Caged and Sacrificed by Bey Deckard: #Review #GuestPost #Giveaway @beydeckard

Caged: Love and Treachery on the High Seas

(Baal's Heart, Book 1)

by Bey Deckard

Genres: Action/Adventure, BDSM, Erotica, Fantasy, Gay, Historical, Ménage/Multiple Partners (M/M/M)

Sheltered and lonely, Jon's life changes drastically when a strange ship sails into the harbour of his small port town one day. Trapped between the possessive pirate captain and his murderous first mate, he must learn to adapt or he will lose himself completely. An epic tale of love, treachery and revelation, this first installment of the Baal's Heart trilogy brings you into the lives of three men so bound together by jealousy and lies that they must sail to the very ends of the earth to find forgiveness.

Deckard's first novel is a masterful portrayal of sorrow, hope, and passion, with a narrative that twists the reader through a world set in the Golden Age of Piracy. A thrilling look into the darker side of human nature, Caged effortlessly melds serious historical fantasy with five star erotica.

Sacrificed: Heart Beyond the Spires

(Baal's Heart #2)

by Bey Deckard

Genres: Action/Adventure, BDSM, Erotica, Fantasy, Gay, Historical, Ménage/Multiple Partners

Reunited once more, the crew of Baal’s Heart must make the long and treacherous journey south to the towering spires of the Devil’s Isles. The path through the mountain range is fraught with peril; mayhem and tragedy plague the pirate ship, but what the men find beyond the spires is the most shocking of all.

In this sequel to the acclaimed Caged, the pirates are dragged into a dangerous new world by Captain Baltsaros’s all-consuming obsession. In the midst of terror and chaos, Jon learns that the captain and first mate have been keeping secrets from him. But will the truth tear them apart?

Carly: Today I shanghaied Bey Deckard so I could interrogate him about piratey things and his series Baal's Heart. (It was either that or get thrown overboard!) I'll admit, its been a while since I've read a book with pirates as main characters. I love how this series is historical but still has a contemporary feel. What can you tell us about your writing process?

Bey: Well, I don't yet have much of a process... I haven't been doing this for very long. I seem to approach it the same way that I do painting: a lot of time spent in my own head to see the full image (as it were) without actually putting anything down. However, unlike painting, I'm not alone in the process. See, I have a bunch of surly, rambunctious, and downright condescending characters who feel the need to put in their own two cents every time I sit down to actually write. 

It's... interesting.

Basically, once I have the larger goal in mind, I figure out 4-5 smaller goals that I need my characters to hit so that the story gets to the target end that I want. Then there are negotiations for face time, criticisms about what those smaller goals are, yadda yadda... basically like herding cats until we all come to an agreement about something. Then? Oh-ho... then the writing flows and I'll get 3k+ down a day. That's my process. Doesn't sound too organized but hey, works for me.

Carly: How do you channel your inner pirate? This seafaring adventure is about more than talking parrots and walking the plank. What type of research did you do to help prepare yourself?

Bey: Notice the absence of talking parrots and walking the plank in my books? *laughs* Well, I'm actually an amateur pirateologist. I have a whole shelf of pirate history books in my living room—I've loved pirates since I was just a kid running around collecting bird skulls and building shelters out of driftwood on the beaches where I grew up. I could spend hours on my uncle's boat, just watching the horizon and imagining myself the captain of own ship one day. There's something incredibly appealing about pirates for me, once you dig past the whole "yo ho ho and a bottle o' rum" kitch that Hollywood has infused into their lore. In reality, they were largely democratic and the pirate lifestyle (because it was a lifestyle, not simply a career) gave folks freedom that they wouldn't otherwise be afforded due to social status, gender, skin colour, temperament, etc. 

For a miscreant like myself, it's downright attractive.

But, to answer your question... I use my own sailing knowledge plus elements of some of my favourite pirates—Captain Kidd, Ching Shih, Capt. Jack Avery, and Francois l’Olonnais.... Captain Harlock—to add a little fun realism to my pirates. 

(Just kidding... Harlock—or Albator to the French-speaking world—is not a real pirate. No, he's a kick ass anime space pirate that was created the same year I was born, and I grew up watching the cartoons. Just thought I would sneak him in there...)

However, the world that Baltsaros, Jon, and Tom live in is only Earth-like; it has it's own unique history and, though there are many shared elements with our own world, the timeline is different. I've just written so many history papers (my academic background is art history) about that time period that it was fun to mix it up a little for the sake of creating an interesting parallel world. 

Woo. Look at me go. I'm going to write a bloody novel here if I don't rein it in a little, and I have to get back to writing the third book in the series, don't I? 

Carly: When will we be seeing book three?

Bey: The third (and final?) book of the series is called Fated: Blood and Redemption and if all goes as planned, I should be handing it over to my editor in a couple of weeks. So... late March? Early April? I'll have a better idea once editing starts. 

Thanks so much for having me, Carly. :)

Caged: Love and Treachery on the High Seas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I hadn't read a pirate book in a long time so I started CAGED with my imagination wide open. Honestly, it was the amazing cover art that initially caught my eye, but the character dynamic is what kept me reading late into the night. Deckard has a unique writing style that utilizes varying points of view to slip back and forth along the timeline. This works brilliantly, and gives readers a global perspective.

CAGED has a riveting story-line, and the characters are intricately developed, as their experiences are essential to the plot progression. I was surprised by how quickly the time passed while I was reading. It isn't fast paced, but the emotional complexity kept pulling me deeper into the story-line.

Both passionate and sensual, CAGED also hints at some darker themes, so don't expect a swashbuckling romance because the heart of this story is an adventure of epic proportions. Baal's Heart is one of those series that simply must be read in order. CAGED is where this story begins, so be prepared to one-click book two immediately because the ending completely rocked my world.

Sacrificed: Heart Beyond the Spires
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Picking up just slightly before where book one left off, SACRIFICED is heart of this trilogy, and tackles the deepest part of as of the story. The plot thickens as the crew navigates towards Devil’s Isles and they are pushed to their limits.

The treacherous environment, both on and off the ship, forces Baltsaros, Jon and Tom to evaluate their personal values and commitment to each other... while at the same time threatening their very lives.

Secrets are exposed, and the ugliness from their separate pasts spews forward into their current situation. New characters are introduced, old habits must be re-evaluated, and the people who inhabit the land that is their first destination seem to be enthralled by the dark whispers of an ancient god.

Suspenseful, intense, and passionately erotic, SACRIFICED is an intense reading experience that keeps its characters balancing on a knife edge of pleasure and pain.

I'm anxiously awaiting the final installment in this unexpectedly unique series that has captured my attention from the very first page!

View all my reviews

Caged

Sacrificed

Bey Deckard; Artist, Writer, Dog Lover.

Born and raised in a small coastal town in northern Québec, Bey spent his early summers on his uncle’s boat and running wild on the beaches of the surrounding islands, lighting fires and building huts out of driftwood and fishermen’s nets. As an adult, he eventually made his way to university and earned a degree in Art History with a strong focus on Anthropology. Primarily a portrait painter and graphic artist, Bey sat down one day and decided to write about the two things that he felt most passionate about: sex and the sea.

Bey currently lives in the wilds of Montréal with his best buddy, a spotty pit bull named Murphy. 

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