Category: 5 star Rating

A MelanieM Review: A Minor Inconvenience by Sarah Granger

Rating: 4.75 (rounded up to 5) stars out of 5

Duty, honor, propriety…all fall in the face of love. 

A Minor Inconvenience coverAs Lord Wellington wages war against Napoleon, Captain Hugh Fanshawe, third son of Lord Fanshawe, returns from the Peninsular War permanently injured.  His leg torn apart by a French musket ball, Hugh is reduced to quiet, lonely days compiling paperwork at Horse Guards headquarters, the one place he can still make a difference.

From the battlefields to his office, now Hugh’s life is only interrupted by his mother and sister’s social schedule as he accompanies them to functions and galas.  Hugh’s only solace is that his mother no longer tries to fix his up with “suitable girls” with large dowries, thanks to his injuries.  Then Hugh’s restricted, lonely life is upended with the arrival of Colonel Theo Lindsay.

Theo is everything Hugh is not—a man of physical perfection and easy yet distinguished address. Surprisingly to Hugh, Theo appears to be interested in befriending him. Theo turns out to be a pivotal person in Hugh’s life.  An embarrassing turn of events reveals their fondness for the company of men, and soon, a friendship forms that quickly turns into something sexual and deep.

But there’s a mighty war still being fought, and a suspicion of a French spy at work in the Horse Guards.  The search for the spy’s identity and the subsequent revelations will have drastic consequences on all involved, not the least of which is Hugh’s heart!

What an amazing story!  I am so fond of M/M historical romances but accompanying that love of historical fiction is a critical eye towards the locations, settings, and cultural references of the times.  Too often that’s where a novelist goes astray, with dates, people and events not thoroughly researched.  But not here!  No, Sarah Granger has done a fabulous job of bringing the tumultuous times of the Peninsula War (1807 to 1814) to life in every way.  Through the eyes of Hugh (our narrator) we overhear the correspondence to and from Wellington as the war wages overseas and the incompetence and politics interfering with Wellington’s progress (or lack of) at home.  There are recounted clashes and tortured remembrances of bloody campaigns in Spain, and every scene, every bit of dialog feels believable and authentic.

But Granger doesn’t stop there with pulling us into the life of the English ton and upper society.  Hugh’s young sister, Sophie is fond of milliners, mantua-makers and such and is often found regaling Hugh with the descriptions of her latest gowns even as Hugh’s eyes glaze over.  I adored Sophie and her relationship with Hugh is telling, tender and happily contributes to our portrait of the man.

There are the uniforms of the 52nd Foot, the 95th Rifles and Horse Guards, the dress of the men in formal and informal occasions, the barouches, curricles, and phaeton’s and other horse drawn carriages of the times.  There’s the mention that Hugh’s valet wishes his master would have his coats made at Weston instead of patronizing Scott, an inferior tailor. And when Hugh’s not paying attention, the valet manages to tie Hugh’s neckcloth in the Mathematical style.  I could go on and go, the references accurately framing out the author’s time period for her story and giving A Minor Inconvenience a solid historical  foundation and universe upon which her characters and plot stand quite easily.

However, wonderful an author’s world building translates, it still needs great characters to breathe life into the story.  Hugh and Theo are marvelous characters believable in their ages, experiences and background.  But no matter how much I adored Theo, its Hugh that’s this story’s emotional center.  Hugh sees himself as a stolid, good sort of fellow. Not up to the gloriousness of his brothers and sister.  The oldest George is now Lord Fanshawe, intelligent, responsible and grave in his duties.  The second brother is James, a god in appearance, brave without fault, charismatic and an officer close to Wellington. Then there is Sophie, gorgeous, huge hearted, Sophie who looks like their mother, who made a brilliant marriage because she was and still is a well-known beauty.  And then there’s Hugh, whose eyes and hair color are not a match for his mother or siblings.  He’s serious, hurting over the loss of his career and disability and hiding his “unnatural” love of men. Hugh loves to fade into the background where he thinks he belongs. Trust me, Hugh will grab at your heart with all his awkwardness and serious demeanor.  I adored Hugh, even more so when fitted into his family’s framework ( I love his family as well).  Every character here is a marvel and necessary component to this story.

There is a mystery, well not so much of a mystery as I had the spy’s identity figured out.  This part of the story is the only place that I felt needs a little more construction and layers to it.  We build up to a reveal that never quite comes off as explosive or as dramatic as it could have been.  That said, this part also caused me to bawl like a baby over the pain it causes a a main character and the events that follow.  And yes, I love, loved the ending.  It was funny, believable and a HFN as it had to be while the war was still being waged.

I would love to see a return to this couple and England after the war.  What  happens to Lindsay and Hugh?  Does Sophie ever marry her rose-growing lord?  I need to know and hope there’s a sequel to follow.

A Minor Inconvenience is what is said when referring to the damage done to Hugh’s leg.  It’s just a “minor incovenience” , to all but Hugh who has to live with it.  How I love this story and I highly recommend it to all, not just the lovers of m/m historical romance but romance period.  I am going to search out more stories by Sarah Granger.  I’ll let you know what I find!

Cover Artist ?  I’m not sure who the cover artist is but they did a terrific job with the different uniforms and backdrop.

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing   All Romance (ARe)   Amazon   Buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 264 pages
Published January 14th 2014 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN 161921766X (ISBN13: 9781619217669)

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: The Burnt Toast B & B by Heidi Belleau & Rachel Haimowitz

Rating: 5 stars out of 5:BWBlogo_Web

The Burnt Toast B & B coverI know I keep saying this but it bears repeating—I LOVE this series! This story, in which injured stuntman Ginsburg Sloan seeks shelter at the B&B run by Derrick Richards, a laid-off logger who is trying to make a go of the business he inherited from his parents, is right at the top of the list of outstanding books in this series.

Ginsberg is temporarily out of work after he broke his arm on the set of Wolf’s Landing, the TV show being shot in Bluewater Bay, Washington. In an effort to save money, he heads for the B&B with the worst reputation and therefore cheapest rates, and there he encounters not only Derrick but a smoke-filled kitchen with a fire blazing both in the oven and on the stovetop. Thankfully, Ginsberg knows his way around a fire extinguisher, even with one arm, and after putting out the fire, he takes the time to assess his soon-to-be landlord.

Derrick has been out of work as a logger and was trying his hand at running the B&B he inherited when his parents were killed in an accident several years ago. He’s come to the conclusion that his clumsy efforts in the kitchen, his inability to do the necessary home repairs, and his lack of funds to do anything else equals “get out of business”. But before he can do that, he’s now going to have to find a way to get this guy to vacate the premises. So Derrick sets out to make him leave but it backfires when Ginsberg jumps in to help out. He manages to help so much that Derrick finds himself getting back into the business and enjoying it, despite his inherent objections to doing feminine work such as cooking and cleaning.

As they work together, both he and Ginsberg find themselves attracted to one another. But Ginsberg is feisty and opposed to any outdated notions Derrick expresses about roles for women and men and he won’t tolerate Derrick’s comments on what makes a man masculine. Ginsberg is transgender but, as he explains to Derrick, that has no impact on his opposition to Derrick’s comments and actions. Derrick’s ideas are just plain stupid and outdated, and Ginsberg sets out to help Derrick leave the macho bull behind while making a go of the business. Derrick finds himself enjoying the work and spending all his free time fighting his desire for Ginsberg. He wants him desperately and starts to daydream about every facet of this man—his body, his personality, his kindness, his energy, and his courage. But at the same time, Derrick is still hiding behind his gruff persona and still negative about whether or not his business can succeed in the long run, and he’s firmly convinced that Ginsberg will be leaving by the time his cast comes off and he goes back to work.

He’s so convinced of this, in fact, that he torpedoes their relationship just as it’s starting. They’d spend an amazing night together after which Ginsberg had to get up and get out the door to work and while he was away, Derrick convinced himself that this just couldn’t last. So when Ginsberg came home and presented Derrick with a special gift, it backfired and Derrick blew up, shaming Ginsberg and forcing him away.

This is just a simplified explanation for a complex plot that has more facets than a brilliant-cut diamond. Secondary characters were outstanding, especially Derrick’s ex-boyfriend Jim, and the revisit with Carter and Levi was much appreciated. The way this story evolved, the growth and learning experiences for the MCs, the heartbreak and despair they suffered, and the maturity and change in Derrick’s outlook as the story evolved all combined to make this story amazing and memorable.

I highly recommend this series to all lovers of M/M romance. I am amazed that every author in the series, though very different, has brought us characters which make me smile and leave me with a warm and fuzzy place in my heart each and every time. Don’t hesitate to invest your time in this one.

Cover art by LC Chase depicts both the gorgeous Ginsberg, complete with the typical Hollywood sunglasses, and the rugged Derrick, arms crossed in one of his perpetual scowls, standing in front of the B&B.

Sales Links:   Riptide Publishing     All Romance (ARe)     Amazon          Buy it here

Book Details:

book, 225 pages
Expected publication: January 12th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626492165
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/burnt-toast-bb
seriesBluewater Bay #5

Bluewater Bay Series by book and author:WolfsLanding_transparent

Review: When All the World Sleeps by Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

WhenAllTheWorldSleeps_500x750_0Daniel Whitlock is back in his hometown of Logan, South Carolina, after serving time in prison for killing a man. The man Daniel killed was another local boy, Kenny Cooper, someone who savagely beat Daniel because he was gay.   The problem is that Daniel doesn’t remember burning down Kenny’s house with Kenny in it.  Daniel is a sleepwalker and has been since he was a child but no one believed him when Daniel told everyone that he had been asleep when he burned Kenny’s house to the ground. Convicted with time served, now Daniel has returned home to a town that hates him and a family that won’t speak to him.  Isolated in a cabin in the woods, Daniel chains himself to the bed each night in hopes that he can sleep.  Sometimes it works, mostly it doesn’t.

When Daniel is found causing trouble at the local bar, its up to Logan cop Joe Belman to break up the fight and take Daniel home.  Like everyone else in town Bel has never believed Daniel’s defense of sleepwalking.  But now faced with the reality of a Daniel who doesn’t remember the fight at the bar, Bel’s attitude towards Daniel starts to change. When Kenny’s friends retaliate against Daniel, Bel agrees to watch over him, to keep Daniel safe by any means…including tying him up and handcuffs.

Watching over Daniel, dominating him to protect him, brings out a side of Bel he never knew existed.  And as he slips into a relationship with Daniel, one that deepens by the day, Bel finds himself looking at his hometown and its citizens in a new and harsh light.  It’s not only the town that won’t leave Daniel alone but his own fears and demons too.  Only with Bel does he find any measure of peace…now if only he can let himself believes he deserves it and that Bel will stick with him no matter what.

Not many books these days leave me speechless, let alone exceed any expectations I might have had from the blurb given.  But When All the World Sleeps is that treasure of a book that leapt over my perceptions and conjectures into a triumph of storytelling.

Truthfully, it’s the characters first that surprised me. I was unprepared for damaged Daniel Whitlock and his somnambulism.  And how deeply this character would affect me.  His pain and anguish over the past, and not just Kenny, is so profoundly real that I could swear I saw Daniel’s blood and tears wash over the Kindle’s screen as certain scenes unfolded.  He is steeped in guilt and confusion.  By returning to Logan, all the memories and problems that Daniel carries with him just intensifies for him and the reader on an almost hourly basis.  There is little mercy to be found in this small town with its almost biblical memory and cemented social judgements, whether it be against gays or convicts or those that happen to live outside the town’s proscribed idea of normal.  And oh the danger if someone just happens to be all of those.  That is a marked man, whether it be open taunts or concealed hatred.

Joe Belman, or Bel as he is called is another remarkable character in a sea of them.  Bel is someone we watch grow emotionally throughout the story.  He starts off as just another typical Logan citizen, holding much the same viewpoints and values as all the other close-knit family members and small town denizens.  Logan is so central to who Bel thinks he is that it would never occur to Bel to live anywhere else, so strongly does Bel identify with the town and his family and friends. But all that starts to change when Daniel reappears in Bel’s life.  There is a fundamental change that has to happen before Bel can see Daniel as someone other than a liar and killer, and that change happens slowly and with great realism.  Henry and Rock achieve something remarkable here with Bel.  His changeover in attitude and feelings towards Daniel feels so authentic in his doubt, stubborness, and finally acceptance that the authors pull the readers along with Bel’s introspection and emotional discoveries about himself and Daniel.  It’s intimate, it’s a ground swell of emotion that never stops breaking and its breathtaking in its accomplishment in making me, and all the readers so vested in these characters and their delicate relationship that any swerve off the path for them is as painful for us as it is devastating for them.  Bel is that singular voice in the night, the one that stands out in the sea of small town secrets and listening to him soon becomes as addictive as it is necessary.

Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock certainly understand the small Southern town mentality, one I am familiar with myself.  There is a delicate emotional balance that is necessary to achieve for appreciating and comprehending the complexities of life lived within its confines.   My father escaped it as early as possible, his brother never did.  The pull of a small hometown can sometimes be so strong in its depth of history (familial and otherwise), of its deep cultural and societal roots that establish themselves within a person never to  relinquish their hold, that some people never leave its jurisdiction, whether that be physical or emotional.  Henry and Rock get that and have made it come alive here within the pages of When All the World Sleeps.  The good, the bad, the indifference to the sufferings of those the town cannot abide or understand…its all there, laid out for the reader who has no idea of the charms and pitfalls that exist in such an atmosphere and makes it accessible.

When there is a bdsm content in a story, especially where it is a major element in a main character’s emotional makeup, I always wonder how its treatment will let me relate to the story and the character(s) involved.  Again, Henry and Rock take a multitude of difficult subject matters and by combining them, make us understand the demons that haunt Daniel and the methods chosen to help him deal with them.  Its another outstanding accomplishment that such methods seem utterly reasonable and necessary for both men, including Bel who is new to the whole idea of domination and submission.  Bel does his homework on the subject, researching and having open discussions, well as open as is possible with Daniel, on the toys and tools to be used to make Daniel feels safe enough to sleep. There is a natural progression from ignorance to total participation as a dominant and partner from Bel.  As there is an answering growth and recovery from Daniel at the end of the story.

With all the hatred that floats throughout this story, the self hatred, the hostility and animosity from the town, the pain and rejection that seems to be a matter of course for  several of the inhabitants here, there are also scenes of incredible tenderness and raw sexuality.  There is a moment with body markers so memorable in its tenderness and awkward eroticism that I didn’t know how to respond… then it gets to the end and I what my response should be…cheering for the bravery that is both Daniel and Bel, celebrating their almost impossible union and the milestones they have reached.  Hard not to reach for a tissue after that.

But the authors are not through with us or Bel and Daniel.  They are carefully constructing their plot, laying out the foundation and then the rest of the plot building blocks with the same attention to detail they did with the facts about sleepwalking and therapy.  Daniel is a superb artist, drawing both day and night and remembering only by seeing the results on paper when he awakes. The chills brought forth from the drawings ups the level of rising anxiety as events start to rush towards a climax.  And while the events speed towards a resolution, the plot never feels rushed or incomplete.  This is a narrative that leaves nothing to chance or is weighed down by extraneous or inconsequential elements.  The book is 405 pages long yet it never felt that way to me.

This story is so complete that I don’t feel a need for a sequel.  It ends as it should.  I think this is one of the finest books of 2014.

Cover Art by Amber Shah.  Again this will be on my Best Covers list.  The tones and the atmosphere achieved here are perfect for the story and characters within.

Sales Links:   Riptide Publishing       All Romance (ARe)        Amazon   Buy it here

Book Details:

405 pages
Published March 24th 2014 by Riptide Publishing (first published March 22nd 2014)
ISBN 1626490791 (ISBN13: 9781626490796)
edition languageEnglish
review posted back in 2014

Down Under Showcase Author: Lisa Henry

 STRW down Under Banner sm Hearts

Down Under Showcase Author of the Day

Lisa Henry Icon

Meet Lisa Henry

Lisa Henry is the author of Sweetwater, When All the World Sleeps, Bliss, King of Dublin and so many others listed below.

To get to know Lisa Henry a little better, she agreed to an interview. Look for the interview below and the Down Under Scavenger Hunt word found somewhere within.

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Author Bio 1

Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

Author Contacts

Contacts/Follow at :
Twitter https://twitter.com/LisaHenryOnline
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5050492.Lisa_Henry
Website http://www.lisahenryonline.com
Blog http://lisahenryonline.blogspot.com.au
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lisa.henry.1441

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Author Books Stories Down Under1 copy

Your Books:

Sweetwater_400x600BlissThe Two Gentlemen of Altona by coverWhenAllTheWorldSleeps_500x750_0

 

 

 

 

The Two Gentleman of Altona (Playing the Fool #1), with J.A. Rock
Fall on Your Knees, with J.A Rock – part of the Rated: XXXmas Anthology
Sweetwater
Bliss, with Heidi Belleau
Another Man’s Treasure, with J.A. Rock
When All The World Sleeps, with J.A. RockBest Books of 2014
The King of Dublin, with Heidi Belleau

 

Mark Cooper versus America coverBrandon Millsverse the V card The Good Boy coverARC fullcover

 

 

 

 

Mark Cooper versus America (Prescott College #1), with J.A. Rock.
Brandon Mills versus the V-Card (Prescott College #2), with J.A. Rock
The Good Boy (The Boy #1), with J.A. Rock
The Naughty Boy (The Boy #1.5), with J.A. Rock
The Boy Who Belonged (The Boy #2), with J.A. Rock
Dark Space
He Is Worthy
The Island
Tribute
The Dreams You Made in the Dirt – a free short.
Falling Away – a free short.
The Last Rebellion – a free short.

Dark Space cover
Genre(s):

I write m/m and I can’t really narrow it down any more than that. I’ve written contemporary, historical and sci-fi.

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Contests and Giveaways:

1. Today’s Giveaway (thank you, Lisa Henry) is an eBook copy of Mark Cooper versus America. Enter using this Rafflecopter link here. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rafflecopter Link: a Rafflecopter giveaway

2. Down Under Scavenger Hunt – find Lisa Henry’s Hunt “Word” in bold green. Collect all the words from each author and submit the list in writing no later than midnight on February 1st. Make sure you include an email address where you can be reached. Prizes will be given to 5 people selected, from 1st place to 5th! Happy Hunting.

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Author Qand A

 

Hi! I mean, g’day. It’s great to be here at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words. Today I’m offering an ebook copy of Mark Cooper versus America, a book I co-wrote with the awesome J.A. Rock, to one lucky commenter! Weirdly, I think it’s the most Australian of my books, even though it’s set in Pennsylvania and has snow and bears in it. I mean, we have snow here too, allegedly. I’ve only seen it once though.

Also today, I’m sharing a recipe with you. It’s simple enough that even I can follow it, I promise. The recipe is for Anzac biscuits, and no, you can’t call them cookies. Anzac biscuits are a century old this year. They are named for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, called the ANZACs, and were the biscuits of choice for families sending gift packages overseas to the troops during the First World War because, being egg-free, they wouldn’t spoil.

Anzac Biscuits Recipeanzac biscuits

Here is what you need:

125g butter, chopped coarsely
2 tablespoons golden syrup – you can substitute with treacle
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon water
1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 cup (90g) desiccated coconut
1 cup (150g) plain flour
¾ cup (165g) brown sugar
And this is what you do:

Preheat oven to 160° Celsius or 140° Celsius fan-forced. That’s 320° Fahrenheit or 285° Fahrenheit fan-forced.

Combine butter and syrup in a small saucepan. Heat gently until butter and syrup melt.

Combine bicarbonate of soda and water in a small bowl and stir into butter mixture.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour over warm butter mixture and stir well to combine.

Roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls. Place about 4 cm apart on baking paper lined baking trays and flatten slightly.

Bake in preheated oven 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes on baking trays; transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

They’re yummy! Enjoy! And now onto some questions:

Were you a reader as a child?

Absolutely. I spent several years in Papua New Guinea as a child, and we had no television there. I’m sure that has a lot to do with my very early love of reading – having no other options. We had movies some weeks at the local club, but our main entertainment was reading and storytelling. There was also no bookshop in the town we lived, so my mum encouraged my sister and me to make up our own stories. Some of the first stories I “wrote” were written down by my mum because I hadn’t learned to write yet.

Title or characters or plot? Which comes first?

Characters, always. Everything else comes after I figure out who my main players are, and what their dynamic is, because that’s always going to be the heart of any story that I write. It doesn’t matter if it’s set in the future in space or in nineteenth century Wyoming (I’ve written both!), the characters are always the first thing I focus on and I build everything else around them.

Do you have a favorite character that you have written?

That’s a hard one! I think maybe Brady from Dark Space. It was so much fun to write in his voice, and be in his head. He’s sarcastic, and defiant, and always gets in trouble because he just can’t shut his mouth, but it’s mostly just a front because he’s so scared of being stuck in space where he knows he’s going to die. And I think I really love Brady so much because I was so worried that readers would hate him—a lot of times he’s selfish and immature and says hurtful things to the few people who care about him—but most readers love him too, which was fantastic. It’s totally a secret of mine that both Brady and Cam are also Aussie characters, even if it’s from an unrecogniSable future Australia. I think probably the only think that gives it away is that Brady mentions cockatoos. Otherwise, it could be anywhere.

Having said that, I’ve also got a total soft spot for Mark Cooper, from Mark Cooper versus America, for being a proud Aussie boy at an American college and refusing to give into peer pressure and use the word “ass”. Mark is fighting the good fight! Mark was written specifically because J.A. Rock and I spent so much time arguing about Australian English (which we all know is correct) and American English (which makes no sense and is wrong). So that gave me a chance to address most of my issues with American English, and will hopefully help explain to Americans why we giggle when you ask us which team we root for. Root does not mean what you think it means.

If you were a tour guide, what would you like a visitor to see and what impression would you want them to take away with them when they leave?

I was actually a bit of a tour guide last year when J.A. Rock came to visit. I made it my mission to take her to a wildlife sanctuary so she could see crocodiles, cassowaries, koalas, dingoes, wombats and the whole shebang. We were mobbed by kangaroos, and saw one of them punch a duck. It was hilarious.

So, the wildlife, definitely. Everyone should pet a wombat and hold a koala at least once in their lives. And see a duck get punched by a kangaroo.

Heat up your Heart with The Burnt Toast B&B Tour by Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz (Book tour and contest)

BurntToastBB_TourBanner

 

BWBlogo_Web

Hi, and welcome to the Burnt Toast B&B blog tour! We’re Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz, the authors of the book, and we’re so thankful to have you along for the ride, and thankful to our hosts, Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words, for having us here today!

Normally on a blog tour, we like to share all kinds of behind the scenes goodies to do with the book: inspiration images, glimpses into research and plotting, deleted scenes, conversations about our process, character bios, etc. For this tour, though, we’re doing something a little different, but we hope you’ll still find it worth your while.

When Heidi first pitched The Burnt Toast B&B, it was as an opposites-attract story centring around the world’s worst B&B . . . and an M/M romcom where one of the lead guys just happened to be transgender. Writing solo, she’d done a trans book before, but that was very much a Trans Book, all about exploring gender identity, defining who you are, and coming out to your friends and loved ones. This book . . . isn’t that. It’s the story of an optimistic hipster stuntman and a pessimistic lumberjack who learn to make espresso, fix up a failing B&B, and generally butt heads in between loads of laundry.

Ginsberg, our hipster, is much like many of our other favourite M/M heroes: he’s funny, resilient, romantic, and sexy as hell. He’s also transgender; secure in his identity, his body, and his sexuality; and working in a career he loves. But his life isn’t without hardships. Ginsberg made his own family after his biological one turned out to be too toxic to live with. He scrimped and saved and borrowed to pay for the medical care he needed to be happy and healthy. He found a roof over his head as a “considerate couchsurfer,” living with friends and acquaintances on a temporary basis when money got tight. In Derrick and his failing B&B, Ginsberg finally finds an opportunity to have a real home, if only he can convince Derrick to keep the place open.

Ginsberg’s background of financial hardship and lack of family support is all too common among many people who, like him, are trans and trying to live happy, fulfilling lives as their true selves. As such, we the authors, our publisher Riptide, and our generous blog tour hosts will be using the next few days to highlight the personal fundraisers of real trans people in need. We hope that if you’ve got a little extra money this month, you’ll consider donating, and if money’s tight, maybe you can help by spreading the word, too.

For our part, Rachel, Heidi, and Riptide will be giving donors a $5 Riptide credit code for every $10 in donations you make (up to $50 in codes per person, up to $5,000 in codes overall)–just email your donation receipt(s) to info@riptidepublishing.com with the subject line “Burnt Toast Tour Donation,” and Riptide will send out all $5 codes a week after the tour ends. (It’s totally cool, by the way, to spread your donations across multiple fundraisers if you’d like; we’ll add up all your receipts sent in a single email and base your credit vouchers on the grand total.)

We’re also hosting a special contest for people who donate: every dollar in donations to any of these fundraisers will earn you an entry into a drawing for a full paperback set of Riptide’s current Bluewater Bay lineup, OR two signed paperback copies of The Burnt Toast B&B. We’ll draw one week after the blog tour ends. Every dollar helps, and every dollar counts!

Lastly, we’ll randomly select three commenters from all the tour stops and donate $50 apiece in each winner’s name to the trans charity or fundraiser of their choice. (Please be sure to leave a way for us to contact you if you win!)
Today’s featured fundraiser is for Reid, a young Canadian trans man struggling to make ends meet because of employment discrimination. You can find it at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/transman-needs-a-little-help. And here’s Reid 🙂

As a trans man in “the armpit of Canada,” Reid has been unable to secure long term employment, and is thus in need of emergency living expenses, as well as funds to help him purchase items like safe binders and packers to help him be safe and secure in his body. As a thank-you to those who donate, Reid is offering a number of reawrds, including original fiction, original music, and handwritten letters of gratitude. You can learn more about Reid and help this young man to get his feet beneath him at his fundraiser page, https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/transman-needs-a-little-help.

Thank you so much for following our (slightly unconventional) blog tour! Be sure to leave a comment on this or any of our other tour stops for a chance to have $50 donated in your name to a trans-related fundraiser/charity of your choice. And if you choose to donate to any of the fundraisers we’ve highlighted over the course of the tour, don’t forget to forward proof of your donation to info@riptidepublishing.com with the subject line “Burnt Toast Tour Donation” to claim your $5 coupon(s) and enter your name in the extra special drawing!

Lastly, if you or someone you love is transgender and going through a difficult time, please check out the Trans Lifeline, http://www.translifeline.org/. This crisis helpline is staffed entirely by trans volunteers and runs at least twelve hours a day, seven days a week, in the US and Canada. If you’re in crisis, please call them. If you’d like to support this nonprofit, please visit http://www.gofundme.com/translifeline.

About The Burnt Toast B&B:

The Burnt Toast B & B coverAfter breaking his arm on set, Wolf’s Landing stuntman Ginsberg Sloan finds himself temporarily out of work. Luckily, Bluewater Bay’s worst B&B has cheap long-term rates, and Ginsberg’s not too proud to take advantage of them.

Derrick Richards, a grizzled laid-off logger, inherited the B&B after his parents’ untimely deaths. Making beds and cooking sunny-side-up eggs is hardly Derrick’s idea of a man’s way to make a living, but just as he’s decided to shut the place down, Ginsberg shows up on his doorstep, pitiful and soaking wet, and Derrick can hardly send him packing.

Not outright, at least.

The plan? Carry on the B&B’s tradition of terrible customer service and even worse food until the pampered city boy leaves voluntarily. What Derrick doesn’t count on, though, is that the lousier he gets at hosting, the more he convinces bored, busybody Ginsberg to try to get the B&B back on track. And he definitely doesn’t count on the growing attraction between them, or how much more he learns from Ginsberg than how to put out kitchen fires.

Sales and Contact Links:

A Sammy Review: Thomas Elkin Series by N. R. Walker (all books)

 Rating: 5 stars out of 5 for the entire Thomas Elkin series –

Elements of Retrofit (Thomas Elkin, #1)
Elements of Retrofit cover

Ahhh. Oh my goodness. I loved it.

Tom Elkin in a successful and sought after architect who has drowned himself in his work since leaving his wife and coming out as a gay man. For over forty years he lived a lie, and he has a new sense of freedom but is still missing something. Enter Cooper Jones, a young twenty-two-year-old who happens to be friends with Tom’s son, Ryan. As it just so happens, Cooper ends up being one of the lucky candidates to intern at Brackett & Golding. Though neither of them intends for it to happen, sparks fly, and the connection is undeniable.

This story is low angst, while still acknowledging the road bumps that come up in a situation such as this one. It doesn’t stick too much on a particular issue, and certainly doesn’t bog down the story. At the same time, it manages to not be overly fairy-talesque, and maintain an essential aspect of reality.

I’m really not usually someone who enjoys age-gap. It’s just not my thing. But, God, did I thoroughly enjoy this. No complaints at all, except that it’s too late for me to be able to start reading the next in the series.

Sales Links:    Totally Bound        All Romance (ARe)      amazon             buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 89 pages
Published October 4th 2013 by Total-E-Bound Publishing (first published October 3rd 2013)
ISBN 1781844712 (ISBN13: 9781781844717)
edition languageEnglish
seriesThomas Elkin #1

Clarity of Lines (Thomas Elkin #2)Clarity of Lines cover
by N.R. Walker

So here’s the thing, I’m a pretty picky person. I can find faults in things easily, and it takes quite a bit to impress me.

But this – this series, well it does that.

Clarity of Lines continues with Tom and Cooper, as their relationship grows and flourishes. They hit some bumps along the way, with issues and themes from the first in the series resonating in this. Of course, age will always be an issue for some, and I love the fact that the author doesn’t simply brush this off in the continuation. There’s a consistent theme, a very clear line (pun intended) that brings these books together.

My favorite scene was probably the one in which Cooper came to comfort Tom. This is also ironically the scene where Sophia finally just gets it/them. I am so invested in these characters that I really felt it, and the importance of that moment.

My only complaint is that it was just too darn short, and I wish we could see more of how Tom’s mom deals with things, as well as a bit more of the grieving process being played out, as it is more complex of a process and the book ends before the enormity of it is really captured.

All in all, a great second book that will leave me desperately craving the third.

Sales Links:   Totally Bound            All Romance (ARe)           amazon           buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 103 pages
Published December 13th 2013 by Totally Bound
ISBN 1781848963 (ISBN13: 9781781848968)
edition languageEnglish
seriesThomas Elkin #2

Sense of Place (Thomas Elkin, #3)Sense of Place cover

Et cor domum

So this is usually where I give a little bit of info about the story (in my own words, of course). But that won’t be here. Why? Because if you’ve read any other book in the series, you’ll know just what you’re getting here. The same, completely wonderful, breath of fresh air.

Thomas and Cooper are positively one of my favorite couples, and this series just has a feel-good spot for me. I can honestly say that if there’s every a crappy day for me, where I’m a bit down, I will probably go and read this series, because the number of times I smiled throughout it… just magic.

There’s such a sense of place (hah, but really) in these stories, and this is no different. The way they understand each other and their work, how they see one another through architecture. I said it with the first book, but it rings even more true here – I’m not a fan of age gap, but this, this does something for me.

Really really wonderful. I’m sad to see it come to an end, but so happy that I experienced it.

Sales Links:      Totally Bound        All Romance (ARe)        amazon            buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 110 pages
Published February 14th 2014 by Totally Bound
ISBN 1781849544 (ISBN13: 9781781849545)
edition languageEnglish
seriesThomas Elkin #3

For each book, the cover art by Posh Gosh always does a great job of capturing the book. It has not only the characters but architecture and lines, which is what really makes the relationship between Tom and Cooper so special for me. They just share their own art in love and life, and it’s oh so wonderful. The cohesion of the covers is another great element. They all fit together and you can tell they’re a series at first glance.

A MelanieM Review: Red Dirt Heart 4 (Red Dirt Heart series finale) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Red Dirt Heart 4 coverThe minute Travis Craig saw the name Sutton Station on a list of places to apply to Travis just knew that was the place to go for his internship.  And once there, he realized he had found home.  It wasn’t just the harshly beautiful land and environment that called to Travis, but the owner, Charlie Sutton, himself.  Loving Charlie was easy even though the man was stubborn, and riddled with crippling self-doubt. No, for Travis, loving Charlie Sutton felt as natural as breathing.  But living with Charley? Teaching him how to love in return and, more importantly, how to love himself, was not.

But Travis knew all along it’d be worth it. He knew the man with the red dirt heart was destined to be his. Just like he knew the red dirt that surrounded him was where he was supposed to be.  With Charlie and Sutton Station, Travis knew he was home.   But there’s one more trip to take….that’s taking Charlie home to Texas to meet his folks and let them know the man who has come to mean everything to their son.

Red Dirt Heart 4 by N. R. Walker is the final story in this heartwarming, remarkable saga.  It only took the first book for Charlie Sutton, Travis Craig, Ma, George and all the rest that goes for family on Sutton Station to grab hold of my heart.  And with each book my love affair with this series deepened along with Charlie and Travis’ relationship and journey towards their HEA. We were there as Charlie’ dealt with all the doubts and fears that came with the damage his father inflicted upon his son.  We were silent observers as Charlie came to grips with his past and learned to love himself as well as Travis.  Along the way their story came to feel less a piece of fiction and more like desired visits with old friends.  Now its at a end and I’m feeling kind of bereft.  But what a send off N. R. Walker gave them.

For starters, Walker switched out the point of view.  The first three books are told from Charlie Sutton’s perspective.  By living in Charlie’s head and heart, we learned how hard it was for Charlie to accept himself and step out of his father’s shadow. We listened to his internal monologue, jumbled thoughts, stubborn feelings even as we learned that Travis loved to just to watch his Charlie, that Travis couldn’t sit still and was always busy, busy loving and moving Charlie along whether Charlie wanted to or not.  I got comfortable with the fact that it’s Charlie we would always have an intimate knowledge of and that Travis would always be seen and filtered through Charlie Sutton.  But that wasn’t the plan for the last story, Red Dirt Heart 4.

Red Dirt Heart 4 is Travis Craig’s story and the change up in pov was sort of disorienting at first.  I was used to Charlie’s “voice” and now had to see Charlie and everyone else through Travis’ eyes.  That was a little startling but after a while I realized that listening to Travis, visualizing everyone and everything through his thoughts and feelings, was necessary. It completes the picture.  As Charlie and Travis are two sides of the same coin (an important and touching element in this story), we needed Travis’ perspective to make their love and relationship whole.

Sutton Station and Charlie have been through so many changes and those continue to mount up.  Even as the farm is adjusting to having a baby around (not Charlie and Travis’) but other things are happening to shake up the status quo.  Charlie decides to help out some disadvantaged kids and Travis and Charlie travel to Texas for Thanksgiving and Charlie’s first meet up with Travis’ folks.  Each event acts like a seismic event, shaking the foundation of Charlie and Travis’ relationship in unexpected and quite wonderful ways.  I’m not going into details here that’s one of the joys of this book and series…all the little paths and journeys that Charlie and Travis must take to solidify their love affair for each other, their determination to stay together and make each other home.

N. R. Walker has such a way of creating characters that feel believably, poignantly human in every way.  Each character is realistically defined, densely layered complete person from dialog to actions, to their thoughts,feelings, frailties, and all.  Then N. R. Walker gives us Sutton Station and the hot, red dirt environment of the Northern Territory and makes us fall deeply love all over again.   I got Charlie’s almost cellular connection to the land and his farm, I came to understand how Travis could come to love a land both harsh and beautiful in the extreme.  N. R. Walker’s almost lyrical descriptions of the desert, complete with its dangers and extraordinarily stunning features made me see it as though it was right in front of me.  And it made this water loving, green hugging woman want to head out immediately to experience it for myself.  I got all that and so much more and I did so because of Charlie and Travis and Ma and George and even Matilda and Nugget.

The Red Dirt Heart series is as much a love letter to Walker’s home as it is a love story about Charlie and Travis.  I fell in love with all of this red dirt heart series, the land and the people.  It has become my comfort read and a wishful travelogue all at the same time.  N. R. Walker was one of my best discoveries in 2014.  Make her and her Red Dirt Heart series one of yours in 2015!  It’s absolutely one our most highly recommended books and series.  Pick them all up today, read them in the order they were written,  and see why!  Happy Reading.

Cover artist Sara York completes the branding of the series with this lovely cover and still incorporates necessary elements in this story.

Sales Links:   All Romance (ARe)     Amazon          Buy it here

Book Details:

Release Date: January 9th 2015 by Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
seriesRed Dirt #4

Books in the Series (yep just 1 through 4)