Should you settle for a nearly perfect happiness or put your heart on the line for more?
It’s 1999 and 28-year-old Dominic’s carefully planned suburban life with his boyfriend Luke is perfect. His job as a nurse, his best friend Matt, his relationship with his parents, everything is just right. He and Luke have been together ten years, seen each other through friends’ deaths and their parents’ ups and downs, and even had a commitment ceremony.
Gabe isn’t happy with his boyfriend, but he stays with him, because, well it’s complicated.
Fate throws Gabe into Dominic’s life. And then that happened. Gabe’s open relationship, impulsive nature, enthusiasm for life and straight talking advice are fascinating to Dominic. They’re friends, they click over a shared love of Goldie Hawn and Gabe shows Dominic there can be more to life than planned and safe. So why can’t he take his own advice?
And Then That Happened is about finding a new kind of happiness, even when what you have is already perfect. And how sometimes perfect isn’t quite what it seems.
AUTHOR BIO
Eight things about Liam Livings, one is untrue, can you guess which one?
He lives, with his partner, where east London ends and becomes nine-carat-gold- highlights-and-fake-tan-west-Essex.
He was born in Hampshire with two club feet (look it up, it’s not nice) and problem ears, needing grommets: this meant he was in plaster from toe to groin until he was two, and had to swim with a cap and olive oil soaked lamb’s wool over his ears – olive oil bought from a health food shop, before it was sold by supermarkets.
He started writing when he was 14: sat in French lessons during a French exchange trip, for want of anything better to do, he wrote pen portraits about his French exchange’s teachers. He wrote for his school’s creative writing magazine and still writes a diary every day.
He grew up on the edge of the New Forest – not in the New Forest mind, but on the edge. Now it’s a national park, it’s so much more glamorous. He went to uni in London and never really left.
One evening, flicking through the channels, he stumbled across the film, Saving Private Ryan, and it took twenty minutes of not seeing Goldie Hawn in an army uniform, before he realised it wasn’t actually the film, Private Benjamin.
When not writing, he also enjoys baking.
He avoided any sport at secondary school by having an orthodontist appointment between the age of 14 and 16, and when he was old enough to drive, just drove home instead of playing rugby/hockey/whatever.
He is a car geek, his particular passion is old French classics, and his every day car is what is popularly referred to as a ‘hairdressers car’ a Mazda MX5 in powder blue – Muriel.
Contest: Enter to win a Win $15 giftcard for Amazon or All Romance, plus free ebooks from Liam Livings and Love Lane Books. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the Rafflecopter link provided for the entry form and for all additional contest details.
Gabe and Dominic discuss their past love lives after going to a concert together
Lying on twin beds, we compared notes on our favourite bits of the concert, sipping hot chocolate from the room’s store. Gabe said he couldn’t believe I’d never been to a concert before.
I said there were lots of things I’ve never done before. Gabe lay on his bed, arms behind his head, smiling at me.
‘I wish I’d tried a few more things, a few more men, before Luke,’ I said quietly. ‘You did, you’ve got more than your fair share of men during your early twenties.’
‘And before,’ he replied.
‘I can’t shake this feeling I’ve missed out on so much. Missed something which, for so many gay guys, is such an important part of coming out, growing up gay.’
‘You must have had your reasons why you didn’t.’
‘Course I did. I was scared, scared of all the people around me dying. And I’d met Luke, and he was nice to me, so…’
‘…you stayed together.’
‘Yeah, weeks became months, months years, and before I knew it, we’d been together a third of my life.’
‘I didn’t really think about it at the time, it wasn’t an experience, I was just living my life, being me, meeting people, seeing what happened. Same as you I suppose, only none of the people I met, stuck, so I moved onto the next one. It’s no better or worse, just different.’
‘You would say that, though, wouldn’t you?’
‘I don’t have anything to compare it to, so I don’t know.’
‘I just feel like I’ve missed out on so much, from being scared to try things.’
‘But it doesn’t matter if in the end, you’re happy.’ He paused. ‘You are happy aren’t you?’
I picked up my book and started to read. Gabe sat on the bed next to me, stroking my arm slowly. I put the book down and lay on my side, tears making the pillow damp, I felt Gabe lay behind me, his arm around my waist; we lay like spoons, fully clothed as he turned the light off.
Book Name: The Superstar Author Name: Patricia Logan
Author Bio:
Patricia Logan resides in Los Angeles, California along with her husband, four children, her grandchild and ever increasing number of cats. When not being stage mom, baking cookies, or scooping kitty litter, she writes steamy, award winning, gay erotic romance and tries to lead her readers on a journey of discovery with more than a little angst.
Storm Ellison is the sexiest man on two legs. The gorgeous young star of “Trapped on an Island”, the hottest reality show on television, is instantly recognizable the moment he leaves his palatial mansion. Paparazzi follow him everywhere, leaving him no peace or privacy, selling his pictures to the tabloids, and cementing his reputation in the press as a slutty gay playboy. As Storm prepares to sign his first major movie deal, his manager decides he needs protection. What he doesn’t expect, is to be attracted to the cold bastard who’s now running his life.
Balthazar Grant, freelance bodyguard, is a huge, handsome, rough and ready former Marine, trained by the best, and willing to step between Storm and anyone stupid enough to come at him. Always stoic and serious, Taz lends a deadly presence to Storm’s entourage whenever he ventures out in public. Storm doesn’t want a bodyguard, much less one who won’t let him live his fast and loose lifestyle with impunity and he’s certainly not one to be dictated to by an overconfident Marine who has opinions about everything including who he should hook-up with.
When a deadly threat hits Storm’s world, he’s suddenly living his own reality show, only this one has an outcome which doesn’t involve being voted off an island. Will Storm wake up before it’s too late and will Taz be able to fight his attraction to the handsome young superstar while trying to convince him he’s in very real danger? The pair will soon learn that reality is stranger than fiction.
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, M/M Romance
The Superstar Excerpt:
Jules grinned again. “You like Storm, Taz. You LIKE like him!” she raised her voice and Taz looked around to see who else could have overheard her.
“I like him fine, Jules; I work for the guy,” he replied, intentionally misunderstanding her.
“No, Taz, you are ‘in like’ with Storm,” she reiterated. She reached up and took hold of his sunglasses, dragging them off his face. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t like Storm like that, big guy. Whoa, those are some dreamy eyes,” she sighed.
Taz felt embarrassed and exposed without his shades and hated the fact that she could see the very real truth in his eyes when all he wanted to do was deny it. He averted his gaze, staring out onto the dance floor only to regret it immediately when he noted Storm’s arms wrapped around the twink, his lips being plied by the smaller man’s as their lower bodies ground against each other to the beat of the music. The moment he saw them, he frowned.
“See? That’s what I’m talkin’ about, Taz. You can’t stand the way that other man touches Storm. You want him for yourself,” she said emphatically.
Words: 82,000
Tour Dates/Stops:
Tour Dates/Stops:
19-Nov
Multitasking Mommas
Michael Mandrake
My Fiction Nook
20-Nov
Tara Lain
Cate Ashwood
Parker Williams
21-Nov
Hearts on Fire
Love Bytes
Queer Town Abbey
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
24-Nov
It’s Raining Men
Velvet Panic
Prism Book Alliance
25-Nov
BFD Book Blog
26-Nov
Inked Rainbow Reads
Molly Lolly
Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-book copy of ‘The Superstar’ by Patricia Logan. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the Rafflecopter link provided for the entry form and for all additional contest details.
Hi, everyone, thanks for having me on this tour for Gabriel’s City! Don’t forget to leave a comment at the end of this post to win a chance at the ZOMG Smells giveaway! Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
Spoiled young aristocrat Colin Harwood has always enjoyed flirting with danger, but he’s always been able to retreat to safety—until bad decisions and a chance encounter plunge him into a world far more savage than his own. Gabriel is an urban legend, famous in the underworld for his unpredictability and violence. He’s also a believer fairy tales, and quick to decide to the handsome stranger who came to his aid must be good luck. With few other options remaining, Colin will need to keep his wits about him to learn to survive in Gabriel’s City.
Gabriel’s City Blurb:
For spoiled young aristocrat Colin Harwood, the port city of Casmile is a buffet of easy pleasures. But when he steps into a pub brawl to help a dangerously outnumbered young man, he is drawn into the seedy underbelly of the city the young man calls home.
Gabriel is a cutpurse and a knife for hire, practically an urban legend. His vision of Casmile is touched by a strange combination of faith and madness, driven by fairytale logic and a capacity for love that he often must suppress to survive. He’s always worked alone, but when a dashing dragon who calls himself Colin saves him in a bar fight, he pulls Colin into his world.
Gabriel’s city is nothing like the refined, socialite existence that bored Colin senseless. Colin finds adventure and excitement there—and maybe even love. But with his layers of finery stripped away, nothing remains to protect him from poverty or danger—except Gabriel. So he must choose: go back to the civilized young man he once was, or fly free as Gabriel’s dragon.
Laylah Hunter is a third-gendered butch queer who writes true stories about imaginary people in worlds that never were. Most of hir work deals with queer characters, erotic themes, and the search for happy endings in unfavorable circumstances.
Hir mild-mannered alter ego lives in Seattle, at the mercy of the requisite cats and cultivating the requisite caffeine habit, and dreams of a day when telling stories will pay all the bills.
Giveaway! I have the good fortune to be friends with the charming people who run ZOMG Smells, who make, as their tagline says, “Fine nerdy scents for fine nerdy people.” They have created a set of perfume oil blends inspired by the characters of Gabriel’s City, and I’d like to give some away at the end of this tour! You’ll get seven 5-ml bottles, one of each of these scents, including a nice spectrum of masculine through feminine notes. Leave a comment that includes your email address to enter!
The Battle of Troll Bridge
There are a lot of stories embedded in the narrative of Gabriel’s City. Some of them are told in the book and others are only mentioned, because I’m pretty sure I can’t get away with pulling a Tolkein and interrupting the main story with folklore every few pages. But this one seemed like a good insight into the way Gabriel approaches the world, so here it is: his account of the Battle of Troll Bridge. It’s a bit gory. But only a bit.
“And if nothing more clever has come along, why, he must be living there still,” Colin finishes. It’s the way tales always end, nothing particularly interesting, but Gabriel sighs contentedly all the same. “Does that make it your turn?”
“Mmm. It does.” Gabriel leans back, looking up at the old stones of the bridge overhead, as if some cue is written there. “This was not so many years ago, maybe a handful, maybe less. It was a strange winter in Casmile that year—which means colder than this, but dry.”
Colin nods. He remembers the winter Gabriel’s talking about; there were barely any winter rains, and the next year’s harvest was poor.
“And there was a boy in the city who had the favor of the Lady, but not much else to speak of.”
How many people get to hear the tales of Gabriel’s exploits from his own mouth? “He must have had his wits about him,” Colin says.
Gabriel’s smile flickers knife-quick and disappears as if he’s pocketed it again. “Oh, always. The Lady wouldn’t love someone who couldn’t find his way back out of trouble.
“But times were hard, and the winter had been strange, so the boy had nothing to keep off the rain when one afternoon he was caught in it. He had no coin for taverns, but he was close by the river, so he darted down to take shelter beneath a bridge.”
He pauses there, and Colin thinks his arched brow might be prompting a response. “But the trouble with sheltering under a bridge is that you might run afoul of a troll.”
“It’s nearly guaranteed, in the winter,” Gabriel agrees. “The troll under this bridge was called Black Tom, and he was a nasty thing. Huge and hulking, snaggle-toothed and mean. This was his bridge, and he meant to share it with no-one.
“He said as much, in his booming growl, when the boy came tumbling down the bank to take shelter from the rain.
“It’s raining, the boy pointed out to him, and I don’t plan to stand out in it.”
“I bet he did.” Colin can imagine the way Gabriel would have sounded then, the petulant tone that means he’s only moments away from making someone bleed. “That can’t have pleased the troll.”
Gabriel shakes his head. “He wasn’t kind in the least, and nor was he clever.” His expression turns cold and guarded. “He said he couldn’t see why he’d want to let someone under his bridge who was too scrawny even to make a good meal.”
Colin feels a chill that has nothing to do with the stone at his back. He’d bet that wasn’t really the appetite Black Tom wanted to satisfy. The cold winter he remembers was four years ago; he was having his first polite fencing lessons that year, and Gabriel was already facing this. “What did you do?”
“The boy laughed at him. When your enemies are big and mean, it helps if they’re also angry, because then they forget whatever cleverness they had. Black Tom was easy to anger. He struck out at the boy, a vicious blow, but the boy was too quick for him, and dodged it. Again he tried, and again he missed. But as he reared back for a third strike, the boy slipped on a patch of wet moss and fell. The troll was on him in a moment, claws at his throat.”
Even though he knows how this story ended, Colin finds himself tense. “And then?”
“Then he’d made a terrible mistake.” The grim satisfaction in Gabriel’s tone makes Colin brace for the worst. “He’d forgotten to watch the boy’s hands, hadn’t he? And he had such a soft underbelly. So easy to cut up.”
“And then you pushed him into the river,” Colin says, hoping they can skip the rest of the killing.
“He lost his grip on the boy’s throat,” Gabriel goes on, undeterred. “And he tried to grab the knife, but he had always been too slow. It went up beneath his ribs, here, and then blood started running from his mouth, and even if you’re a troll, you’re done for then. The boy pushed him away as his strength failed, and then watched all the strength run out of him, until he was finally still.
“The boy had come there with the Lady’s favor, and he still had it. So he thanked her, and rolled Black Tom into the water, where She turned him to stone.”
“That’s—” But it would do no good to say that was impossible, would it? Colin bites his tongue.
“So the troll was defeated, and the boy had his shelter, and if nothing more wicked has come along, why,” Gabriel spreads his arms, taking in the scene, their place under the bridge, “perhaps he shelters there still.”
Book Name: Chestnuts Roasting Anthology Goodreads Link Authors Names: Toni Griffin, Angel Martinez, Silvia Violet, Freddy MacKay
Four authors, four different perspective on the holidays. Now for something a little different. Instead of a full author interview, I asked each of the authors one question. Where did your inspiration come from? Here are their answers…
Angel Martinez:
Yes. Everywhere. Everything. A conversation, a painting, a moment on the street, Freddy daring me to try something – there are no limits or predictable patterns for inspiration. I use a lot of science news and folktale as starting points, but those are certainly not my only inspirations.
Silvia Violet:
My story is set in Baton Rouge. I lived there for six years so all the celebrating Christmas when it still feely summery outside comes from personal experience. A scene with a barista asking out a guy who considered himself straight just popped into my head one day. I wrote it down, knowing I’d use it eventually and when I started thinking about Christmas stories, there it was.
Freddy MacKay:
I decided I wanted to write a fantasy, so I went shopping for mythical creatures. I like to go for the more obscure, lesser used/known creatures. When I found my “demon” I was hooked because I knew I hit something different and fun for me to write.
Toni Griffin:
My story, Wreath of Fire, is book two in my Smokey Mountain Bears series. It’s my only series set outside of Australia and the reason for that is in 2012 I visited Gatlinburg TN and the surrounding areas. I met some amazing people, had the time of my life in one of the most relaxing, picturesque settings I could have ever imagined. This place needed to be put down on paper. When the idea for the Cabin for Two anthology was being thrown around I knew exactly what I wanted to write. A Bear in the Woods was born. It’s taken me a little while to get back to the characters and write book two, but I can guarantee you won’t have to wait as long for book three.
Author Group Bio:
Mischief Corner Books is an organization of superheroes… no, it’s a platinum-album techno-fusion group…no, hold on a sec here… Ah, yes. Mischief Corner is a diverse group of authors who met on a mountain in Tennessee and decided since we probably were too easily distracted to rule the world that we’d settle for causing a bit of mayhem instead. In addition to making mayhem, we publish books with a diverse range of genres and topics… we live to break molds. MCB. Giving voice to LGBTQ fiction.
Christmas means different things to everyone, but most often it’s all about pulling loved ones close and brightening the gloom. The fire’s crackling. The snow is piling up outside, even if it’s only in your dreams. Time to snuggle up with some cocoa and some stories carefully crafted by the Mischief Corner Crew to warm hearts and cockles.
Wreath of Fire: Smokey Mountains Bears 2 – Toni Griffin:
Michael’s trying to start a new life away from his abusive father, but he’s drifting and not sure what he wants. When he accidentally starts a kitchen fire, the hot new fireman who comes to the rescue is not only another bear shifter. He’s Michael’s mate. Michael desperately needs to get his act together and figure out what he wants if he has any hope of claiming the bear fated to be his.
A Christmas Cactus for the General – Angel Martinez
Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can’t imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought.
Holly Jolly – Silvia Violet
I’m not gay. I just notice men sometimes. Everybody does, right? I notice Dane a lot, like every time I’m near him, but just because I think he’s an attractive man that doesn’t mean I like him, does it? I’m also not a fan of Christmas. Too many years “celebrating” with my Bible-thumping family ruined the holiday for me. So what if I envy all these cheerful souls dashing about with smiles on their faces? I don’t have to like Christmas, do I? If anyone could get me in the Christmas spirit, it would be Dane with his easy, relaxed manner and his gorgeous smile. If that were going to happen, though, I’d have to find the courage to talk to him and to admit that maybe I don’t know myself all that well after all.
Snow on Spirit Bridge – Freddy MacKay
Alone in Japan, Finni is struggling against the constant distrust, avoidance, and xenophobia he experiences every day. He misses home. He misses his family. Nightmares come all too frequently because of the stress, and well, Christmas is just not Christmas in Japan. Not how he understands it. Distressed by how miserable Finni is, his roommate, Mamoru, offers to be Finni’s family for Christmas. Little does he know how much one agreement would change everything between them, because both of them kept secrets neither ever dreamed were true.
Categories: Contemporary, Fantasy, Humor, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy (Please note: Not all tags refer to the collection of stories.)
Excerpt From Snow on Spirit Bridge by Freddy MacKay
Chapter One
There should be snow. Lots of it. Moreover, it should be below freezing with clouds, not this sunny and fifties crap. People should be huddled together and hurrying to get inside. It didn’t feel like Christmas otherwise.
With a sigh, Finni glanced around the train platform.
If he’d been home in Chicago, snow would blanket the streets and salt would crunch under his feet. Shop windows with mannequins would line the Magnificent Mile with Christmas winter scenes. The tree would be up at his parents’, decorated with bright lights and homemade ornaments he and his siblings made over the years. One or two presents would lie under the tree as a teaser for the younger cousins. Warm drinks would be waiting for him as he stepped through the door and brushed the snow off his coat. His family would smile at him and voices would call out to him.
If he’d been home in Chicago.
Tokyo wasn’t home.
A big, bustling city, yes, but not home.
As people hurried from one shop to the next, got on and off the trains, and ran about in their jackets and sweaters, Tokyo couldn’t have been farther from home. Yes, decorations were up at cake shops and at the department stores, but they weren’t the same. The plastic Christmas trees seemed more likely to come alive and hunt people down than give off a relaxing pine scent. They didn’t give off the same cozy family feeling Finni connected with. Everything was geared toward couples.
Since when was Christmas about couples?
A pang of loneliness ate at Finni’s gut. All he wanted was his parents, his brothers and sisters, and his cousins, aunts, uncles, and some snow. He needed to see everyone was happy and okay. Was that too much to ask for?
A chilled wind blasted Finni, and he looked up, expecting the train, but nothing rattled down the tracks. Other people grabbed their coats and hunched. Some young girls squealed and huddled closer to each other. Finally, a shiver wracked Finni, clueing him in to the unusual temperature drop.
Temperatures had plummeted from the fifties to almost thirty since he’d arrived on the platform, not normal weather. In only a T-shirt, even Finni felt the cold.
Finni sighed, closed his eyes, and concentrated on sunshine and warm thoughts. He almost laughed under the circumstances. The people would think he was odd and leave an even bigger circle around him. One more oddity to make Finni miss home even more.
The swoosh and rattle of a train making its way down the tracks caused Finni to open his eyes, watching expectantly with the others.
About damn time. Usually the trains didn’t run late unless something untoward happened. Like a jumper, which occurred more often than Finni comprehended. He risked a glance around and saw the people more relaxed, the extreme temperature flux now gone, just an oddity to discuss among themselves.
The train hissed to a stop, the doors popped open, and everyone hurried on, ready to leave the unusual drop in temperature behind them. While the men and women bumped into each other, the girls giggling as they passed Finni, he still got a wide berth as he ducked through. The crowd moved and swayed in a loose circle around him until Finni got to his spot by the doors and faced the window.
Once again, the seat next to him remained empty, no one sitting down even though the train was packed. Not every foreigner got quite the same treatment he did, but his size—not to mention the blond hair and blue eyes—made people’s reaction to him more extreme. Finni ignored the slight, though it stung more than it had the past couple of months. He’d learned not to notice when people stared or jumped in surprised when they looked up at him or moved away as soon as they noticed him after they sat down. Better to stay quiet and pretend nothing happened than draw attention to the behavior. It only made things worse.
Except today, the unfounded fears of the people he’d rode the train with since his move mid-October dug into him like claws. He sighed, leaned against the windows, and closed his eyes, exhausted.
Sleep wasn’t easy lately. Nightmares waited for him, ones that made it harder to be away from his family. He yawned, fighting off the weariness, but the rocking of the train called to him like a siren to a sailor.
No matter the direction he looked in, Finni only saw white. The snow beat down on him as he cried out. Torrents of wind spiraled all around him, the weather mimicking his heart.
Why hadn’t anyone come? The sky was dark. Someone should have found them by now. He trembled in the cold and felt so tired. He just wanted to sleep.
But he couldn’t. Not yet.
Finni tried to call out, but his voice had given out long before the sun went down.
He clutched Gunder to him. Realization had finally sunk in, but as he sniffed, Finni knew he’d never let Gunder go. No matter what.
He should’ve kept up with him. Kept Gunder in his sights, but his brother ran so much faster than he did. His legs were so long and big compared to Finni’s scrawny ones. Someday, he’d be bigger than Gunder, though, he just knew it. Then he’d be able to outrun his brother.
When they were grown up, three years wouldn’t be that big of a difference in age.
“Hear that, Gunder?” Finni asked in a whisper, pressing his face against his brother’s. “I’m going to be bigger than you someday. Be able to run faster. So…so…so…”
He broke down, sobs torn from his chest. How did they get home? Finni just wanted Mom and Dad. He just wanted to go home with Gunder.
“Mom!” His voice barely made it out, but he had to try. “Dad! Somebody!”
Nothing. He was alone. All alone.
Mom. Dad. I don’t want to be alone.
He screamed and the wind picked up, whipped around him in a cyclone. The temperature dropped farther.
“Finni! Gunder!”
Who was that?
“Finni! Where are you boys?”
“Gr-gr-grandpa?” Guilt warred with hope. He should hide. Everyone was gonna be mad. So, so mad. They’d never like him again.
The wind’s moaning stopped. The snowflakes stirred no more. Grandpa’s huge, hulking figure appeared.
“Grandpa,” Finni cried out. The hiccups came as he tried to get it all out. “G-G-Gunder fell through the ice… I-I-couldn’t reach him. Gunder…he… I-I-tried to g-g-get us home.”
“Oh, oh. Oh, Finni,” his grandpa said quietly. Tears ran down his cheeks.
Oh no. Grandpa was mad.
“My little boy.” Grandpa wrapped his big arms around them and kissed his forehead. “My poor boys.”
Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: First prize: $25.00 GC (choice of Amazon or ARe) and a choice of Tote or Mug from the MCB Redbubble store (choice of graphic). Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the link provided for the entry form and for all additional contest details.
Second prize: $5.00 GC (choice of Amazon or ARe) and choice of sticker from the MCB Redbubble store
Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway
For the Choose the Charity contest, check out all the details below. The Three of Hearts is one of three stories in this heartwarming holiday collection from Jane Davitt, Kelly Jamieson and Sydney Croft.
Book Title: Three of Hearts!
Author: Kelly Jamieson
Share the Love Collection, authors Kelly Jamieson, , Jane Davitt, and Sydney Croft
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase
Titles available for pre-order.
Haylee Tremayne is tired of the road. The concert tour for Three of Hearts was a success, but she’s confused by the inexplicable tension between her bandmates, Ben and Lucas. She’s also ready to go home to her boyfriend in Nashville. Time off would probably help everyone relax, even if it is Christmas, a season with too many bad memories.
But right before their last concert, Haylee discovers she’s been dumped for a sexy girly-girl. Story of her life: all guys see is tomboy Haylee. At the after-concert party, she drowns her sorrows and—desperate to feel feminine for once in her life—asks Ben and Lucas for a threesome. And it’s just as sexy and fun as she hoped.
Back in Nashville, Ben and Lucas prove again and again that their first night wasn’t a mistake. But the tension between them is still high, and on Christmas Eve, their ménage takes a stunning turn. When it all falls apart, Haylee is terrified that their crazy relationship might cost them the band, their success, and worst of all, each other.
Each year, Riptide Publishing releases a holiday collection in support of an LGBTQ charity. Twenty percent of all proceeds from the Share the Love collection will be donated to the It Gets Better Project.
This collection would not be possible without the talent and generosity of its authors, who have brought us the following holiday stories:
Three of Hearts by Kelly Jamieson (releasing November 17) Lucky Strike by Jane Davitt (releasing November 24) Three the Hard Way by Sydney Croft (releasing December 1)
About Kelly Jamieson
Kelly is a married mother of two who lives a very ordinary life outside of her imagination. When she’s not writing, she’s usually reading. She also likes to cook, and that means she likes to read cookbooks and cooking magazines. In the summer she enjoys spending time gardening, and in the winter she likes to read gardening magazines and seed catalogues. She loves lying on the beach or on her deck with a glass of wine and a good book. She also loves to travel. As you can see, pretty much all of her activities involve reading somehow! Although she doesn’t have as much time for it anymore, she also loves to shop, especially for clothes and shoes. Some think she’s obsessed with shoes but that is not true (although her husband would point out that there is no room left in our closet).
She loves to hear from readers, so visit her on her website, tweet her on Twitter, leave her a comment on Goodreads or Amazon or her blog, or email her at info@kellyjamieson.com.
Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a $25 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 7. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.
Every year, Riptide Publishing releases a Holiday charity bundle with themed stories by bestselling authors. Twenty percent of the net proceeds of each bundle goes to a charity that serves the LGBTQ population.
For 2015, the theme will be Holiday Surprises, and we’ll have stories by HelenKay Dimon, Christine d’Abo, and Marie Sexton. But we don’t have a charity yet.
We need YOUR help to choose the 2015 charity. Nominate your favorite LGBTQ charity below and Riptide might choose it as the 2015 Holiday bundle charity!
The chosen charity for 2015 will immediately receive a $5,000 advance against royalties (paid in 2015 on announcement of the award recipient). The charity will continue to receive 20% of all lifetime net sales income from the 2015 holiday charity collection, in the form of a monthly royalty check.
Three honorable mention charities will each receive a $250 donation.
Journey into the paranormal world with Third Eye, the latest story from Rick R. Reed!
Check out the blurb and excerpt and don’t forget to enter the contest at the end of the blog!
Book Name: Third Eye Goodreads Link
Author Name: Rick R. Reed
Author Bio & Contact:
Rick R. Reed is all about exploring the romantic entanglements of gay men in contemporary, realistic settings. While his stories often contain elements of suspense, mystery and the paranormal, his focus ultimately returns to the power of love. He is the author of dozens of published novels, novellas, and short stories. He is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner (for Caregiver, Orientation and The Blue Moon Cafe). Raining Men and Caregiver have both won the Rainbow Award for gay fiction. Lambda Literary Review has called him, “a writer that doesn’t disappoint.” Rick lives in Seattle with his husband and a very spoiled Boston terrier. He is forever “at work on another novel.” Web: http://www.rickrreed.com Blog: http://rickrreedreality.blogspot.com/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rickrreedbooks Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rickrreed. E-mail: jimmyfels@gmail.com
Publisher: DSP Publications
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
Sales Links: amazon
Third Eye Blurb:
Who knew that a summer thunderstorm and his lost little boy would conspire to change single dad Cayce D’Amico’s life in an instant? With Luke missing, Cayce ventures into the woods near their house to find his son, only to have lightning strike a tree near him, sending a branch down on his head. When he awakens the next day in the hospital, he discovers he has been blessed or cursed—he isn’t sure which—with psychic ability. Along with unfathomable glimpses into the lives of those around him, he’s getting visions of a missing teenage girl. When a second girl disappears soon after the first, Cayce realizes his visions are leading him to their grisly fates. Cayce wants to help, but no one believes him. The police are suspicious. The press wants to exploit him. And the girls’ parents have mixed feelings about the young man with the “third eye.” Cayce turns to local reporter Dave Newton and, while searching for clues to the string of disappearances and possible murders, a spark ignites between the two. Little do they know that nearby, another couple—dark and murderous—are plotting more crimes and wondering how to silence the man who knows too much about them.
Cayce was just about to put the paper aside when another article—and a familiar name in the byline—caught his eye. “Teenager Reported Missing,” by Dave Newton. It wasn’t so much the headline that got his attention but the picture of the young girl beneath it. Pretty. Long blonde hair. And disturbingly familiar.
Even though Fawcettville was a small town, the girl’s name, Lucy Plant, didn’t ring any bells. Perhaps Cayce had waited on her at the Elite, the diner where he worked. But still, no specific recollection came back. Cayce couldn’t visualize the girl sitting at the counter, nor at one of the booths.
And yet she looked so familiar, as if she were someone Cayce was friends with, or even a relative.
Cayce scanned the story. The girl had been reported missing by her mother yesterday afternoon, just before the storm that had caused such a turn in Cayce’s own life.
There were no clues. The girl, at least according to her mother, could not possibly have been a runaway. “Lucy’s a good girl,” Amy Plant had told Fawcettville police detective JT Simmons. “She wouldn’t even go down the block to visit a friend without telling us first.”
The last time anyone had seen Lucy Plant was when her mother looked outside the living room window. Lucy had been playing with her Barbie dolls on the front lawn.
Cayce closed his eyes. He remembered, suddenly, the storm coming, and not knowing where Luke was. He sympathized with the girl’s mother and the panic she must have felt when she couldn’t locate her daughter.
A ceiling fan. Beneath his closed lids, Cayce saw a ceiling fan. He didn’t know why. He didn’t own one himself, and the one in his parents’ living room was an entirely different model from this one, which was white, with a plain globe. His parents’ fan had four frosted-glass light fixtures and faux wood blades.
Cayce kept his eyes closed, watching the ceiling fan whirl, its blades blurring and becoming singular. There was something wrong with the fan. It didn’t work quite right.
Cayce felt nauseated and opened his eyes. His face was glazed with sweat. His stomach churned, and he was afraid he would vomit. Why was seeing a ceiling fan so disturbing? Or was this some sort of aftershock, an effect of his accident?
Cayce didn’t think so.
He glanced down at the face of Lucy Plant and sucked in some air. “Oh my God,” he whispered, “she’s dead.”
Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-book of Rick R. Reed’s thriller novella, ‘How I Met My Man’. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the Rafflecopter link below for the entry form and for all additional contest details.
Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway
One of my favorite authors and series is back! Today Rebecca Cohen, author of The Crofton Chronicles series, is here with the blurb and excerpt of her latest story in the Crofton Chronicles series, Saving Crofton Hall. I have an interview with her and a contest for all of you to enter. Check it all out below!
Book Name: Saving Crofton Hall Goodreads Link
Author Name: Rebecca Cohen
Up Close with Rebecca Cohen and all Things Crofton Chronicles…
Q. Rebecca, I loved the Crofton Chronicles and was so happy to see this book come up. Why continue this series, what about this place and people wouldn’t let go of you?
RC: I’m so glad you enjoyed the series, I loved writing them. Sometimes it is easy to move on from characters and a setting, and sometimes isn’t. And I knew once I finished The Crofton Chronicles that there were more stories to be told about the Redbourn family and their home. I did think about writing in another historical period, but once I had the idea of a modern Crofton, I thought I could sneak in references to the earls that came in between. The idea of an old family with an interesting history was too much fun to pass up, and Crofton Hall is just as intriguing in her own right.
Q. How far are we in the timeline from the original story?
RC: Saving Crofton Hall is set in modern-day England, with Benjamin Redbourn as the 16th Earl of Crofton. Making it just over 400 years after the original series.
Q. At the end of the third story, we saw how it all worked out for our original lovers, Sebastian and Anthony, where do these relatives come into the story?
RC: I don’t want to spoil the plot, but let’s just say it wasn’t just Crofton Hall I couldn’t let go of completely.
Q. Historical romance can be a tricky genre to write in, especially when the author is setting her stories in several different eras. Do you have a favorite time period to write in? Or several? What about those eras pulls to you set your stories and character within their cultural framework?
RC: I love the Tudor and Stuart periods, so it’s unsurprising I set The Crofton Chronicles during the Elizabethan era. The political intrigue of the Elizabethan court and the Golden Age have always fascinated me, and characters of the time are so vibrant. The Tudors were utter bastards as monarchs, and Elizabeth I’s courtiers had to walk a fine line to keep in her good books. The gap between rich and poor was even wider than now, and social hierarchy was strict and unbending. Add in William Shakespeare, and there is no other period of history that can compare for me.
Q. Will there be more Crofton stories ahead? Are you thinking of doing more modern times stories?
RC: Saving Crofton Hall is the first in the Stately Passions series, where Crofton Hall will be the backdrop to a number of different couples and their romances. There’s still plenty to learn about the Redbourn family, and Ben and Ashley will be about in the background, but will see a different side to Crofton Hall, including below stairs.
Q. From Manderly to Pemberly, there are many famous estates in literature. I loved Anthony and Sebastian, and Crofton Hall, so much a third character in their stories. Is there a Hall or Manor you have visited in England that acts as a standin for Crofton Halls and is it open to the public?
RC: Crofton Hall is based on three different stately homes all open to the public: Harvington Hall, Sudbury House, and Hatfield house. Of these only Harvington Hall was built during the period of The Crofton Chronicles but Hatfield House is the basis for the Crofton Hall of today, with it gorgeous state rooms and beautiful grounds. It’s even in Hertfordshire, where Saving Crofton Hall is set.
Q. Favorite story from your childhood that has impacted you as an adult and as a writer? Or perhaps it’s an author as well?
RC: I loved the Chronicles of Narnia, Paddington Bear and I had a lovely book of Eastern European fairy tales. Basically I had a real passion for reading and I still do. I think my love of books in general inspired me to write, all the new worlds and fantastic tales ignited my imagination. It’s something I hope to pass on to my son, and I’m discovering so many new children’s books through him. The Gruffalo anyone?
Q. What would be your favorite romantic hero from literature? Or how about romantic poet?
RC: Although not the lead ‘hero’ I adore Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing and I also loved Dartanian from The Three Musketeers. I love the poem Fire and Ice by Edmund Spenser (so much I used in The Actor and the Earl).
Q. What’s next for Rebecca Cohen?
RC: I’ve a Sci Fi novel about a novice planet builder who is reunited with his lost love going through submission, so keeping my fingers crossed for that. On the WIP front, I’m currently working on a novella series based around an amateur dramatics group in London.
STRW: That’s both surprising and wonderful. I can’t wait for it to come out. Now for all the readers out there, a closer look at Crofton Hall and all those who love that dignified lady in Saving Crofton Hall!
Author Bio:
Rebecca Cohen is a Brit abroad. Having swapped the Thames for the Rhine, she has left London behind and now lives with her husband and baby son in Basel, Switzerland. She can often be found with a pen in one hand and a cup of Darjeeling in the other.
Benjamin Redbourn, Earl of Crofton, has no intention of giving up his beloved ancestral home without a fight. Faced with his mother’s gambling debts, forgery, and the possibility of foreclosure by the bank, Ben vows to make Crofton Hall pay for herself. But opening an Elizabethan manor house to the public isn’t a one man job. With time running out, Ben needs help—and fast.
Ashley Niven has experience managing events, and he also loves history. Being in charge of opening Crofton Hall is a dream come true. As he works with Ben to prepare the house as a venue for lavish weddings and receptions, Ashley finds himself drawn not just to the charm of the house but to the dashing Earl of Crofton. Even if Ashley can look past Ben’s playboy reputation, he fears an affair could prove too much of a distraction.
But Crofton Hall has many secrets, and something hidden for over four hundred years is about to change all their lives.
Ben lost his balance and landed heavily on his arse in a nearby chair.
“How the hell did you manage that? I only agreed to borrow five hundred thousand, and that was for essential repairs, and the estate could easily repay the loan in ten years.”
“I approached the bank with a business case for a visitor attraction.
They were very enthusiastic.”
“What gave you the right?”
“Your father left us both in charge of Crofton Hall, Benjamin,” she said sharply.
He glowered at her and she deflated.
“I needed the money, and the only way I could get it was to tell the bank I wanted to open Crofton Hall to the public.”
“And they agreed to lend the money without my permission?” he asked carefully, hardly believing his mother’s audacity, but getting the feeling he knew what she was going to say next.
“They might have been under the impression that you’d agreed to it, and I was acting on both our behalves.”
“Really. And how would they have thought that?”
“Your signature isn’t exactly hard to copy.”
Ben covered his face with his hands, understanding what his mother had done.
“I know I shouldn’t have, not without your permission, but I was desperate. And the bank thought our business plan was excellent.”
He looked up at her. Elena’s eyes were red from crying, but there was still an edge of defiance in her face. “How much is left?”
She shrugged. “A few thousand, maybe.”
“And you used Crofton Hall as security?”
“Yes.”
The anger flashed through him, burning through his usual amicable nature. “How could you have been so stupid? Were you even thinking past your own selfishness?”
Elena cowered in her seat.
“You’ve ruined us, destroyed this family!”
“I didn’t mean—”
Ben didn’t want to hear her feeble excuses. “Oh, that’s all right, then. We’ll tell the bank, you didn’t mean it, and they’ll forget all about it.”
Ben reined in his anger. Taking deep, slow breaths, he clenched and unclenched his fists as he regained his calm. He watched Catlin pace up and down. Harry stood slumped against the fireplace, shell-shocked. Now was not the time to panic. He needed to know exactly how much trouble they were in and deal with it.
“Get me the paperwork.”
Without argument, Elena jumped to her feet and scurried over to the writing bureau in the corner. From the folds of frills and ruffles of her blouse, she fished out a key on a chain and unlocked the bureau. She drew out a sheaf of paper.
“It’s all here.”
“Right, let’s hope my economics degree wasn’t for nothing.” Ben snatched the papers. “I suggest you all keep your distance until I’ve finished reading.”
He sank into a chair by the unlit fireplace, blocking out the angry thoughts as he scanned sheet after sheet. The figures danced before his eyes, and he saw the terms and conditions his mother had agreed to. The interest, compound interest, and payback terms were listed and categorized in black and white with no way of denying the facts. They were in deep shit, the bank would be at the door within weeks, and Ben seethed internally at his mother’s gall.The effort she’d put into defrauding the bank was amazing, the business case had been full of fine details and promised an excellent return, but little help would that do them now.
Unless….
Ben stared around the sitting room; generations of Redbourns had sat in here. Men who’d fought at Blenheim, Waterloo, and El Alamein —they would never have given in and surrendered Crofton Hall in the face of adversity. And it wasn’t about to happen while Ben was Earl of Crofton either. As much as he wanted to rail against it, their only hope was to
convince the bank they were following through with the idea of opening the house to the public.
“We can probably sell the London apartment. That’ll raise around two million. Our trust funds are protected, so we can’t release the equity from those. If we’ve any hope of holding on to her, Crofton Hall is going have to earn her keep.”
Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-book of Saving Crofton Hall. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the
Rafflecopter Code below for the entry form and for all additional contest details:
Book Name: Moonstruck Goodreads Link
Author Name: Shannon West
Author Bio:
Shannon West currently lives in the South with her husband and family. A lover and avid reader of M/M romances, she began writing them a few years ago and now has over forty short stories, novellas, and novels to her credit. She was a finalist in the Rainbow Awards for 2013 and very honored to be an All Romance Ebooks Top Ten Author for 2013. She loves men and everything about them, and believes that love is love, no matter the gender. She mostly spends her days at the keyboard, trying to elude housework, which stalks her relentlessly. A 2014 Rainbow Awards nominee in Science Fiction.
I used to teach high school English and at one point I taught a class called Pacesetter, which was a kind of pre-AP Literature class. One of the units focused on Cultural Differences and how they had caused so much prejudice, misunderstanding and downright hatred over the centuries. Kind of a “man’s inhumanity to man” theme. Really fascinating and also horrible to realize how utterly cruel human being can be to each other because of the difference in our skins, our religion or our sexual orientation. In Germany, Hitler tried to exterminate the Jews, the homosexuals and anyone else who disagreed with him politically. In Australia, the British tried to “breed the black” out of Aborigine and English mixed children to keep their race pure. In Rwanda, the Hutus tribe set out to exterminate the Tutsi tribe because they looked a little “more white” than the Hutus, and came very close to wiping them off the map. These stories abound all over history and literature.
So I thought if a new breed of human (one that could shift into a wolf) were to be discovered, what would be the outcome? It would be nice to think we would accept them, but in reality, we’d probably do the same as so many other cultures–marginalize them and/or eradicate them. This is where I got the idea for the story and it will follow the lives of a small group of wolves who join with a few Alaskan wolves, who have already had their lives mostly destroyed by the government. Two alphas from these groups fall in love and decide not to just go along and meekly accept their fate. Instead they refuse to go into the camps and they try to fight for their own lives and for the future of their species.
Publisher: Dark Hollows Press Cover Artist: 3 Rusted Spoons
Special Agent in Charge Jaden Malik’s meeting with the old gray alpha was the first step in an attempt to convince him a fight by his pack against their removal by the Bureau of Lupine Affairs or the BLA would not only be futile but would lead to their utter destruction. When he’s attacked by the son of the old alpha, he takes the handsome man hostage to ensure the pack’s cooperation and then finds to his horror that the man is his mate.
Tyler Jenkins is furious at his capture and Malik’s plans to take his pack to one of the government preserves for wolf shifters. Malik is a shifter himself, and Tyler can’t understand how he can betray his own kind. Tyler’s pack has evaded capture for over thirty years, since the camps were first created, and he has no intention of being put behind bars. Despite his growing attraction to Jaden, Tyler manages a dangerous, daring escape with his pack, turning the tables on Malik by putting him in his own silver handcuffs and taking him with them.
Tyler has only one chance to save what’s growing between them. He has to make it good or risk losing his lover and his mate forever.
His shoulder began to throb from the silver bullet the big one had dug out of his shoulder. Before they’d started, their alpha had given him an injection to deaden the pain, but it was coming back now with a vengeance. Malik had surprised Ty with the gunshot and caught him off guard, but the attack on the agent proved to Ty, at least, that these bastards could be beaten. His father wasn’t even willing to try. Bile churned in his gut and the blood roared in his ears as the reality of his situation sank in. From free man and son of the alpha to hostage of a hated enemy and prisoner in the span of a heartbeat—how the fuck was that even possible?
He shook his head frantically and Malik reached up to pull down the gag from around his mouth. Ty practically spit the words at him. “You son-of-a-bitch! Let me go! I’ll fight you by myself. Just release me and give me a chance, or are you afraid of a fair fight?”
“So you’ve been yelling for some time now, which is why you’re wearing the gag. No more fighting. You’re my prisoner now and prisoners don’t get to make challenges. So settle your ass down.”
Ty glared at the big leader, standing in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest. “What’s the matter, are you scared?” Ty said, taunting him. “I’ve made a challenge, so either accept it or admit you’re afraid to fight me!”
The big leader stepped closer to him, taking his chin in his hand and forcing him to gaze directly into his eyes. “Be careful, Ty. Continue to run your mouth and I’ll gag you again, but it won’t be with this rag,” he said contemptuously, flicking at the cloth pulled down from his mouth. He rubbed his hand over his groin and smirked at him. “Do you understand my meaning?”
Ty flinched, but kept his gaze steady. “I’m not afraid of you, you bastard,” he said, and it would have been perfect if his damn voice hadn’t cracked there at the end, which pissed him off. He wasn’t afraid of this wolf, but there was something about him…something that fascinated and infuriated him at the same time.
Malik’s eyes softened and grew darker as they stayed fixed on his. A long, infinitely strange moment passed during which they simply gazed into each other’s eyes. It seemed like even the air around them almost crackled with energy. Ty swore that for a moment he could see the sparks flying between them. Then one of the others cleared his throat, breaking the mood. Jaden shook his head and released Ty’s chin abruptly, turning toward his men. “We’re heading back to camp. We can notify headquarters to expect us with the newcomers in two days’ time. Keep close and vigilant. I don’t trust these people to keep their bargain.”
Ty dropped his gaze so the rogues wouldn’t see the emotions that surely must be blazing in his eyes. His father would keep his filthy bargain—Ty had no doubt of it now, and he wouldn’t add to his father’s shame by creating any more of a scene, because this was a dishonor. They should have fought these trespassers off, given up their lives if necessary to defend themselves. Ty was deeply ashamed of his father for rolling over and giving in so easily. Were they cowards to be so afraid of a fight? Ty wasn’t afraid, and he’d make sure this government lackey—this traitor—knew that soon enough. He was aware of the big man reaching for him, and he put his head back up, his eyes defiant and met the agent’s steely gaze without flinching. He forced a tight rein on his emotions, because he knew they showed plainly on his face and he would not give away his private thoughts, no matter how wildly they raged inside his head. He had a strange feeling that this man knew exactly what he was thinking anyway and was quietly amused by it. His father and the rest of his pack had left the clearing, leaving Ty alone with these savages. As the others prepared to leave the clearing, Malik took deliberate stock of him, even walking around behind Ty to look him over. When Ty glared back at him, the man met his gaze with an impassive coldness, though his eyes lingered for a long time on Ty’s face. Ty hoped he could see the hatred and antipathy raging there, and he thought he might, because the alpha quirked up one eyebrow as he gazed into Ty’s eyes. The corners of his mouth lifted in a slightly contemptuous smirk, which only served to fuel Ty’s rage.
Malik reached down and took hold of the rope on Ty’s wrists, and for a second, Ty thought he actually might release him. Instead he took off the rope and held his wrists in an iron-like grip as he reached for a set of silver cuffs hanging from a loop on his camo pants. He quickly and efficiently snapped them on Ty’s wrists and a feeling of extreme weakness and lethargy came over Ty, so profound that he immediately wilted and looked up at the agent with astonishment. The cuffs began to make his wrists ache, and he groaned in pain before he even realized it. The cuffs were draining his energy and making him feel weak. His knees buckled a little.
Malik immediately put an arm around his waist to hold him up. “Steady now. You’ll get used to them in a minute. Don’t fight it.” In another couple of minutes, the ache did decrease, though the weakness remained. Ty felt like an idiot, standing there being held up by another man in an embrace so close they might be mistaken for two lovers.
Before he could gather the strength to pull away, Malik took a silver chain looped on the back of his belt and fixed it to the handcuffs, thus tethering Ty to him. Ty gave him an incredulous look and tried to jerk away, only to be shocked at the strength in the delicate-looking chain as it held him effortlessly. Malik smiled down at him and nodded toward each of the four or five big men standing behind them, regarding him with frank curiosity.
“These are members of my team. Follow their orders as you would mine.”
“That’ll be easy enough, since I have no intention of following yours either.”
Ty was aware of the angry, surprised looks the others were giving him—all except for Malik. He showed no emotion at all, except maybe amusement as Ty smirked at him and raised one eyebrow in defiance, deliberately baiting him. It was taking everything in him to stand there as if he were unaffected by all that had happened, when all he felt like doing was collapsing to his knees. The silver from the cuffs seemed to be leaching into his bones. “You’re going to be fun,” Malik said softly and held his gaze so long Ty felt a shiver of fear down his spine, though he’d rather die than let this bastard know it. Maybe, considering his situation, he should tone it down a tad. He shuffled his feet and lowered his gaze. Better to bide his time so they might relax and think he was cowed down by them.
“Let’s get going—it’ll be dark soon,” Malik finally said and turned on his heel to take off down the trail to where they’d camped, pulling Ty along behind him like a stray puppy.
Rather than get into an undignified struggle with Malik that he probably wouldn’t win anyway, Ty huffed out a breath, giving in. He ungraciously allowed the alpha to pull him along by the chain into the woods and down a long shady pathway there. He dragged his feet as much as he dared, slowing Malik down and once even making him stumble. He concentrated on sending a wave of hatred at the agent’s back and was surprised to see him glance back at him from time to time as if he actually felt it.
Words: 43,397
Tour Dates: November 17, 2014
Tour Stops:
Parker Williams, BFD Book Blog, Molly Lolly, Sinfully Sexy, Decadent Delights, Cate Ashwood, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Iyana Jenna, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, MM Good Book Reviews, Multitasking Mommas, Velvet Panic, 3 Chicks After Dark, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, The Hat Party , Carly’s Book Reviews, , My Fiction Nook, Queer Town Abbey, Fallen Angel Reviews
Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Moonstruck’. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the link provided for additional contest details and for the entry form.
Book Name: Across Worlds: Collision Goodreads Link
Author Name: S.A. Snow
Author Bio:
After chasing around puppies and corralling kittens, S.A. Snow flips open her BSG replicated console and enters her mysterious world of imagination. Seeking to escape the rigors of her day jobs, she enters flight mode and powers her engines full-speed ahead. A prolific writer of non-traditional erotica, S.A. Snow grew up on a small alpaca farm high in the Andes Mountains.
A lover of yoga and meditation, she spends her free time constructing alien space stations, organizing werewolf governments, and cataloging all episodes of Star Trek in order of technical soundness. A firm believer that one need not choose between Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas, she also has closely examines all Star Wars movies in order to determine which episode is more factually based.
S.A. Snow writes truth and only truth, factoring in all evidences she can find. She writes only about parallel universes she has personally visited, and believes if something about her books isn’t shocking, she’s not effectively telling the story.
Sales Links: Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Barnes & Noble Smashwords Kobo iTunes
Across Worlds: Collision Blurb:
Jane expected six months undercover to be hard; she expected it to be lonely and bleak. She didn’t expect to find love. Jane Butler, a CIA operative, is assigned the task of infiltrating the Xanthians and determining if they’re a threat to humanity. Going undercover as a Xanthian mate, she boards the transport ship and meets Usnavi—her new mate. After spending six days traveling through space, Jane is ecstatic to explore the Xanthian station and soon sets out to complete her mission. The only problem? Usnavi—and the feelings she is quickly developing. Fumbling their way through varying sexual expectations, cooking catastrophes, and cultural differences, they soon discover life together is never boring.
As Jane and Usnavi careen into a relationship neither of them expected, Jane uncovers dark secrets about the Xanthians and realizes she may no longer be safe. When it becomes clear she’s on her own, Jane is forced to trust and rely on Usnavi. Simultaneously struggling with her mission, her feelings for Usnavi, and homesickness, Jane faces questions she never imagined she would have to answer.
Jane took a long sip from the drink, using it to bide her time before she asked the question on the tip of her tongue.
“What are you, then?”
“I am Xanthian.”
Usnavi stood up straight, zher back tense as zhe moved over to stand in front of Jane.
“Is it really that hard to understand that I am neither man nor woman, male nor female, that I am simply Xanthian and Usnavi?”
Grinding her back teeth together, Jane nodded minutely.
“Sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s not,” she responded.
Pages: 206 pages
Tour Dates/Tour Stops:
Tour Dates/Tour Stops:
17-Nov
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
18-Nov
Butterfly-O-Meter
Parker Williams
19-Nov
Hearts on Fire
Up All Night, Read All Day
20-Nov
Jade Crystal
21-Nov
Molly Lolly
24-Nov
BFD Book Blog
25-Nov
Velvet Panic
26-Nov
Amanda C. Stone
27-Nov
Rebecca Cohen Writes
Inked Rainbow Reads
28-Nov
Prism Book Alliance
Cate Ashwood
Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-Book Copy of Across Worlds: Collision. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the link provided for the entry form and for all additional contest details.
Start Your Gift Giving Early by Helping Choose the Charity to benefit from Riptide’s Share the Love Collection!
This week we have the first of three holiday story book tours from Riptide Publishing. Riptide has a holiday bundle of 3 stories, Share the Love collection, whose proceeds benefit chosen charites. Now its time for Share The Love 2014 and the first tour, Three Hearts by Kelly Jamieson kicks off the Choose the Charity Contest for 2015.
Here is the blog release from Riptide Publishing:
Each year, Riptide Publishing releases a holiday collection in support of an LGBTQ charity. Twenty percent of all proceeds from the Share the Love collection will be donated to the It Gets Better Project.
Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a $25 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 7. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.
Every year, Riptide Publishing releases a Holiday charity bundle with themed stories by bestselling authors. Twenty percent of the net proceeds of each bundle goes to a charity that serves the LGBTQ population.
For 2015, the theme will be Holiday Surprises, and we’ll have stories by HelenKay Dimon, Christine d’Abo, and Marie Sexton. But we don’t have a charity yet.
We need YOUR help to choose the 2015 charity. Nominate your favorite LGBTQ charity and Riptide might choose it as the 2015 Holiday bundle charity!
The chosen charity for 2015 will immediately receive a $5,000 advance against royalties (paid in 2015 on announcement of the award recipient). The charity will continue to receive 20% of all lifetime net sales income from the 2015 holiday charity collection, in the form of a monthly royalty check.
Three honorable mention charities will each receive a $250 donation.
This collection would not be possible without the talent and generosity of its authors, who have brought us the following 2014 holiday stories:
Three of Hearts by Kelly Jamieson (releasing November 17)
Lucky Strike by Jane Davitt (releasing November 24)
Three the Hard Way by Sydney Croft (releasing December 1)
Check out Kelly Jamieson’s tour on Thursday, the 20th!
✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍
This schedule this week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words:
Monday, November 17:
Shannon West’s “Moonstruck” Book Tour and Contest
Book Tour: “Across Worlds: Collision” Author: S.A. Snow (contest)
MelanieM Review: Forgiving Thayne by J.R. Loveless
Tuesday, November 18:
“Saving Crofton Hall” by Rebecca Cohen book tour and contest
Rick R Reed’s” Third Eye” Book Tour and Contest
A MelanieM Review: Saving Crofton Hall by Rebecca Cohen
Wednesday, November 19:
A Sammy Review: The Eskimo Slugger by Brad Boney
A MelanieM Review: The Shearing Gun by Renae Kaye
A Mika Review: Damaged Package by S.A. McAuley
Thursday, November 20:
Three of Hearts by Kelly Jamieson – Choose the Charity Tour and Contest by Riptide
Chestnuts Roasting Anthology by Mischief Corner Books Authors (contest)
A MelanieM Review: The Best Corpse for the Job by Charlie Cochrane
Friday, November 21:
Riptide’s Book tour and contest for Gabrielle’s City by Layla Hunter
Into the Thick of Things with Lee Brazil ‘Cranberry Pi’ (book tour and contest)
Virtual Book Tour for Patricia Logan’s The Superstar (contest)
A MelanieM REview: And Then The Stars Fall by Brandon Witt
YA Saturday,, November 22:
Liam Livings Blog Tour from Love Lane Books (contest)
Should you settle for a nearly perfect happiness or put your heart on the line for more?
