Author: Scattered Thoughts

A MelanieM Audiobook Review: Love in Spades (Four Kings Security #1) by Charlie Cochet and Greg Boudreaux (Narrator)

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Rating: 5 stars out of 5

When the cards are stacked against you, the Kings will even the odds.

Ex-Special Forces soldier Anston “Ace” Sharpe is fighting a different battle these days—one involving the world of private security across the state of Florida. As part owner of Four Kings Security, Ace and his fellow Kings tackle everything from armed transport and investigations to cyber intelligence and executive protection. Cocky, fearless, and brash, Ace isn’t afraid to take risks.

After years of working alongside his father, Colton Connolly is ready to take the helm at Connolly Maritime, but his father’s retirement is put on hold when Colton begins receiving death threats. If that isn’t bad enough, his father signs a contract with Four Kings Security to provide Colton with round-the-clock protection, despite his adamant refusal. Colton’s life has been turned upside down, the last thing he needs is a shadow, especially in the form of infuriating, sexy-as-sin Ace Sharpe, who seems to be on a mission to drive Colton mad.

Sparks fly the moment Colton and Ace meet on a sultry night club dance floor. But getting involved with a client, even one as fiery and beautiful as Colton Connolly, is a line Ace is unwilling to cross. Colton might be attracted to Ace, but he’d been burned before. He might be willing to put his life in Ace’s hands, but not his heart.

As the Florida nights heat up, so does their passion, and Ace and Colton are faced with a difficult choice—take the plunge and risk it all, or play it safe and walk away?

If Ace can keep a deadly threat from robbing Colton of a future….

Charlie Cochet’s stories are usually piled on my TBR list, so getting to listen to them is a wonderful way for me to enjoy this author’s writing.  Love in Spades is the first in Cochet’s new Four Kings Security series and based on my total enjoyment in this story, I’m highly anticipating the next tale to be released.

The four kings of the series are ex-military men, a tight band of brothers, who have gone into the security business together after their military service ended.  The “kings” tag each  is given comes from the deck of cards and the full story behind the names is slowly revealed over the course of this action/adventure tale.

The first “King” up to get his story and HEA is Anston “Ace” Sharpe.  The Four Kings Security firm is well known in high circules for their discretion, superb ability to get things done, high  attention to detail, and 100 percent accuracy.  They get the job done. So their skills are known and wanted by corporations and individuals around the world.  Their newest assignment is one  Colton Connolly, who’s father has hired them to guard him against every increasing threats.  To say Colton is resistant to their hiring and protection, is mild indeed.

Cochet does the meet and clash of personalities beautifully between Ace and Colton.  The dialog sparkles and pops with testosterone and sex, the scenes snap with instant attraction, irritation, and amusement, and the characters solidify before our eyes. Or should that be  ears?

This push and pull between the two men continues throughout the story as they learn to work together as discover more of each other’s pasts as well.  This is where the reader learns more about the Four Kings start up, revelations about Ace’s past along with his “brothers” like Lucky, Red, and King.

I want to stop for a moment and talk about the amazing job that Greg Boudreaux does as a narrator.  He swings between characters so easily, capturing different personalities with changes in voices,even accents and languages, that you would think you were listening to multiple actors, and not just one.  I have to laugh out loud at his “Lucky”, I can see him so clearly, from his love of clothes to his accent.  But it’s also Red, King, Laz, and other important (and even strong fleeting characters) that Boudreaux voices so well that makes an impact on the reader and pulls this story forcibly together as an audiobook.

As the mystery unfold as to who is stalking Colton and the passion intensifies between the men, the action ramps up. The suspense and action go up tenfold, with Greg Boudreaux keeping pace, making our pulse race with anticipation and a little fear.

The final scenes are just out of control. I just loved them.  I did nothing but lay in bed  listening to this story unfold and hoping for the best outcome.  Which came of course.

Terrific ending.  Great story.  Love, love the narrator.  Now I can’t wait to see what the next King brings.  I’m gong to wait for the audio version.  This has quite spoiled me.

I highly recommend it.  For all you fans of Charlie Cochet, I’m sure you will have picked up the eBook first.  For M/M action/adventure romance, if you haven’t done so, I recommend this version too.  I just loved it.

Cover art is perfect for the character of Ace.  It’s eye  catching and works for the story too.

Audiobook Sales Links:

Audible.com 💛 Amazon 💛 iTune

Audiobook Details:

7 hours, 52 mins

Audible Audio, 8 pages
Published June 20th 2018 by Charlie Cochet (first published April 21st 2018)
Original TitleLove in Spades
ASINB07DVXHWYT
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttps://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Love-in-Spades-Audiobook/B07DVXHWYT
SeriesFour Kings Security #1
CharactersAnston “Ace” Sharpe, Ward “King” Kingston, Russell “Red” McKinley, Eduardo “Lucky” Alejandro Morales, Jacopo “Jack” Lorenzo Constantino, Sacha “Joker” Wilder

An Alisa Review: An Arranged Mating by Jane Wallace-Knight

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Rating:  3 stars out of 5

Hunter White left home as soon as he was able. Coming back to take over as alpha, Hunter learned of the serious debt his father had left the pack with. Desperate to save them, Hunter entered into a deal with a powerful vampire. The nest leader would pay off all the pack’s debts, on one condition—Hunter had to take a vampire for a mate.

Vampire Aeron Lyons had been in some serious scrapes during his unnaturally long life, but nothing came close to this. Being given to an alpha werewolf, like he was some sort of bargaining chip, wasn’t what Aeron wanted for his life, but he wasn’t dumb enough to say no to a man like Ken Roberts.

Resigning himself to join a pack who already dislikes him on principal, Aeron has no idea how rocky the road ahead will be or how he’s going to spend the rest of his life with a man who hates him.

So interesting concept, Hunter is trying to do what is right for his pack but is getting push back from many.  Aeron owes his life to Ken Roberts and when he says jump Aeron does even if it means moving to a backwater town where everyone hates him.  They both come to find there is a bunch of back stabbing going on and have to find out how to combat it.

Aeron and Hunter are both in a situation they don’t want to be in but quickly find they can make it work.  They actually connect pretty fast and want to protect the other and have to take down a few people for that to happen but they do it together.  I liked this story but felt that it was rushed and couldn’t quite connect with the characters.  It felt like they were putting up a front to others most of the time and I didn’t see the real them much.

The cover art by Harris Channing is nice and gives a nice visual for the story.

Sales Link: Siren-BookStrand, Inc.

Book Details:

ebook, 126 pages

Published: July 12, 2018 by Siren-BookStrand, Inc.

ISBN13: 9781642433081

Edition Language: English

Release Day Blitz for To See the Sun by Kelly Jensen (excerpt and giveaway)

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To See the Sun by Kelly Jensen

Publisher: Riptide Publishing

Release Date: August 13, 2018

Length: Print – 243 pages. Ebook – 295 pages.

Subgenre: Science fiction, western

Reader warnings: past and present violence, and references to past abuse.

For a full list of tags, visit: https://riptidepublishing.com/titles/to-see-the-sun and click on “Additional Details”

Links:

Riptide Publishing: https://riptidepublishing.com/titles/to-see-the-sun

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/829052

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-see-the-sun-kelly-jensen/1128691285?ean=2940162126768

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/to-see-the-sun

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/to-see-the-sun/id1383776817?mt=11

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/See-Sun-Kelly-Jensen/dp/162649830X/

Book synopsis:

Survival is hard enough in the outer colonies—what chance does love have?

Life can be harsh and lonely in the outer colonies, but miner-turned-farmer Abraham Bauer is living his dream, cultivating crops that will one day turn the unforgiving world of Alkirak into paradise. He wants more, though. A companion—someone quiet like him. Someone to share his days, his bed, and his heart.

Gael Sonnen has never seen the sky, let alone the sun. He’s spent his whole life locked in the undercity beneath Zhemosen, running from one desperate situation to another. For a chance to get out, he’ll do just about anything—even travel to the far end of the galaxy as a mail-order husband. But no plan of Gael’s has ever gone smoothly, and his new start on Alkirak is no exception. Things go wrong from the moment he steps off the shuttle.

Although Gael arrives with unexpected complications, Abraham is prepared to make their relationship work—until Gael’s past catches up with them, threatening Abraham’s livelihood, the freedom Gael gave everything for, and the love neither man ever hoped to find.

Excerpt:

Bram pushed up from the table. “I’m going to make tea. Want some?”

“I can make it.”

“Sit. I didn’t ship you all the way out here to wait on me.”

“What did you ship me out here for?”

Bram didn’t answer, and the question burned the back of his neck as he performed the mundane task of making the tea. He selected an herbal blend, his favorite, and spooned desiccated leaves, fruit peel, and flower heads into the diffusing chamber at the center of a battered metal pot. He could program the beverage machine, but he preferred to make tea the old-fashioned way. Leaves and hot water. Sometimes the process of a thing was as important as the result.

He reached toward the shelf of mugs and stopped as a hand touched his shoulder. Warm breath ghosted across the cooling skin at the back of his neck, reigniting his blush. Bram let his fingers catch on the edge of the shelf and rest there, and tipped his head forward. Gael moved closer, the heat of his body evident now as he leaned in.

Lips met the back of his neck in a soft kiss. A small quake shifted the muscles beneath Bram’s skin, his body making ready to turn. He held still a moment longer before following another long-held urge, turning slowly—so slowly—until they were face to face. Well, until his mouth was level with Gael’s forehead. Bram pressed a kiss there, one as gentle as the touch of lips to the back of his neck.

“I didn’t bring you out here for this, either,” he murmured.

“Yes, you did.”

Bram took hold of Gael’s slim shoulders. “Not just this.” And not like this.

In answer, Gael lifted his face, offering up his mouth. Bram’s resolve lasted about a second longer than he thought it might before he bent to taste those lips. They’d been interrupted twice now. No longer.

Gael’s lips were so soft, melting beneath his, opening—though Bram didn’t take the invitation right away. He kissed both lips, together and separately. He tasted them, the scent of Gael mingling with the bitter tang of the outside air. Gael made a small sound: a whimper or a moan. Bram deepened the kiss, still resisting the temptation of Gael’s tongue. He didn’t want to fall all in, lose himself.

Then he was there, falling, his lips and hands operating independently of thought. He craved the warmth of Gael’s skin and wanted to compare it to the feel of his tongue. See if he moved the same way—gently, teasingly. Gael seemed as wrapped up in the kiss as Bram. He shifted, constantly, swaying into Bram, hooking his hands into the back pockets of Bram’s work pants.

Blood shot south to pulse in his cock, leaving Bram in that almost-forgotten state of arousal—somewhere between thought and thoughtlessness. He teetered there, reveling in the anticipation, and let his imagination roam. Oh, to touch Gael’s skin, to taste him. To hear the sounds he’d make when aroused, when brought to climax, when drifting in the aftermath. Would he be loud? Would he be shy and sweet?

A soft click sounded behind him. The tea. Blinking as though roused from a dream, Bram pulled back. Gael leaned in immediately, following him. He kissed Bram’s neck and ground his hips forward. Bram tugged Gael’s hands from his pockets, regret making his movements clumsy.

Gael tipped his head back. “What are you doing?”

“The tea is ready.”

One long, slow blink. “What?”

“The tea.” Bram was still holding Gael’s hands, and stupidly, he didn’t want to let go. But he did so he could turn and collect the mugs. Pick up the pot.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No.”

“Then why did we stop?”

Bram had to consider his answer because he didn’t really know, not in a way he could express in words. It would have been so easy to keep going. To have had something fast and dirty in the kitchen, or to have picked Gael up and carried him to the bedroom.

Gael followed him into the HV room and sat beside him on the couch. Waited quietly while Bram poured the tea and handed over one of the mugs. Picking up the other mug, Bram thought a little more. Wrapped his fingers around the warm composite of ceramic and plastic and searched for just the right words.

“We’ve got time.” Bram raised the mug to his lips, but decided the tea was still too hot to take a sip. “Doesn’t all have to happen in one night.”

About Kelly Jensen:

If aliens ever do land on Earth, Kelly will not be prepared, despite having read over a hundred stories of the apocalypse. Still, she will pack her precious books into a box and carry them with her as she strives to survive. It’s what bibliophiles do.

Kelly is the author of a number of novels, novellas and short stories, including the Chaos Station series, co-written with Jenn Burke. Some of what she writes is speculative in nature, but mostly it’s just about a guy losing his socks and/or burning dinner. Because life isn’t all conquering aliens and mountain peaks. Sometimes finding a happy ever after is all the adventure we need.

Connect with Kelly: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Author Blog | Author Website | Pinterest | Tumblr | Join the newsletter

 

Giveaway

 

Enter the Giveaway:

Prize: Enter to win any back catalog Chaos Station ebook by Kelly Jensen and Jenn Burke or paperback of Always and Forever: A Chaos Station Collection by Kelly Jensen and Jenn Burke. Open internationally.

Rafflecopter code:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/88d45f0364/

 

Release Blitz for Merrick The Art Thief by Michelle Woody (excerpt)

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Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | JMS Books
 
Length: 56,030 words 
 
Publisher: JMS Books
 
Blurb
 

Brilliant art thief Merrick Davidson can steal anything, except Grant Silvan’s heart. Merrick has to keep Grant at arm’s length for fear of revealing his secret. When Merrick’s biggest rival exposes his secret to Grant, the rejected lover returns to win back his relationship with Merrick, but there are obstacles to overcome.


Wyatt Silvan, Grant’s father and Merrick’s employer, is after the famous seven Xanderclied paintings, which all contain clues to a treasure. If Merrick succeeds in obtaining all the paintings and find the treasure, he can retire as an art thief and start a normal, uncomplicated life with Grant.


Together, they hunt the paintings from art galleries to private collections, from city to city, dodging bullets and escaping from life threatening attacks. With danger all around and the FBI on their tails, will Wyatt and Merrick find the paintings and treasure they are looking for? Will Merrick realize love is the biggest treasure of it all, before it is too late?


Excerpt


Rhonda and Grant stood at the end of the hallway, looking around.


Merrick caught Rhonda’s gaze.


“There you are.” Rhonda approached him with Grant following.


“What’s wrong?”


“I don’t like this.” Rhonda leaned close. “I told him you two would look less suspicious with the family around.”


“Oh boy.” Merrick rubbed his chin as he glanced down the hall in hopes Wyatt would be there.


Wyatt’s voice came through the earpiece. “Honey, I can hear you.”


“Where are you?” Rhonda started toward the desk.


“We’ll look around. Bye.” Merrick removed his earpiece. “Let’s try the second floor.”


“Are they fighting?”


“Probably.”


“I’ve never heard them fight.”


Merrick pursed his lips. “Let’s just look for the painting.”


They took the sprawling cream-colored marble stairs to the second floor. The landing branched out to their left and right, walls on both sides lined with framed paintings and photographs. They started down the hall to their right. Only three people moved past the works of art and didn’t seem to pay Merrick and Grant any attention.


Beside him, Grant fidgeted with his watch. He wanted to hold Grant’s hand, to enjoy the stroll through the museum. How nice it’d be if there was no stress or danger, only the feel of Grant’s soft hand, his arm resting against Merrick’s as they walked.


After they passed several paintings, Merrick grinned, bowed his head.


“What?”


He glanced at the security cameras in the corners, then at Grant. “You’re distracting me.”


“I’m not doing anything.”


“You are.”


Grant smiled.


Merrick stared into Grant’s eyes for several breaths. The blue reminded him of the ocean; inviting and healing.


Grant lowered his voice. “Can my dad hear us?”


“Oh.” He looked at the earpiece in his hand. “Maybe.”


Grant nodded as he walked on.


Merrick fell into step beside him, forcing his attention to the art, even though he could feel Grant’s looks.


Grant moved closer so their arms touched. He wrapped his pinkie around Merrick’s, grinning as he turned his gaze away from Merrick.


The simple contact rushed through him. His fantasies of a life with Grant weren’t coming close to how wonderful it felt to really have him at his side.


Grant stopped them. “You’re blushing.”


“See? Distracting.”


Behind Grant, two sets of double doors led to a room where paintings in vivid colors of blues and reds flanked Xanderclied’s Despair. He took Grant’s hand. “Let’s look in here.”


As they stepped through the doorway, Merrick studied the rectangular room. With the recent thefts of Xanderclied works, the upgraded security around Despair wasn’t surprising. A wire ran from the bottom of the canvas, probably attached to a motion-activated alarm. Cameras aimed down from each corner of the room. At the two doorways, nestled into the high ceiling, were roll cages, which Merrick presumed were set to drop once the motion alarm was triggered. It was daunting, but nothing they couldn’t handle. What troubled him was whatever trick Jordan had waiting for them.


Grant faced the door, sliding his arm through Merrick’s. “I’m so nervous.”


“Relax. Nothing is going to happen right now.”


Grant caught his breath. “I’ve seen that guy before.”


Merrick glanced at the doorway, finding it empty. “Who?”


A red-haired man with a bushy beard walked along the far side of the hall. Merrick had seen him before, too. He was the flirt from the Cunningham opening. Why was he there, today of all days? Was he a part of Jordan’s game?


Merrick gripped Grant’s hand as he slid his earpiece back into place. “Guys, we have a problem.”

 
Author Bio


Michelle Woody lives in Springfield, Missouri. Her other titles include Riley, winner of the 2010 National Indie Excellence Award for Gay/Lesbian Fiction, The Scarecrow’s Kiss, and Figment of the Heart.


For more information, please visit michellewoody.com.
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A MelanieM Review: Forged in Flood by Dahlia Donovan

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Rating: 5 stars out of 5

 

When one drunken night forever scars three best friends, will they ever find a way to pick up the pieces?

Eaten up with guilt, Ivan Black spends ten years hiding from the world. He retreats to his family forge to wallow in misery. Alone. So lonely his heart aches with it.

Wesley Cook and Rolland Spence have been together since university. They struggle through the physical scars of the accident, building a life in the ruins of their dreams. They find happiness but continue to miss their angry ginger Viking—Ivan.

In all the anger of wasted years, the three men find a way to forge a relationship as hot as the fires in the smithy.

I’ve long been a fan of the novels of Dahlia Donovan, but Forged in Fire may be her best story yet.  It is a deeply moving love story between three men who lost each other and their chance at major careers in rugby directly after the university. Young men drove drunk and disastrously crashed, rolling the car, ending their triad through grievous injuries and the guilt one still carries to this day.  That would be the driver Ivan.

All this we learn in bitter bits and pieces one wet, flooded night as the waters rise about the village of Boscastle and Ivan’s family’s forge high on the hill.  It’s over a decade after the accident and “Ivan the Terrible” as his family calls him has fully retreated from life to his forge, shutting off all contact, including the two men who used to mean the most to him.  He’s plagued by memory loss from brain damage, deep guilt, and a deep seated rage that is his legacy from his father, now in prison.  His past not only haunts him but he fights it every second of the day.  And it mostly wins and tears him down.

Ivan is a savage portraiture of a man.  Driven by his demons yet Donovan continues to make us understand him as she reveals more and more of his past and his struggles to get by them.  They include his father who we meet in prison and who Ivan is named after.

But the heart and soul of this story is the dynamics, return of love and relationship of the triad. Born in the rising flood waters in Boscastle, it’s painful, so slow its like slogging through the rising tide, full of anger, resentment, pain, and loss.  They have a decade of issues to work through…even abandonment.  Incredibly, the author also manages to bring in laughter, giggles, light touches, and some incredibly  sexy scenes that show that the pull between all three men isn’t just some surface attraction.  No, it’s cellular.  These men need each other in order to be complete.  Donovan makes us believe it absolutely.  We feel it as much as the men do.

If Ivan is a complete character, so is Wesley Cook and Rolland “Rolly” Spence, who have been together as an existing couple since the accident.  They have returned to get their third, Ivan, and bring him “home”.  Each one of them, so clearly defined and beautifully written that its a joy to meet them and be included in their relationship.  It’s fun to watch and listen to, the dialog shows the ease of a couple who has been together for years as does the sex between them.  Loving, quick, and warmhearted.  Yet still they yearn for Ivan, all prickles and anger who they’ve missed all this time.  And he’s missed them as well.

The emotions here are huge, the growth, the pain, the fear the oozes off of Ivan as he faces his past, his father, his disabilities and even his future, it will scare even you.  Bring tissues.  For 130 pages, this is a big book.

I can’t begin to tell you all how much I love it and the men here.  It will leave a lasting impact.  One incredibly stupid decision and three lives changed forever.  Now we how the aftermath turns out and lives change again.

I highly recommend this story. The writing is incredible, the descriptions vivid and carry such emotional heft, and the characters so real you believe in them and invest in them absolutely.

And for those of you who are wondering, no this is not connected to her Sin Bin series other than a brief mention of Taine Afoa.  It’s completely standalone.

So yes, go pick it up, dive in and lose yourself in these men and their road back to each other.

Cover art: Claire Smith.  I love this artist’s work and this cover is no different.  It’s perfect for this story.

Sales Links:  Hot Tree Publishing  | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 130 pages
Published July 14th 2018 by Hot Tree Publishing
ASINB07DS6HLPJ
Edition LanguageEnglish

Forged in Flood is a British contemporary M/M/M romance. With heartache, hot men with foul mouths, and plenty of heat, enjoy getting to know Ivan, Wesley, and Roland.