Ghost wards are failing. Mediums are vanishing. Someone—or something—is stirring up the ghosts of Toronto. It’s up to psychic medium Harlan Brand to find out why. After defeating a serial killer who could control ghosts, psychic medium Harlan Brand is feeling much more confident in his abilities working for the Toronto Police Service with his partner, Hamilton, as they protect the city from dangerous spirits.
He is expanding his social circle, however reluctantly, to include the other police mediums and Morgan Vermeer, another graduate from the Centre—a school for training psychic children. Harlan and his boyfriend, Charles Moore, are continuing to explore BDSM, their relationship and Charles’ strange ability to shield people from ghosts. Hoping to find answers about Charles’ power and the serial killer, Harlan returns to the Centre only to find that one of its ghost wards—magical symbols that spirits can’t cross—is broken, and it’s a mystery as to how and why.
The calm and order that Harlan has been building up in his life are shattered when wards start failing across the city and mediums begin to disappear, including one of his new friends and a student from the Centre. Someone—or something—is stirring up the ghosts of Toronto.
Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of violence and murder. It is best read as part of a series.
T. Strange
Give us the one to two sentence tagline for your book.
Ghost wards are failing. Mediums are vanishing. Someone—or something—is stirring up the ghosts of Toronto. It’s up to psychic medium Harlan Brand to find out why.
Why did you pick the setting you used for your book?
Haha I ask myself that every day! While I do live in Canada, I’ve been to Toronto a grand total of one time. The first book in this series, Rattling Chains, just demanded to be set there. I had no choice. So, of course, Cold Blood is set there as well.
However! There is a short scene in Cold Blood that takes place in Elora, Ontario, which is where my ancestors first settled when they came to Canada in the 1830s, so that’s my little nod to them. (In a book about ghosts and BDSM, which I’m sure they’d just love heh)
What is your favorite scene/moment in your book?
My favourite moment is when Harlan and Hamilton are searching someone’s office and Hamilton is shocked that Harlan doesn’t have any false-bottomed drawers in his desk (or a desk, for that matter). I love the banter between those two, and we also find out a little more about Hamilton’s past, which he doesn’t share a lot of.
Which do you love to write best: dialogue, setting, action, love scenes, or other?
Dialogue and action, for sure. When it’s really flowing, it’s like transcribing a movie that’s playing in my head.
Which do you hate to write: dialogue, setting, action, love scenes, or other?
I always feel ashamed to admit it, as a romance author, but…love scenes. Between my own work and copious amounts of fanfic, I’ve written a LOT of them. That being said, Harlan and Charles’ dynamic is a unique one for me, and it’s always fun to explore their relationship.
Excerpt
COLD BLOOD
“I’m booked under Charles Moore,” Charles told the man at the front desk, who nodded and said, “Room three.”
Charles led them to a small room, gesturing grandly with his arm out to usher Harlan inside.
He stepped into the room. He couldn’t help peering around anxiously, but nothing jumped out at him or whatever he’d been afraid of. The walls were painted black and yellow, like the sign. The only things in the room were a stack of tires with a piece of plywood covering the hole, a white ceramic vase on top of that and a plastic tub full of what seemed to be random objects. There was also a printer and an old computer monitor.
He turned to Charles, confused.
Charles grinned at him and handed him a pair of safety goggles. “Baseball bat or crowbar?” he asked after Harlan put them on.
“What?”
“It’s a rage room. We get to break all this stuff. I know you’ve had a lot of stress at work lately, and I thought this might help.” Charles slipped on his own goggles, then bent to pick up a crowbar in one hand and a wooden bat in the other, offering them both to Harlan.
“Break…?” Harlan glanced between Charles and the white vase. “Um…crowbar?”
“Good choice.” Charles handed it to him and stepped back. “They let you play music, but I thought that might be a bit overwhelming.”
As if to prove his point, Harlan stared between the bar in his hands and the vase. It just seemed so…wrong. Wasteful, maybe. Could he really just swing the crowbar and smash the vase?
“Want some help?” Charles purred, stepping up behind him.
“Sure?” Harlan wished he could stop saying everything as a question, but he couldn’t seem to.
Charles gently placed his hands over Harlan’s more delicate ones, guiding his arms and the crowbar so they were level with the top of the stack of tires.
He twisted Harlan, using his hips to guide him, then straightened them out again. The tip of the crowbar hit the edge of the vase. It teetered for a moment—Harlan realized he was holding his breath for some reason—and then toppled off the side. It only broke into a few large pieces, but…Harlan couldn’t deny that it had been deeply, primally satisfying.
He turned to grin at Charles, who’d taken a step back.
T. Strange didn’t want to learn how to read, but literacy prevailed and she hasn’t stopped reading—or writing—since. She’s been published since 2013, and she writes M/M romance in multiple genres, including paranormal and BDSM. T.’s other interests include cross stitching, gardening, watching terrible horror movies, playing video games, and finding injured pigeons to rescue. Originally from White Rock, BC, she lives on the Canadian prairies, where she shares her home with her wife, cats, guinea pigs and other creatures of all shapes and sizes. She’s very easy to bribe with free food and drinks—especially wine.
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