Five Facts to Prove Their Dark Reflections is a Different Dark M/M Romance
Now, I must be careful with these so as not to spoil the book, but I promise to only whet your whistles.
- Modern Hades & Persephone Myth
I’m not talking the classic Greek myth here. You know the story I mean. We’ve all seen the image or the quote or some scene or fanart created from one of the two as a prompt.
“Aren’t you afraid of my darkness, dear?”
“No. You haven’t seen mine yet.”
I like to think my MC Sam saw that floating around the Internet as well and took to the quote and idea behind the modern telling of the myth the same way I did – with unabashed adoration.
Sam is hiding a lot in Their Dark Reflections, but one thing he is honest about with his new employer, Ed, is that he loves mythology, and his favorite myth is the more modern take on Hades & Persephone. Throughout the novel, he tells Ed the myth in his own words, but that well-known exchange, which I’m sure many if not all of you are familiar with, is at the heart of it and also reflects what the characters are keeping from each other and what they encounter.
- Spider-Man
I am a huge geek, and if you’ve read any of my other titles, you know that already, because of how I weave geeky things into my tales, whether more subtly like a guilty pleasure of one of my characters being Star Trek or Mystery Science Theater 3000, or blatantly writing superhero novels. My favorite hero is The Flash, but a very close second is Spider-Man.
The other MC in Their Dark Reflections, Ed, is old-fashioned and stuck in his ways, particularly with how he dresses, but there are a few modern things he loves, and one of them is comic books. He has an impressive collection and eventually gives one of his comics to his neighbors’ children: Amazing Spider-Man #42, with Mary Jane’s iconic first appearance and the quote: “Face it, Tiger, you just hit the jackpot.”
I’m also a diehard MJ fan. Gotta love a redhead. ^_^
- Zodiac
Growing up, the zodiac and all the fun lore around what people born under each sign are supposed to be like was a huge hobby of mine. I never took it seriously or read my horoscope in the paper, but I loved the idea behind it all, having a constellation, an animal, and other elements, that are just… you. I’m a Leo, and I’ve always felt like a Leo.
I even used to choose signs for my characters based on their personality and then working backwards. I did that again for this book because Ed loves astrology too.
Ed is a Pisces. Compassionate and intuitive, but also overly trusting with a penchant for being alone and a desire to escape reality.
Sam is a Gemini.
“What’s that say about me?”
Ed felt his face flush as Sam drew closer. “Th-that you’re adaptable, curious, witty. You can be the exact person someone needs you to be.”
“Lucky you,” Sam said.
Be prepared for stargazing in this story too.
- Photography
Ed is also a bit of an artist. He used to draw in his younger days but more recently does photography. One could argue that he likes it because a photograph is something that stays the same when everything else around him changes. He likes to capture images he can keep with him forever.
Ed revealed this to me as I was writing, first while giving the initial tour of his home to Sam. The decoration and things Ed focused on in his home told me more about who he was, even things I hadn’t first thought of myself. The photography was a surprise, but one that ended up being useful to the plot and comes with a few sweet moments for the budding couple too.
- Pool, totally didn’t realize, but favorite scene from Fright Night remake
I already mentioned stargazing, and one place that is done is while the MCs are swimming in Ed’s outdoor pool. Ed only swims at night, since he is sensitive to the sun. I actually chose his sign as a Pisces based solely on personality, but the fact that he loves swimming worked out perfectly. For him, it’s calming—and the drains help with cleanup if he gets a little messy on his property while feeding.
Oh, did I not mention this yet? No spoiler here, since it’s in the blurb for the book, but Ed is a vampire.
What I didn’t realize right away but love is that one of my favorite vampire scenes in recent film is from the remake of Fright Night and involves a swimming pool. The vampire in that movie, Jerry, played by Collin Farrell, has cornered the MC’s best friend, Ed (total coincidence), played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, in a neighbor’s pool. Ed was trying to run but chooses in this scene to succumb, and the resulting vampire bite is surprisingly hot.
The movie also has one of my favorite lines about vampires. “He’s a real monster, and he’s not brooding, or lovesick, or noble. He’s the fucking shark from JAWS. He kills, he feeds, and he doesn’t stop until everyone around him is dead.”
I strike a balance between that idea and my Ed being a little lovesick and noble, but he isn’t brooding. He loves what he is, and he is indeed a predator—which was a lot of fun to write.
Check it out, because there is a lot more to discover than what I’ve shared today.
Everyone has a second face.
Book Title: Their Dark Reflections
Author: Amanda Meuwissen
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Tiferet Design
Genre: Dark Paranormal M/M Romance
Trope/s: Friends to lovers, vampire/victim, boss/employee, thief with a heart of gold, hidden agenda, kind but vicious vampire
Themes: Self-discovery, finding light in the darkness,
embracing one’s darkness, love against all odds
Length: 70 096 words/204 pages
It is a standalone book.
Buy Links
Dreamspinner Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Blurb:
Personal assistant Sam Coleman can do it all: housekeeping, groundskeeping, bookkeeping. The catch? It’s a con.
Ed Simon, his newest millionaire boss, doesn’t know Sam Goldman is a Robin Hood for hire who targets rich jerks. Sure, Sam keeps the money for himself, his crew, and his real employers, but at least they only steal from bad people.
Until sweet, fumbling Ed, who doesn’t seem to have a single vice. Too bad the people who hired Sam won’t let him back out. They want Ed’s money, and they’ll hurt Sam and his friends to get it.
For years Ed has kept people at arm’s length, but Sam’s charms wear down his defenses—just as he learns their budding relationship was an act. Sam isn’t who Ed thought he was, but Ed has a dark secret too: he’s a vampire. And someone is framing him for a series of bloody murders.
When the real villains force their hand, Sam and Ed must choose: work together, trust each other, and give in to the feelings growing between them… or let what might have been bleed out like the victims piling at their feet.
Sam was exhausted, probably because he hadn’t slept well in the past two days, but when he was ready to call it a night and looked around for Ed, he was surprised to find him outside, already in the pool. Sam was usually gone before Ed took his swims.
The tricked-out radio by the patio doors was blasting loud enough to carry outside, playing Blue Oyster Cult and making Sam smile. He didn’t fear the reaper so much himself anymore either.
Ed wasn’t doing any complicated strokes, just floating serenely on his back, arms gently moving to keep him up while he gazed at the stars beginning to glitter above him. He’d left the doors open as if to invite Sam to watch, so it was easy to do so without calling much attention to himself.
Ed didn’t look like a predator while swimming, his trunks clinging to him, chest bare. Sometimes it was hard for Sam to accept that dissonance—this version of Ed compared to the swift, brutal one—but then, wasn’t a lion capable of seeming like a housecat even if it was always dangerous?
“Would you like to join me?” Ed called without turning to look at him. “I have an extra suit upstairs.”
Sam wondered if that made him the lion tamer.
Enjoying the way Ed’s eyes fixed to his mostly bare body when he descended from upstairs in the spare trunks, Sam took his time walking to the edge of the pool, set his clothes on one of the lounge chairs, and stepped off for a simple, smooth drop into the water. He shook the excess from his hair and face when he resurfaced, seeking out Ed at the other end.
“Tell me,” Sam said, lifting up to float lazily on his back, “even without your telescope, how many of those can you name?”
“The stars? Or constellations?” Ed lifted as well, both watching the sky as they orbited each other.
“Does it matter?”
“No. I can name most of them.”
“Then where am I?”
Ed navigated to drift up beside Sam, tracing over invisible lines in the sky. “Gemini. Sort of like two stick figures holdings hands.”
Sam chuckled. “And you?”
“Pisces is there.” Ed dragged his finger the other direction. “See the way the ends connect and then it makes a sort of tilted V?”
“Doesn’t really look like a fish.”
“We had to be more creative back then.”
Blinking as what Ed was implying sunk in, Sam righted himself, not sure if he could ask, “You mean…?”
“I’m not that old.” Ed grinned. He didn’t clarify how old he was, however.
“You know, one of these days, I’m going to get you up on that roof to use your telescope properly.”
Ed scrunched his nose. “I wasn’t lying about not caring for heights.”
“I figured. Any particular reason?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because there weren’t as many tall buildings in my time.”
“Which was…?” Sam tried again, but Ed glanced away.
“Is this our first date?”
“If it was, would you tell me?”
“I said my age wasn’t a first date reveal, so….”
Sam read Ed’s hesitancy and didn’t want to push. “I don’t think this counts.” He smirked when Ed looked at him with a start. “We need to leave the house for a real date.”
“We’ll have to start thinking about our rain check, then.” Ed smiled back at him.
Drifting closer, Sam slid his hands around Ed’s waist to finally connect and pull him in. Even in the heated pool, Ed’s skin felt bracing. “I guess we will,” he said and started to lean forward.
“Sam.” Ed wrapped his arms around Sam’s neck, but his hands fidgeted, and he held back from letting Sam reach his lips. “You’re not only pretending because you think this is the only way to be safe from me, are you?”
“What?”
The idea that Ed still expected treachery surprised him, but then, Sam almost had betrayed him again, scared as he’d been. Ed was the most powerful and deadly creature he’d ever met, but he was still vulnerable, still so human.
“According to you,” Sam said, “I’m putting myself in more danger by being with you. You gave me an out, Eddie, and I chose to stay.”
Amanda Meuwissen is a bisexual author, with a primary focus on M/M romance, and works in marketing for the software company Outsell. She has a Bachelor of Arts in a personally designed Creative Writing major from St. Olaf College, and is an avid consumer of fiction through film, prose, and video games. As author of the paranormal romance trilogy The Incubus Saga and several other titles through various publishers, Amanda regularly attends local comic conventions for fun and to meet with fans, where she will often be seen in costume as one of her favorite fictional characters. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, John, and their cat, Helga, and can be found at www.amandameuwissen.com.
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I loved this book. Sam & Ed are delightful
I already had several books on my TBE read list before this came out! More to look forward to!