Category: Book Reviews

In Our Book Spotlight: Drama Queen ( A Nicky and Noah Mystery) by Joe Cosentino (author interview and giveaway)

Drama Queen Cover

Drama Queen: A Nicky and Noah Mystery by Joe Cosentino
Publisher:  Lethe Press Books
Cover Art: Ben Baldwin

Release Date: June 6, 2015

STRW In The Spotlight Header

Sales Link: Lethe Press Books  – Amazon

Love a mystery?  Need a new m/m romance novel to read?  Why not combine them both with Joe Cosentino’s latest novel, Drama Queen (A Nicky and Noah Mystery) out June 6th?  We have all the information for you below.  Check it out!  Happy Reading.

And now onto my interview with Joe Cosentino!

 

Hello, Joe. Thank you for stopping by to chat with us today.

My pleasure. I love answering your questions!

Great. Here’s the first. When did you start writing?

As a kid I was the star of the plays in my friend’s garage. We forced our poor, unsuspecting parents to watch every one—including the lavish musicals! After college I became a professional actor, working in film, television, and theatre opposite stars like Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Bruce Willis, Charles Keating, Jason Robards, and Holland Taylor. Moving on to playwriting and ultimately writing novels seemed like an obvious next step.

Is Drama Queen your first novel?

I wrote a straight (with gay supporting characters) mystery/romance series about an ex-child star, the Jana Lane mysteries. Paper Doll is out now. Porcelain Doll and Satin Doll should follow soon. I also wrote the well-received An Infatuation, an MM romance novella published by Dreamspinner Press.

How did Lethe Press come to publish Drama Queen?

I noticed Lethe Press publishes many humorous, theatrically-styled gay books, and the company has been successful for fourteen years. After I submitted the manuscript, Steve Berman offered to publish it, saying he had great fun reading it.

Why did you write a gay mystery/comedy/romance series?

Can’t we all use a good laugh, a challenging brain twister, and a bit of romance? Drama Queen is the kind of book I like reading. It is funny, theatrical, sexy, wild, and wacky with a solid mystery full of plot twists and turns at its center.

How do you think up all the clues, red herrings, and surprises in the novel?

I’ve read every Agatha Christie novel and play many times. She is a genius at outlining when and where to give the reader what information. I love the inversion in her books, where she uses sleight of hand to lay out all the information, but not in a straight forward manner. The reader becomes the sleuth to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I tried to do the same in this series.

Since you are a college theatre professor, is the series based on you, your colleagues, and students?

Do you mean if anybody at my college ticks me off, I kill him/her in the series? Hah. To be honest, I like my colleagues and students too much to murder them in my books. Martin Anderson, Nicky and Noah’s department head, is based on me. He’s a loyal, hardworking department head and professor who fully supports his faculty colleagues, office assistant, and the students in his department. Like me, he is also a little bit, well quite a bit, of a gossip. My knowledge of theatre is also very evident in the series. The other characters and the location came from my head. As my mother says, “How do you think up all these crazy things? Well, you always were a bit crazy as a kid.”

Nicky is described as being well endowed. Does that help him solve the murders?

It doesn’t hurt. Hah. Nicky has to flirt his way into some places to get certain information, so his handsome face, muscular body, and huge penis are definitely assets. Even more, however, Nicky and Noah use their theatre skills, including playing other people, to get clues. Most of all, Nicky uses his smarts, always a fine asset in an amateur detective.

Nicky is of Italian-American decent, like you. Is that a coincidence?

Not at all. I come from a very funny Italian family. I use that in a great deal of my writing. In later books, we get to meet Nicky and Noah’s parents, and they are a riot!

How many books have your written so far in this series?

Three: Drama Queen, Drama Muscle, and Drama Cruise. In Drama Queen, Nicky and Noah have to uncover why college theatre professors are dropping like stage curtains. In Drama Muscle, Nicky and Noah have to find out why musclemen are dropping like weights in the Physical Education department while Nicky directs the Student Bodybuilding Competition. In Drama Cruise, Nicky and Noah go on a cruise to Alaska, and discover why college theatre professors are going overboard like lifeboats while Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner theatre show onboard ship.

Is Drama Queen available as an ebook and paperbook?

Yes! I am thrilled about that. This gives the reader an option to read it on a Kindle, Nook, computer, or with book in hand on the beach or in bed.

Will there be an audiobook coming down the line?

I sure hope so. It’s all up to God—and to Steve Berman!

STRW Author BookSynopsis

It could be curtains for college theatre professor Nicky Abbondanza. With dead bodies popping up all over campus, Nicky must use his drama skills to figure out who is playing the role of murderer before it is lights out for Nicky and his colleagues. Complicating matters is Nicky’s huge crush on Noah Oliver, a gorgeous assistant professor in his department, who may or may not be involved with a cocky graduate assistant…and is also the top suspect for the murders! You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat, delightfully entertaining novel. Curtain up!

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

An Excerpt from Drama Queen:

“Thirty-five! Professor, you are well preserved for someone so old.”
“I hope I’m still working at thirty-five.”
To Paul and Ricky, and to all of my students, thirty-five is older than Methuselah.
“The first one back with a piece can feed me,” said Paul with a bad boy grin.
“No food in the theatre.” After laying down the law, SuCho yanked open the theatre doors and the students filed out into the lobby.
Ariella, our Professor of Costuming and the costume designer for the play (with costumes hanging over both arms) carefully made her way off the stage and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Happy birthday, Nicky.”
“So you’ve heard I’m ancient…and incompetent.”
Flicking back her long, black hair, Ariella said in her usual monotone, “Don’t let the kids get to you, Nicky. And don’t let David get to you either. The show is terrific.”
I unleashed a half smile. “Tell David that.”
“I already did. Right after his tirade about the ‘pedestrian and mundane’ costumes. Nicky, David doesn’t like anything, except David.” Are there tears brimming in her dark eyes? “Nobody knows that better than me.”
“Ariella, I hope this isn’t too personal, but with all of your complaints about David, why do you stay married to him?”
She offered a bitter smile. “That my friend is a very good question.”
Ariella went to the Costume Shop adjacent to the stage. I joined the students who were scattered throughout the theatre lobby licking their plastic forks clean of cheesecake while texting each other in dismay over the rising tuition at the college.
Paul, Ricky, Kayla, and Jan sat on the flared stairway leading to the balcony. Kayla, a beautiful dark-skinned African American, and Jan, a gorgeous pale-skinned Albino, were on either side of olive-skinned Ricky as if forming a three-layer cake. Paul faced them and appeared to be presenting some type of proposal. Since they are the officers of the Theatre Club on campus, I assumed they were discussing club business. As I am the club’s faculty advisor I walked over, leaned on a gold marble column, and overheard their conversation.
Jan whispered, “I don’t know if I can um go through with this, guys.”
Paul arched his massive back and slipped his muscular arm around her quivering shoulder, “Sure you can, Jan. Trust me. I’ll take care of everything.”
As Jan melted, Kayla combed her hair and giggled. “It could be like fun.”
With eyes only for Paul, Ricky said, “If you um want me to do it, Paul, I’m in.”
I made my way to the gold staircase railing, and asked if they needed my help.
“No thanks, professor, we’re cool,” said Paul with a contraction and release of his pectoral muscles to the delight of his cohorts.
“Cool cake, professor.” Kayla and Jan giggled as they each fed a piece to Paul.
Ricky added with a smirk, “Paul and I can like drive you home if you are too old to drive, professor.”
I grimaced. “Very funny.”

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

Joe Cosentino is the author of An Infatuation (Dreamspinner Press), Paper Doll the first Jana Lane mystery (Whiskey Creek Press), and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Eldridge Plays and Musicals). He has appeared in principal acting roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Holland Taylor, and Jason Robards. His one-act plays, Infatuation and Neighbor, were performed in New York City. He wrote The Perils of Pauline educational film (Prentice Hall Publishers). Joe is currently Head of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and is happily married. His upcoming novels are Drama Muscle the second Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press), A Shooting Star (Dreamspinner Press novella), A Home for the Holidays (Dreamspinner Press holiday novella), and Porcelain Doll the second Jana Lane mystery.

Contact/follow Joe Cosentino at the following sites:

Web site: http://www.JoeCosentino.weebly.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JoeCosentinoauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeCosen
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4071647.Joe_Cosentino
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00KRPXJP6

STRW Spotlight Contest Header

Giveaway:  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.   Prizes provided by the author.  Enter to win an ebook (any format) of Joe Cosentino’s previous release AN INFATUATION (a Bittersweet Dreams novella published by Dreamspinner Press in February) to whomever you deem posts the best comment about their thoughts on the blurb of DRAMA QUEEN (my current release).

Drama Queen CoverBook Details:

Paperback: 194 pages
Publisher: Lethe Press (June 6, 2015)
Language: English
Cover Design: Ben Baldwin
ISBN-10: 1590214676
ISBN-13: 978-1590214671
Release date: June 6, 2015

YA Books with Kink? James Comins on Writing Kink for YA age Readers and “Fool School” (guest post and contest)

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Title: Fool School by  James Comins
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing

Its a pleasure to have James Comins here today.  The author will be letting us into writing YA stories and its challenges with sex.  On to our guest post by James Comins.

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On Writing Kink for Kids  by James Comins

I think I’ve only read one book in my whole life that features kinksters. It was, oddly, a kids book: Incarceron, by Catherine Fisher. It’s only a small glimpse, and the sequence and the world don’t reflect modern consensual kink in any way. Other than that and a few internet fiskings of that awful Fifty Shades book, I’ve never read any kink-based books.

I remember, as a kid, wanting to. I’d watch and re-watch scenes in Ninja Turtles where someone got captured. I’d thrill to sequences in movies where people got tied up by evil villains. Or books in which the bad guys faced their comeuppance and had to be thrown into cramped prisons forever, and I’d think, how exciting! Why couldn’t that be me? I’d play-act getting captured by Shredder, or Dr. Claw, and my best friend would ask when it would be our turn to get the bad guys.

Never. It was much more fun to be got.

But all of the stories I watched and read as a kid were stories of bad guys capturing the good guy’s girl against her will, then getting punished for it–also against their will. There was never any question of consent; the mere notion that anybody would want to be punished, or want to be held captive, was so crazy that nobody–with the possible exception of Patricia Wrede’s Princess Cimorene, who was quite happy to get captured by a dragon, thank you–ever imagined it. Nowhere could be found stories of trustworthy romantic partners you could trust to make your life more exciting (and scary!), or stories of princesses who sought out evil sorcerers in order to punish them because they’d been bad, or even just two adults who had a slightly peculiar power dynamic (with the exception of innumerable picture books featuring gargantuan women married to feeble little milquetoasts).

But no kink.

And the thing is, kinksters like me are as alienated and different from vanilla straight people as gay people are. I don’t “get” vanilla. It’s a world I don’t fit into at all. Lacking positive role models in movies and books, we wind up pining for a world in which the ethoses (ethi?) of slavery, cults, or God forbid, Goreans are the backdrop to human life. This freedom business is simply alien to us. A lot of kinksters have wound up skulking as inverts in the kink closet out of shame about their identity. Our society just doesn’t have many places for people to be out and kinky.

So I tend to feature kinksters of various sorts in my kids books. I want readers to have role models–both positive ones to aspire to become, and negative counterexamples. In Casey Jones is Still a Virgin  I show the good and bad of a newbie entering a kinky relationship. In My Dad is a Secret Agent, I lay out a world of strict discipline and no choices. In Fool School , the protagonists see various sides of authority in a medieval world where authority may never be questioned. I hope kids get to see what a healthy kink-based corner of society could look like.

This is the world I live in. Power vs learned helplessness, cruelty vs noblesse oblige, bossy girls and demonic kings and sassy slaves and snuggly loving relationships that happen to feature Hello Kitty nipple clamps. Having dwelt in the internet for much of my life, I know I’m not alone. I hope my stories can provide kids with a sense that, as gay kids have rapidly been learning, it does get better. Grownups get a huge advantage in life, which is that we get to surround ourselves with a reality of our own invention, one that bends and distorts through whatever lens we bring to it. My lens happens to be kinky, and those are the stories I most often tend to write about. Kids might have to dwell in consensus vanilla straight cis white male culture, but they can escape through books.

And that’s what books are for. They give you a window into a world slightly different from your own. A new lens, a new garden of possibilities. Sometimes an escape, but always a place to go where the bad things in society can’t follow.

Synopsis

In the year of our Lord 1040, fourteen-year-old aspiring jester Tom is en route to Bath to begin his studies in the art of being a Fool, following in the footsteps of his father, and his father before him.

Along the way he meets Malcolm, a fire-haired boy with eyes green as forest glass. A Scotsman whoís escaped from the ravages of the usurper Macbeth, Malcolm elects to join Tom at school. Though the journey to Bath is hazardous, it pales in comparison to what they face at the austere and vicious Fool School, where all is not as it seems. A court jester must aim to be the lowest rung on the ladder of life, and the headmaster will not abide pride.

As they journey through lifeís hardships together, Tom and Malcolm find they only have each other to depend upon.

Genre: Young Adult, gay romance, historical

Excerpt

Fool School Excerpt 2
by James Comins

It’s strangely gratifying when one of your audience finds joy, actual joy, in the music you make. Reassuring. The ealdorman conducts with his fat fingers, a genuine stupid smile on his lips.
There’s danger, too, in overplaying to the one man in the audience who’s happy with your performance. I overplay to this man.
“Enough,” sighs the ealdorman’s wife before long, and my tune dies away. I feel a pit of danger inside my chest. A warning. I see that the ealdorman himself is not the most powerful person in the room.
“But… eh… darling,” he murmurs, “don’t you think… couldn’t we… he’s but a boy-”
“Enough,” she repeats.
“Madame,” I find myself saying, “how may I entertain you?”
The room fills with a terrifying void, borne from her cold Welsh blood. A mist of icicles forms over the longtable draped by the red tablecloth, and people find their hands halfway to their mouths, food raised but uneaten. I fear for my life. I will be hanged now, taken to a gallowbraid and thrown off the side of the platform by this dark-eyed woman and her timid, complying husband. I will be kept in the wine cellar until dawn, swatting drunken mice, and in that moist-eyed fresh breath of day I will see the whole of creation pass before me as I take fugue steps up from the damp to the sunlight and the dew of summer’s toil, my feet drawn by the woman’s harsh words toward a fate of breathless… and… but here the ealdorman’s wife is speaking to me.
“Play a love song,” she whispers, and this is somehow worse than being executed on the gallows.
I don’t understand love. I say so. She dismisses it.
“Madame,” I repeat, “I’ll play for you, but I know nothing of love.”
“Yes,” her lips say, “that’s what I want to hear again.”
I’m frightened of her passion.
There is an old song, some say it comes from Master Boethius himself, that speaks of the devotion that the constant Penelope felt toward her husband, the warrior errant, Odysseus. It speaks of long years alone, sequestered in a house surrounded by enemy lovers like flies buzzing. They’re trying to convince her that her husband is not coming back, that she is alone, but she is strong, a fire buffeted by the wind, and she maintains, year after solitary year, tending her flame.
I cannot sing it-there’s a thousand thousand verses, well, not really, maybe five, but they’re long. However, the melody is familiar. I can play it on the recorder.
There is a very different world inside your head and in the shape of your mouth, playing a love song.
It begins in the first note.

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Buy Links

Don’t miss the 30% discount of the Mammoth May Sale on Wayward Ink Publishingís website!

Book trailer

Giveaway

Prizes: $20 WIP Gift Card and 1 ebook copy of Fool School.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter  Link and prizes provided by Eyes On Books Promotions and the author.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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About the author

JAMES COMINS is incapable of writing about himself in the third person. His future autobiography will probably be titled, ìThe Man Who Groaned His Way Toward Death.î He writes stories for children and adults.

Born down the street from Stephen King, he now divides his time between Denver and Seattle.

JAMES COMINS can be found at:

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A Mika Review: Northbound (The North Novels #1) by Cara Dee

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

 

A handsome young man in a knitted sweater in dramatic lighting.

Quinn Sawyer didn’t apply for a temporary job at the remote O’Connor Adventure Retreat all the way in Alaska because he wants a change of scenery. He loves his sunny Florida, and he’s only heading north because he needs answers from Declan O’Connor, the man who dated Quinn’s aunt six years ago.

One day, Declan was just gone, and it had been the beginning of hell for Quinn. Most of his family suddenly hated him and still blames him for Declan ending the relationship with Quinn’s aunt, though nobody will tell Quinn why.

He deserves to know how it could’ve possibly been his fault, and he’s not going to let the crush he harbored for Declan stand in the way.

After finally tracking down Declan, Quinn gets on a plane. Or death machine, as he prefers to call it. But in his quest to find out the truth, he discovers there’s a lot more to the Land of the Midnight Sun than seeking answers.

I really liked Northbound (The North Novels #1) by Cara Dee. At first I didn’t know I felt  about seeing the potential for Quinn & Declan because they had a sort of past in each other’s life. They did beat around it in the story, and I don’t know how to feel about it, especially that Quinn would come searching for someone he had not see in a long time. I’m glad he did, because he was so much happier seeing Declan.

I also really enjoyed the setting of Alaska. It was a nice change of place and plans for a story. I now look at Alaska in a different way than I had before. It was so different than the way I live, considering I am apart of the lower 48. Haha. It was my trigger with the age-gap trope. I did enjoy seeing Declan & Quinn together. I thought they meshed together quite well. I would had love to see more of them and less of everything else, but I’m quite happy with the finished product.

Cover Art by Cara Dee: As simple as the cover art is and I do like it. I thought since the theme was children as well, that it would have been nicer with a little girl.

Sales Links:    Amazon    Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published April 28th 2015
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe North Novels #1

Author Belinda Burke on Sweet Dreams, Mythology and “Undone” (tour and guest post)

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Undone by Belinda Burke
Publisher:  Totally Bound Books

Sales Link:  Totally Bound Books

 

Love M/M Romance?  Dying to delve into fantasy?  Combine the two and read Belinda Burke’s latest novel, Undone!

Check out the blurb and excerpt below after Belinda Burke’s guest post and don’t forget to enter the contest too! 

 

Sweet Dreams by Belinda Burke…

One of the things I enjoy the most about being an author is being able to play with the mythology I grew up with. I can give it a new shape, even while the heart remains the same. My grandmother used to put me to sleep with stories about sidhe and their hidden kingdoms, about Arthur and Merlin, and about how the first Irish won their home from dangerous immortals. So, when I first started writing I really, really wanted to share my own versions of those stories. I wanted to share of the twists my grandmother told, many that I invented myself, and some that appeared like magic (I occasionally suspect my brain isn’t entirely under my own control, but that might be a delusion of fiction.)

When I started reading in the wider world, I found out that the tales that were familiar to me were well known all over – and the more I read, the more I began to notice the similarities, as well as the differences. They come in many retellings, but some things are always the same. There’s a huge boom in fairy tale stories, while the writers of our generation (including me) try to build a new mythology out of the old. It’s important to give these stories meaning that fits the world as it is now, instead of how it was a thousand years ago.

Part of this means that the stories need to reflect new problems and struggles, and part of this means that it needs to reflect new values, too. It’s for that reason that my retelling of these stories and Arthurian saga focuses on LGBT characters – and on the sidhe. There has always been romance in the legends and in tales of Camelot, but every single one of those stories has two things in common – firstly, they’re all straight romances, and secondly, they take place in the “human” world.

Despite the occasional presence of an otherworldly interloper, we never find out what’s happening on the other side of the veil. We never get to see why Merlin is doing what he does, why the courts of fae and other immortals interact with Arthur and his predecessors. And, whether it’s an oversight in the mythology, or something lost in intervening generations, all the protagonists are straight. My characters decided to take care of both problems for me by appearing as gay and bisexual sidhe, intent on telling the old stories in their own way.

But of course, that doesn’t exempt them from the usual trauma and drama that accompanies the search for love!

 

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Blurb for Undone

The first step on the road to addiction is desire…

Tighe is Summer’s prince, the second son of the Summer Queen. The blindness of his mortal father cursed him with eyes that see too much, and now he wanders the woods of immortal Summer alone. He is an outsider in his own country or at best a curiosity—never someone anyone truly wants.

Faelan is gancanagh, one of dark Summer’s most treacherous beings. Beguiling as he is beautiful, he, like all of his kind, was made to incite lust and longing, even as he seeks true love. For anything mortal, anything unprepared, even to be in his presence is dangerous.

When the two meet by chance, Faelan can’t help but be curious about this half-mortal prince—and the prince is more interested in a companion than questioning what kind.

Tighe has never seen anything but the lie behind love. Faelan is love’s lie and knows it. Is the beginning and end of everything between them inevitable? Which is stronger, need—or nature?

Publisher’s Note: This book is associated with the Eight Kingdoms series by Belinda Burke.

Excerpt from  “Undone” by Belinda Burke

Faelan kissed him, silenced him, dared to look deep into Tighe’s eyes. “I want you.”
The truth of those words, all their wanton promises and the pure intention to keep them was in Faelan’s voice. Tighe couldn’t see it now anymore than before, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe it was a lie, either. He looked away, then back, shrugged and gave in to the smile twitching at the corners of his lips. “So? I already said the same thing. I already asked what you’re going to do.”
There was more than just heat behind the flicker of eyes that met the challenge of Tighe’s gaze.
“You did. And I said anything you’ll let me, so does this mean you’ll let me do anything?”
“No. But you know better than not to stop when you’re told, don’t you?”
There was a flash of something hurt-angry-dangerous in the bright green eyes. It dissipated in understanding humor a moment later and when Faelan leaned forward again, the curve of his lips was all but roguish. “I do. And if you can tell me to stop, I will.”
“If I can?” Fire on Tighe’s skin flared outward, brought steam off the surface of the water. Half mortal he might be. He was also the son of the Summer Queen, and his power unleashed was more than enough to singe the luster from the air. “I don’t think that’s something you should be worried about. Who do you think I am, anyway? Maybe it’s you who should think about if you can tell me to stop.”
The solemn expression Faelan had tried dissolved at Tighe’s last words. “Prince, my prince, I would never tell you to stop. Never.”
Something low and dark was in his tone, and that, like his wanting, Tighe couldn’t bring himself to doubt or deny. This time he was the one to initiate their kiss, to take Faelan’s soft lips for his own just like he’d wanted. Faelan ran his fingers under Tighe’s tunic and hummed his delight when Tighe leaned back just long enough to pull it off and toss it over his shoulders, onto the grass.

 Eight Kingdoms series blurb:

Strange alliances are forged among the fae as Macsen Cadoc and his fae allies attempt to defeat the Milesians, Irish huntresses who bear a grudge against the sidhe.

Failure will bring Macsen to his knees; success may do the same, unless he and Bran Fionnan, once a captive of the huntresses, can succeed in sowing seeds of peace. Yet even while some attempt to find a middle ground and forge a place where tolerance can flower, a new power rises, a threat to them all.

The Church of Rome aims to win the earth from its immortal rivals, even if doing so comes at the price of magic itself. It will be up to Macsen to make a choice that might save the fae and all that sustains them…but only Bran has the power to convince him to do what is right.

Can mortal and immortal overcome the conflicts that divide them when some must hunt others to survive? Is love stronger than anything—even a Fae King’s pride?

Like the sound of Undone? Buy it here.

About Author Belinda Burke

Belinda Burke
Belinda currently lives on the New England coast with her fiancée, their room mate and her cat. When she’s not writing, she’s working toward degrees in Philosophy and English, embroidering or reading.
Belinda writes in several genres, but a little lust and love always work their way into her stories.

Website: http://www.belindaburke.com

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Giveaway

Enter Totally Bound’s June blog tour competition for the chance to win an eBook of your choice, not including boxsets or anthologies.  Must be 18 years of age or older.  Competition open worldwide.  Prizes and links provided by Totally Bound Books.

Direct link: https://www.totallybound.com/june-blog-tour-giveaway

 

In the Book Spotlight: Northland by Cara Dee (excerpt and giveaway)

 

A handsome young man in a knitted sweater in dramatic lighting.

Northland (The North Novels #2) by Cara Dee
Release Date:  May 26, 2015
Publisher & Cover Artist:  Cara Dee

STRW In The Spotlight Header

 

Sales Link:  Amazon

STRW Author BookSynopsis

About Northland

Two years ago, Logan Ward got the surprise of his life when he discovered he was the father of a two-year-old boy. Professionally and romantically adrift, he devoted all his time and energy to caring for his son. But now he’s searching for something more, and he and Justin head north to Alaska to try out the life his best friend Quinn has been raving about.

Kyle Shaw has been living off the land his whole life, comfortable with nature and the challenges of surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. He enjoys his seasonal work at the O’Connor Adventure Retreat and is looking forward to this year’s stint. He’s not in the market for anything more than hard work, good friends, and reasonably priced milk.

The work brought Logan to Alaska. But a late-night encounter with Kyle opens his mind to the possibilities of a future richer than any paycheck.

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

“Okay, buckle up, boys.” Mitch began bringing the plane down. “We got a bit of a crosswind, so it’ll be a rocky landing. Be glad Quinn ain’t here.”
Kyle brought out his binoculars to check the horizon. It was clear at the moment, but there was definitely a storm brewing. It might even hit earlier.
“Who’s that down there?” Logan asked from behind him.
Kyle directed his binoculars and looked down at the runway they were approaching, and he recognized Quinn’s blue parka. There was a small figure, too. Justin. He looked like a garden gnome in his green snowsuit and pointy winter hat with flaps to cover his ears.
“Quinn and your kid,” he muttered. He saw Quinn pointing toward the plane, and the child jumped and clapped his hands. Kyle’s mouth tugged up a bit, and then he refocused on the perimeters.
He hoped Justin would grow up to be less of a douchebag than his dad.
“How good is Quinn with his gun?” Kyle zoomed in to see better. The Retreat’s little forest was surrounded by a shrubby, snow-blanketed landscape, and Kyle could see nine or ten creatures edging closer to the forest. It wasn’t caribou, and foxes didn’t move in packs. Had to be wolves.
“Decent,” Logan replied. “Why?”
“Decent’s not gonna cut it.” Kyle stowed away his binoculars and reached for the case that held his old M39 rifle. “Mitch, I need you to bring her down for me.”
Mitch knew the area and its dangers, and when someone told him to land, he fucking landed. There was a valid reason, and he didn’t question it.
Logan wasn’t created from the same stock. “Dude, what’s wrong?”
“Pack of wolves moving closer.” Kyle attached the mag and then got out his short-range .22. Just in case. As the plane touched ground, he swiped up his binoculars again and hoped the pack was only lingering in the background. Unlike what Hollywood made the world believe, wolf attacks on humans were extremely rare. But these shits kept advancing, and they were doing it fast.
Not normal.
“Stop the fucking plane!” Logan snapped at Mitch. “That’s my son out there!”
The plane bounced and skidded along the strip, and then Kyle saw both Kiery and Wolf running out of the forest, and it wasn’t long before Declan appeared, too. He must’ve sensed something was up because of how their dogs reacted, and now he was trying to get Quinn’s attention.
“Come on, come on.” Kyle spoke under his breath. Quinn looked back; he must’ve heard Declan, and only a second later, Quinn brought out his pistol and aimed it toward the approaching wolves.
“They’re running in fast,” Mitch said grimly.
They were both thinking the same thing, Kyle was sure.
Rabies.
At fucking last, the plane lost enough speed for Kyle to jump out.
“Back off, Quinn!” Declan yelled, ready with his own rifle. “Kiery, halt!”
Kyle let out a sharp whistle as he ran closer, and Wolf positioned himself in front of Quinn and Justin, baring his teeth and growling furiously.
The wolves were some twenty yards away when Kyle threw himself onto the ground to be able to hold his rifle steady. He peered through the scope and took down the male leading the pack, quickly followed by the second. Declan shot another one as the remaining wolves scattered.
“Fuck,” Kyle swore. He got off the ground and stalked toward the three dying wolves, and Declan did the same. Behind him, he could hear Logan cursing Alaska and fussing over Justin, which only made Kyle wanna punch him. Alaska wasn’t like any other state. Humans and wildlife lived together—end of fucking story.
“This one’s probably infected,” Declan sighed. A kill shot to the neck silenced the wolf permanently.
“Yeah.” Kyle eyed the animal. Foaming at the mouth was actually uncommon, but this one had it. Slackened jaw, too. Then he walked over to another wolf, and that one looked the same. “Not this one, though.” The third didn’t have any outward signs of rabies, though it meant little. Either he’d simply followed his alpha, or he’d been infected later.
“I’ll have Pat bag them and tag them and send them off to Fairbanks.” Declan pulled out his com device to radio his brother. “Were any shot in the head?”
Kyle shook his head no. If a rabid animal was shot in the head, their brains couldn’t be examined at the lab in Fairbanks. Not that Kyle gave a shit. His mind was going in another direction.
“We have the rest of the pack to worry about now,” he told Declan. “I’ll head out in an hour. Tell the others to stay indoors.”
“The blizzard, Kyle,” Declan reminded him.
Kyle just shrugged and started trekking back to the plane where his stuff was. “I’ve been through worse!” He threw a smirk over his shoulder.
Quinn looked a little shocked, but Kyle had to admit he was adjusting to life in Alaska well.
Logan, on the other hand… He was furious.
“You sure you’re okay, baby?” He studied Justin frantically.
“I’m fine,” Justin mumbled, scrunching his nose. “Why do you look mad, Daddy?”
Good question, Kyle thought. This was life up here.
Everyone should respect the power of the nature here and know the dangers that lurked, but blaming an accident on animals that had been here far longer than humans was goddamn ignorant.
“Motherfucker,” Kyle muttered to himself.
He refused to admit his hostility toward Logan was caused by what happened this morning.

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

About Author Cara DeeCara icon

There aren’t many things better than picking up my Kindle and getting completely sucked into a whole new world—where words morph into images and characters’ moods suddenly reflect my own. Aside from good plot and writing, for me, it boils down to relatable characters.

As a writer, I’m not finished until the men and women in my books come to life, until I can see them as real people, until I can connect with them. Which means I write what I want to read: everyday heroes and heroines who have the same struggles we all do. They evolve, have flaws, make mistakes and amends, learn, and find the endings they fight for.

When I’m not writing, researching, or brainstorming, I’m either planning my next trip (never-ending bucket list!), reading, watching hockey, or spending time with family and friends.

Contact/follow Cara Dee at:

STRW Spotlight Contest Header

Giveaway:  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Prizes provided by the author.  Enter to win a copy of each North book to two winners.  Leave a comment with your email address where you can be reached if chosen.

The North Books being given away are (one set to 2 winners):

  • Northland (The North Novels, #2) and
  • Northbound (The North Novels, #1):

A handsome young man in a knitted sweater in dramatic lighting.

Northbound Blurb:

Quinn Sawyer didn’t apply for a temporary job at the remote O’Connor Adventure Retreat all the way in Alaska because he wants a change of scenery. He loves his sunny Florida, and he’s only heading north because he needs answers from Declan O’Connor, the man who dated Quinn’s aunt six years ago.

One day, Declan was just gone, and it had been the beginning of hell for Quinn. Most of his family suddenly hated him and still blames him for Declan ending the relationship with Quinn’s aunt, though nobody will tell Quinn why.

He deserves to know how it could’ve possibly been his fault, and he’s not going to let the crush he harbored for Declan stand in the way.

After finally tracking down Declan, Quinn gets on a plane. Or death machine, as he prefers to call it. But in his quest to find out the truth, he discovers there’s a lot more to the Land of the Midnight Sun than seeking answers

Time to Reveal 4 New Covers for the Diversion series by Eden Winters! (excerpt and giveaway)

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Bo and Lucky Have A New Look!

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Collusion (Diversion #2) by Eden Winters
Release Date: Second edition releases June 20, 2015

Goodreads Link:
Publisher: Rocky Ridge Books
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase

Sales Links:  Rocky Ridge Books

Blurb:

Dead men can’t love.

Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter “died” in the line of duty while working off a ten-year sentence in service to the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, only to be reborn as Simon “Lucky” Harrison. The newbie he trained, former Marine Bo Schollenberger, is now his partner on (and maybe off) the job. It’s hard to tell when Lucky doesn’t understand relationships or have a clue what any sane human is doing in his bed. Bo’s nice to have around, sure, but there’s none of that picking-out-china-together crap for Lucky.

While fighting PTSD, memories of a horrid childhood, and a prescription drug addiction, Bo is paying for his mistakes. Using his pharmacy license for the good guys provides the sort of education he never got in school. Undercover with his hard-headed partner, Bo learns that not everything is as it seems in the world of pharmaceuticals.

When a prescription drug shortage jeopardizes the patients at Rosario Children’s Cancer Center, it not only pits Bo and Lucky against predatory opportunists, but also each other. How can they tell who the villains are? The bad guys don’t wear black hats, but they might wear white coats.
Pages or Words: 70,000 words

Categories: Crime Fiction, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Excerpt:

For once the neighbors were fairly quiet. However, if they started their normal shit tonight, Lucky might have to kill them, or whip out the badge he kept carefully hidden in his closet, along with the golf shirt and ball cap emblazoned with the SNB logo.
A few moments later his cell phone chimed with an answer from Bo. “K. Catching cab.” Not an overwhelming response, but Lucky would take it.
He shoved dirty dishes into the dishwasher, scooped clothes off the floor and tossed them into the closet, and put a pot of water on the stove to make Bo a cup of green tea. A knock counterpointed the steady ba-boom, ba-boom starting up from the next apartment. Fucking hell! Why couldn’t the assholes be decent neighbors for one damned night? Lucky opened the door to find Bo slumped against the wall, shirt wrinkled and hair in an every-follicle-for-itself state of disarray.
“You look like warmed over shit.” Lucky held the door open, suspicions about a drug relapse igniting anew.
Bo managed a half-hearted smile. “Yeah, it’s good to see you, too.” He staggered into the apartment and collapsed onto Lucky’s couch. “God, am I ever tired.”
“Tired? What do you do every day? Sit behind a desk and talk on the phone?” Catty, yes, but after days of being ignored, Lucky wasn’t in the mood to play nice.
“I’ve been scrambling since daybreak, tracking down dead-end leads for someone who might supply us with some drugs.”
Lucky put a finger to his lips. “Shh… keep your voice down. You’ll get my crackhead neighbors excited shouting the ‘D’ word.”
Bo pinned Lucky a glassy-eyed glare. “I don’t care who’s living over there, the scary’s on this side of the wall. As I was saying, I’ve been following leads, trying to locate pharmaceuticals for the hospital.” He gave Lucky a “happy now?” face.
“What kind of leads? Any of interest?”
Bo dropped his head back to rest on padded upholstery. “We’ve been approached by seventeen different wholesalers today, not on the list I gave you, who’ve offered us stock at ridiculous prices. The first question they ask is what meds we’re having trouble getting so they can go snatch them up and sell them to us for enormous markups, the bastards. It’s against company policy to tell them anything.
“Graham called another meeting with the department heads for tomorrow. We’re putting in one more plea to let us consider a gray market broker. We’re pretty fucking desperate.”
“Graham?” And we’re?
“Mr. Danvers, the head buyer.”
Lucky had a file on Graham Danvers, such as it was. Squeaky clean with a nauseating disposition toward humanitarian awards. Apparently, he invested a good bit of time and money in local charities. Ava didn’t seem to like him. The highly vocal pharmacy tech just became Lucky’s new best friend. “Bo, remember what I told you about getting personally involved with suspects? You’ve got to remain objective.”
Bo shot to his feet. “Damn it, Lucky! Graham isn’t a suspect! He’s a pharmacy buyer, for crying out loud. Do you have to be suspicious of everybody?”
He had to ask? “Yes, I do. It’s in my job description.”
“Your job description is the same as mine. I read it, I signed it. There’s nothing in there about mandatory trust issues.” Bo added under his breath, “Or about being an asshole.”
“Hey, maybe you got a new revision. Take Keith, for example. ‘Asshole’ was definitely in his.”
Bo pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “Lucky, I work with Graham, and trust me, he’s on the up and up.”
“Oh my God! You haven’t told him why you’re there, have you?” Shoving Bo back toward Atlanta seemed more and more likely.
Arms folded across his chest, Bo glowered, the stance and expression reminding Lucky of himself. “Do you actually believe I’m an idiot?”
Lucky opened his mouth to reply but Bo cut him off. “Don’t answer that. But remember, I graduated head of my class at pharmacy school and served my country in Afghanistan. I’m not a moron and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t treat me like one.”
After a moment Lucky ventured again, “Did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Tell him why you’re there.”
Throwing his hands up in the air, Bo stomped across the living room. “No, you suspicious son of a bitch, I didn’t. But I also believe you’re out of your mind if you consider the man a suspect.” He flopped back down on the couch with a huff.
Lucky remained standing, leaning against the bar separating the poor excuse for a kitchen from the poor excuse for a living room. He studied his partner, cataloguing the telltale signs of burnout. Tired? Check. Moody? Check. Less sociable? Double check. Some folks weren’t cut out for handling the type of shit the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau dealt with, and from day one Lucky had suspected Bo wouldn’t make it. Of course, he’d said the same about Keith and anyone else who’d stayed long enough for Lucky to learn their names.
“Are you hungry?” Lucky asked, though at the moment he didn’t have much in the way of vegetarian cuisine handy, unless he counted the makings for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“No.” Bo stared out the window at the brick wall of the next building.
“Can I fix you some green tea?”
A weak, “That’d be nice,” barely reached Lucky’s ears.
Moseying into the kitchen and going through the motions of tea preparation allowed Lucky time to mull things over. He recognized the listlessness, the lack of greeting when he opened the door. Even to himself, he and Bo appeared to be merely coworkers right now, nothing more. Losing Bo as a lover hurt like hell, for he alone came close to understanding what made Lucky tick. Or, lacking understanding, accepted Lucky’s quirks as part and parcel, never trying to change what made Lucky “Lucky.” Bo only nudged and manipulated for the greater good, like weaning him off caffeine so he slept better. Oh, and the whole, “Tell me about yourself, Lucky” thing. Maybe Bo should have been a shrink instead of a pharmacist.
Plain and simple, the man couldn’t handle the job, though Lucky couldn’t imagine very many people dealing with sick kids and remaining unchanged. Before when the pressure reached critical levels, Bo sought comfort in alprazolam. Had he resorted to self-medicating again?
Watching a man he’d come to care about slowly slide back into the nightmare of addiction, and a possible jail sentence, was more than Lucky could bear. He’d do his damnedest, talk to Bo in a better moment, and only if he couldn’t break through would he fill Walter in.
Not tonight. If Bo allowed him to, tonight Lucky would hold him, love him one last time before doing what he had to do. Because if Lucky’s hunch proved right, Bo might never forgive him.

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About Eden Winters…

Eden Winters was captivated young by storytelling, and her earliest memories include spinning tales for the family’s pets. Her dreams of writing professionally took a sojourn into non-fiction, with a twelve-year stint in technical documentation.

She began reading GLBT novels as a way to better understand the issues faced by a dear friend and fell in love with the M/M romance genre. During a discussion of a favorite book, a fellow aficionado said, “We could do this, you know.”

Good-bye gears, motors, and other authors’ characters; hello plots and sex scenes. This has resulted in such prize-winning stories as Settling the Score, The Angel of Thirteenth Street, Naked Tails, The Wish, Duet, and Diversion.

Somewhat of a nomad, Eden has visited seven countries so far. She currently calls the southern US home, and many of her stories take place in the rural South. Having successfully raised two children, she now balances the day job with hiking, rafting, spoiling her grandchildren, and stalking the wily falafel or elusive tofu pad Thai at her favorite restaurants. Her musical tastes run from Ambient to Zydeco, and she’s a firm believer that life is better with fur kids and Harley Davidsons.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdenWinters
Facebook Author Page
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EdenWinters1

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Tour Dates & Stops: June 9, 2015
Parker Williams, Cate Ashwood, Andrew Q. Gordon, Mikky’s World of Books, Inked Rainbow Reads, Bayou Book Junkie, BFD Book Blog, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Happily Ever Chapter, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Divine Magazine, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Charley Descoteaux, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Love Bytes, MM Good Book Reviews, Dawn’s Reading Nook, The Novel Approach

Giveaway

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotion.

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Rafflecopter Prize: E-book set, 1 each of the four currently published Diversion books: Diversion, Collusion, Corruption, and Manipulation
Rafflecopter Code:

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A Mika Review: The Bruise-Black Sky (More Heat Than the Sun #5) by John Wiltshire

Rating: 4 star out of 5 stars

The Bruise Black Sky coverBen usually overlooks Nikolas’s occasionally jarring dissonance. Not this time. A deep rift, a terrible lie, separates them. Eleven thousand miles from Nikolas, in New Zealand, it’s bitter winter as Ben films the tragic story of a post-apocalyptic gladiator, a victim of his own personal darkness. But on receiving a death threat, Ben suspects the truth of actor Oliver Whitestone’s suicide. Someone doesn’t want this movie made. It’s fortunate for Ben, therefore, that dissonance is a state of unrest, a longing for completion. As if Nikolas would stay at home in disgrace while Ben Rider-Mikkelsen becomes the target of a crazed stalker…

Talk about secrets! Wow! Everyone is keeping a secret in The Bruise-Black Sky by John Wiltshire. I thought this was one of the funniest books out the series. Nik was hilarious. Nik who obviously doesn’t think he is good with kids is sadly mistaken. This kid Miles astounded me. Miles and Nik was so good together. In my hopeless mind I was picturing Nik with a son. HAH, I have this warm gooey feeling about him doing well. I hope I see Miles in future books. He was adorably cute.

This picks up a year or two later from the last book. As usual something drastic happens for Nik to go back to Aleskey’s Special Forces Nik! Ha, I said it. He went full metal jacket. Ben, who has his memories back, is back to being Ben… kind of.  I felt as though there was something off with him. I get it now reading the book. As usual they have their couple spats, and one does this “wrong” thing, and the other go pouts. This book, they were not playing around with each other. I mean, some indifferences had my heart beating wondering, if this was it.  Could Nik do anything ever so awful that Ben would leave him?

It’s a couple things in this book, that’s awful, but I find myself always forgiving Nik. I’m a complete tosser for Nik! 

Nik and Ben in AMERICA! It was funny from their view point. Nik loves Ben with everything he has, and I think like every other book so far he shows it. He might not have the words, but his actions speak extremely louder than anything else. Of course we got to see Emilia, and her grandmother, as well as a few other familiar faces. I enjoyed them. I liked the plot as well. I really liked when Nik met with the police lady, it was family because they were both being stoic towards each other. Parts of the story felt  slow to me, while other parts intrigued me.

I will continue reading this series because I love them. The shocking revelations in the book had me like WTF. That last 25% was the best ever! I can’t wait until the next book is out.

Cover Art. Now that I’ve had time to read it, I understand the cover. I don’t like it or dislike it really. It’s okay and continues with the type of cover of the previous books.

Sales Links:   MLR Press – All Romance (ARe) – Amazon     Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 282 pages
Published March 20th 2015 by MLR Press (first published March 19th 2015)
edition languageEnglish
seriesMore Heat Than the Sun #5

Books in the Series:

Love is a Stranger (More Heat Than the Sun #1)
Conscious Decisions of the Heart (More Heat Than the Sun #2)
The Bridge of Silver Wings (More Heat Than the Sun, #3)
This Other Country (More Heat Than the Sun, #4)
The Bruise Black Sky (More Heat Than the Sun, #5)

Death’s Ink-Black Shadow (More Heat Than the Sun, #6) coming June 19th from MLR Press

 

Cover Reveal Time for Parker Williams’ Scent of the Heart (Shifting Needs #2) (cover reveal and contest)

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Time to Reveal the Cover for
Scent of the Heart (Shifting Needs #2) by Parker Williams
Release Date: June 15, 2015

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Goodreads Link
Publisher: Parker Williams
Cover Artist: Laura Harner

Sales Links:  Amazon  –  All Romance (ARe) – Smashwords

About Scent of the Heart

Casey Scott grew up being told he’d never amount to anything, and despite the unwavering
love and support from his best friend, Jake, the idea sticks in the back of Casey’s mind. When he
discovers he has a unique destiny in an enclave where shifters and humans live together, he
seizes the chance, wanting for once in his life to be someone special.

Tsvetok Yerokhin lost his parents to the evil ruler of the enclave when he was a boy. The
responsibilities of raising his two younger brothers nearly overwhelmed him and self-doubt
took over. When the new Alpha and his Protector arrive in time to save his life, Sev is grateful,
but he’s even more shocked when he scents his mate with them.

Casey isn’t prepared for the feelings that sweep over him when he meets Sev, but he refuses to
act on them because he’s straight. Still, there is something so alluring about Sev that Casey can’t
help being drawn to him.

As the two explore the edges of their new discovery, an evil returns, determined to control the
enclave or destroy it. The Alpha and Protector are powerless to stop it, but Casey holds the key
to victory. If he can discover what it is, he has a chance to save them all. To be the hero.

Unfortunately, the hero has to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, and for Casey that
means losing his heart.

Pages or Words: Approximately 69,000 words

Categories: Contemporary, M/M Romance, Romance, Paranormal, Bisexual, Fiction, Gay Fiction, New Adult

Excerpt from Scent of the Heart


 Casey had slept in the early evening, exhausted from his activities of the day. First the twins came, and their birth wasn’t easy. One of them, the boy, refused to come out. Normally shifter births were in and out in less than an hour. This one had kept him elbow deep for four. When the child was finally born, he had a full head of fluffy gray hair, indicative of his mother’s rabbit side. When they’d asked his advice on what to name their new son, Casey had said Thumper. His parents had fallen in love with the name, and Casey learned that people who had never seen a movie had no idea what humor was.
Then there was the incident with the stupid skunk in the forest. He hoped to hell Jake never found out, because after all the crap Casey had given him, he knew for a fact there would be hell to pay.
His intent had been to sleep a few hours, then try another dreamwalk. They always left him drained when he didn’t have a tether to this world. Casey shook his head. Six months ago he never would have talked about different worlds, men that could become animals, or ghosts outside of his weekly Dungeons and Dragons game. Now it seemed he was actually living a campaign. He was a shaman, a wizard of sorts. Jake was a paladin, righteous and good. Zak was…well, Zak probably would have been royalty. With his demeanor and attitude, he would have made a great king.
He’d been dozing fitfully; his dreams filled with visions of future events, where a fork in the road left him with too many decisions. One was life, the other was death, but both were fraught with peril. The knocking at his door had jolted him awake, and he was actually glad for it.
Sev looked absolutely miserable as he stood at the door. This would be only the second time the man had come to see Casey. Most everyone else in the enclave had stopped by, even for a friendly visit, numerous times. Yet Sev always hung back. This time, Casey needed to understand what was going on.
When they came in contact, skin on skin, Casey had no idea what happened. A surge ran up the length of his arm, seemingly connecting him to Sev. He could tell the man across from him needed his help. Sev was different from all the others in the enclave who’d come and talked to him in the last six months. He didn’t need advice; what he needed was someone to understand.
Sev sat at the table, looking for all the world as if he were lost. He sipped the calming tea that Casey had brewed, his eyes downcast as he told Casey his story—the death of his parents, the problems he now had with his brothers, and his uncertainty that he was doing the right thing. Never before had Casey wanted to pull someone into his arms and promise them that everything would be all right. He’d heard so many stories after Elizar’s defeat—beatings, rape, murder, and still he was able to maintain a detachment. Not with Sev.
“How can I help?”
Sev sighed. “I don’t know that you can. I just wanted to talk to someone.”
Casey could see the shine of tears when Sev finally lifted his head, and his chest tightened as he stood and wrapped his arms around the man. He didn’t have words, and he couldn’t think of any other way to comfort him. Not one of the salves, potions, ointments, teas, or other remedies on his shelves had the power to offer the healing that a hug brought.
“Thank you, my mate.”
The words were so soft Casey was certain he had misheard them.

 

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About the author:

Parker Williams believes that true love exists, but it always comes with a price. No happily ever after can ever be had without work, sweat, and tears that come with melding lives together.

Living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Parker held his job for nearly 28 years before he decided to retire and try new things. He enjoys his new life as a stay-at-home author and also working on Pride-Promotions, an LGBT author promotion service.

Where to find the author:

Connect with Parker on:
Twitter: @ParkerWAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parker.williams.75641
Or you can visit his website: http://www.ParkerWilliamsAuthor.com

Cover Reveal Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: Two $10 ARe gift cards. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and Prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

Rafflecopter Code:
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Tour Dates & Stops:
Cate Ashwood, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Velvet Panic, Havan Fellows, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, Full Moon Dreaming, MM Good Book Reviews, BFD Book Blog, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, The Hat Party, 3 Chicks After Dark, Mikky’s World of Books, The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat, Love Bytes, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Charley Descoteaux, Inked Rainbow Reads, Becky Condit, Andrew Q. Gordon, Bayou Book Junkie, Foxylutely Book Reviews, Hearts on Fire, Divine Magazine, Happily Ever Chapter, Nic Starr, My Fiction Nook, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Christy Loves 2 Read, Molly Lolly, Carly’s Book Reviews, Amanda C. Stone,
Nephylim, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Lee Brazil

Dean Pace-Frech’s “Disappear With Me” Spotlight Post & Giveaway

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Disappear With Me by Dean Pace-Frech
Publisher:  Amber Quill Press

Buy Links:   Amber Quill Press  – All Romance eBooks

I am happy to announce that the Second Edition of Disappear With Me is available from Amber Quill Press!

About Disappear With Me…

Love is greater than hope or faith, but can Reverend Leander Norris convince a jury that the love he shares with another man is natural?

In 1910, the United Kingdom was in turmoil. King Edward died after only nine years on the throne. The social class system that upheld British society for centuries was being chipped away by social, political, and economic unrest across the Commonwealth. Amidst this backdrop, Reverend Leander Norris is accused of sodomy. After discovering his own self-worth and unconditional love, Leander finds the courage to stand up for what he believes is right and pleads not guilty to the charges. Throughout the trial, Leander’s past is revealed, including the temptations that bring the accusations against him. By the end of the trail, Leander is once again reunited with a romantic interest from the past, but it may be too late to rekindle any love that might remain, given the circumstances of the era and Leander’s likely sentence.

Excerpt:

“Are you not a scholar?” Weeks asked. “Do you not know the Bible that you preach from each Sunday?”

“I know it very well,” Leander answered. “But the Bible has many interpretations. I think you can guess that mine might be a little less than conventional.”

Weeks reclined back in his chair. He made a steeple with his fingers and rested them on his pursed lips. “You’re actually sitting here telling me that, as a man of God, you’re all right with buggery and feel you’ve done nothing wrong?”

“Mr. Weeks, do you realize you keep asking me the same question over again, using different words?”

“As your counsel, I need to be sure that I understand your position, the one you expect me to defend.”

“You sound shocked that I would suggest such a thing. I can’t have you defending me if you don’t believe it yourself.”

“Reverend, my beliefs about the situation are irrelevant; it doesn’t matter what I believe. I need to be able to defend our position in court and hope our defense can refute what the prosecution will present.”

“I have to have conviction in my sermons each Sunday morning. I think you also know you need to have conviction when defending your clients.”

“And I can assure you that I have that same conviction to make sure that you receive a fair trial. I will do my best—”
“Do your best to what? Go through the motions and make sure that the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed so it looks like I’ve been given a good defense?”

Weeks didn’t answer and that was all the answer that Leander needed. After a moment, Weeks tried to start again. “Look, Reverend, I am your assigned counsel for this trial. I am on your side. I want to see you get a fair trial, but you must understand what we’re up against is quite overwhelming.”

“I know; I’ve never done anything the simple way.”

“Sir, you must understand that we are going up against laws that are rooted in two thousand years of Christian tradition and about as many years of British attitude.”

“Mr. Weeks, do you love your wife?”

Weeks let out an impatient sigh. “Of course, but here you go asking intimate questions about me that have no bearing on my defending your case.”

“Humor me, sir. Do you love your wife?”

“Yes, I very much love my wife and family.”

“What if you woke up tomorrow and a constable showed up on your doorstep and arrested you because they said the love you share with your wife was illegal?”

Weeks didn’t answer him. Instead, in a quiet voice, he said, “You know you and I are just two people. We’re not going to change these laws overnight.”

 

Search “Disappear With Me” or “Dean Pace-Frech” on your other favorite sites to purchase romance books, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, iTunes, etc.

About Dean Pace-Frech

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With inspiration from historical tourism sites, the love of reading, and a desire to write a novel, Dean started crafting his debut novel, A Place to Call Their Own, in 2008. After four years of writing and polishing the manuscript, it was accepted and originally published 2013. His second novel, Disappear With Me, set in Edwardian England was published later that same year. Both novels were re-released in May 2015.

Dean lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his husband, Thomas (legally as of February 14, 2015), and our two cats. They are involved in their church and enjoy watching movies, outdoor activities in the warmer weather and spending time together with friends and family. In addition to writing, Dean’s hobbies include reading and patio gardening.

Dean is currently working a standalone title, Need Your Love, set in 1966, and The Higher Law, a continuation of the story of Frank and Gregory’s family set in the 1930s.

Connect with Dean Pace-Frech
Email deanfrech@aol.com
Blog: Dean’s Web Site
Facebook: Dean Pace-Frech, Author page or send a friend request Dean Pace-Frech.
Twitter: @deanpacefrech
Google+: +deanpacefrech
Goodreads: Dean Pace-Frech
Pinterest: Dean Pace-Frech

Giveaway

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In celebration of the wide release of Disappear With Me, I will be giving away 3 Ecopies of my first novel, A Place to Call Their Own, which is available from JMS Books.  Comment, follow me on Twitter, visit my author page, etc. to enter to win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prize provided by the author.

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