to the point where nothing but the dominant’s will matters. As this literally strips the submissive of the ability to consent, I’m very wary of this theory, and it felt like that underrode this book in a way that made me uncomfortable. Whether it was conscious or not on the part of the authors, the boys do break the heroine. It’s unclear to me if, by the end, she’s starting to take control and build herself back up. The final scene with between the heroine and the boys suggests she is, but it felt more like a submissive returning to an abusive relationship and trying to negotiate some limits on her abuse instead of the heroine reclaiming her agency. I guess the third book will tell, but I’m not nearly as excited about it as I was for this book.

Lords of Wrath is on Amazon and free to read in Kindle Unlimited here.

Review – Lords of Pain

I am a big fan of bully romance. It feeds my humiliation kink and I’m okay with non-con in this context where I’m not okay with it in pretty much anything else (I *need* that consent, particularly in kink books). However, I struggle with the trope when it comes to high school because of the age of the characters, and if they’re written more maturely, it breaks my willing suspension of disbelief.

Lords of Pain hit ALL the right notes for me. It’s set in college instead of high school. The characters are convincingly older/more mature/more advanced in their bullying. The three guys are just privileged/complicated/screwed up enough that I could understand why they bullied. The premise (girl seeks out her former bullies to protect her against an even bigger villain) is somewhat strained, but I was willing to go along with it. The heroine is annoyingly naive at the beginning, but her trusting nature becomes pivotal to the plot, so stick with it.

The book is really well written – super emotional. These are both new to me authors but they did not disappoint at all. Very cleanly edited, too. 

I did NOT expect the book to go so dark. And it does. Serious emotional warfare. And when the girl begins to strike back, the guys better look out. 

Can’t wait for the next book. Highly recommended.

Lords of Pain is on Amazon and free to read in Kindle Unlimited here.

Teddy’s Boys – Introducing Darwin

Teddy’s Boys is my new project for Kindle Vella, a serial reading platform coming to Amazon this summer.

I thought it might be fun to introduce some of the characters. Last week was Gabe. This week is Darwin:

Because I’m my class’s sole Earth-witch, I’m in two upper-level classes, out of step with the rest of the first years. I have them both on Fridays. I’m scrolling through the assigned reading for the first of these, Necromancy with Madame Serpa, walking between the theater and a dorm on my way back to Phoenix House, when my playlist switches over from DJ Wraethru’s remix of “High Hopes” by Panic! at the Disco and, in the moment of silence, I hear the very familiar smack of flesh against flesh. 

That’s a sound that belongs at the gym, or in the back alleys of Moss Side, not out here.

I tug my earbuds out and shove them in my pocket. Pulling out my keys, I slip the kitty cat, self-defense keyring over the first two knuckles of my left hand and run towards the noise.

Charlie wasn’t kidding about this place being more of a maze than Hogwarts. The noise leads me into a dead-end behind the theater that’s shadowed even on the sunny afternoon. I make out three guys with their backs to me, ringing in a fourth who is hunched over, blood dripping from his nose. He’s a water mage, I’m pretty sure, because they bleed if you breathe on them too hard. At least one of the guys with their backs to me is a fire mage. I can taste the sparkly shit in the air. And one of them’s fae. Pressure in my ears tells me he’s working a glamor. As the boy they’re circling straightens, wiping his nose, I see it’s the guy from the Dean’s Tea who hid in his hoodie and didn’t say a word. 

I sink into the Earth and step back out between the three attackers and their victim, dodging a fist that was meant for the bleeder behind me. I pop back a right cross into Mr. Fist’s eye and follow it with a straight knee to his gut that sends him stumbling back. All three attackers draw up at my unexpected appearance. I keep my guard high as I face them.

“Fuck, where did she come from!” Mr. Fist curses and cups his eye. I dismiss him as a threat. He’s a big, muscular guy and I bet he’s the one who made the water mage bleed, but he’s sloppy as fuck and doesn’t even keep his guard up now that he’s got someone who will fight back in front of him.

The guy in the middle steps forward half-a-step. He is a threat. I can see it in the intensity in his eyes. The tick of his jaw. He’s also the fae and the pressure in my ears increases until I’m pretty sure they’re bleeding. He’s beautiful, in the way all the fae are. Ashy-blond hair with dark roots, burning, silvery eyes, and features so finely sculpted they should have been carved by fucking Michelangelo. A beautiful nightmare, this one.

“Walk away,” he says in that sibilant hiss the fae make when they’re exerting a shit-ton of their will. “This doesn’t concern you.”

(c) 2021 E J Frost

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