Category: Book Reviews

A MelanieM Review: Tall With Room by A.J. Llewellyn

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Tall with Room coverAdriano is going home to Waldo, Florida, a town famous for having one of two official US speed traps and a flea market. Not much else is going on… Or is it?

A celebrated chef, Adriano has had to quit his job at a posh Beverly Hills restaurant because during his recovery from stage four cancer, chemo killed his taste buds. He can’t even taste his own cuisine. About the only thing that penetrates the dull sensation is coffee, so he’s bought a cafe in Waldo, hoping to find a new life in spite of his memory of it being a rigidly conservative town.

Looking forward to recuperating and spending time his mom, Adriano soon finds that Colin Mackenzie-the first man he ever loved, the only man he has ever wanted-never left Waldo. He apparently hasn’t forgotten Adriano either. But Colin, who once seduced then dumped him, seems to be playing games. He keeps coming into the cafe ordering his coffee-tall with room…for milk-but he doesn’t seem to have room for Adriano. Soon, the love they once shared is re-ignited in an explosive way, but what is going on in Waldo? Why do things seem so…haunted by the past?

I had just finished reading The Line by Angel Martinez and found the blurb for Tall With Room by A.J. Llewellyn at the end of the story.  It intrigued me with its unusual premise and main character.  So I got it without ever having seen the cover…if I had only checked out the cover. That would definitely have changed things.  I thought I was getting a contemporary romance and ended up with something else all together.  Was it a bad something or good something?  A little bit of both actually.

I come away from this short story very divided in my feelings towards it.  I loved most of it actually and that started with a character the likes of which I had never met before.  Adriano was a hot chef in LA and he loved everything about his life.  His restaurant and his rising recognition as a chef of high merit. He had a boyfriend he loved and a condo which suited him.  A great life until a small spot is found on his tongue, one misdiagnosis later and the cancer has become wide spread.  The treatment Adriano undergoes to cure the tongue cancer, (chemo and more) kills his taste buds and his ability to cook and remain a chef.  Alive but his living destroyed, Adriano returns to the hometown he happily left behind and his ailing mother.  What a great character and situation!  Llewellyn pulled me in with multiple tugs at my heart and a situation I hadn’t seen in a M/M romance before.  Throw in an old love, the love of his life, that disappeared early on in his youth, and you have a plot that is emotionally deep and gripping.

Even the title is pretty great when you know the story behind it.  Tall With Room refers to a type of coffee ordered, one with room for milk left at the top. A special order that Adriano’s past boyfriend was especially fond of. Its also a metaphor for their relationship.  So unusual illness, compelling character, and a home situation (mom with dementia) that most readers will connect with…all that added up to a story that should have been a real highlight on my reading list.  Those elements alone make this a story to remember.  Until it zags instead of zigs and takes an altogether different path into the supernatural.

If I had just seen that darn cover.

Truthfully, I didn’t enjoy the turn the story took.  I figured out what was going on before the end (when it picked up too much speed in the race to the denouement) and things got confusing with a flipflopping time line and elements that came at you with little to no setup.  It left me bereft and moping over the loss of the story I thought I was getting and a little bit peeved over the “feel good” ending the author employed.  One that I have seen/read before to more of a happy surprise/stunner than is revealed here.

The thing is I came to this book weighed down by my expectations from the blurb.  That sense of anticipation never left no matter where I was in the story (until towards the end that is).  Tall With Room a well-written tale, aside from the rushed elements and ending I mentioned.  The characters and situation remain lovely and original.  If I had only seen that cover first, then I think my anticipation about what I thought I was going to read would have been more in line with the actual story.    Yes, Virginia, book covers do make a difference!  That didn’t occur and I’m left with a sense of disappointment at how it all turned out.

So do I recommend this story?  Yep, because I have given you the cover as well as the blurb.  Its all there so you decide if you like your romance with a side order of the supernatural or not. If so, then  Tall With Room by A.J. Llewellyn is just the short story for you.  This is a HEA…although not the one you might be anticipating.  It certainly wasn’t the one I thought I was getting.  And yes, still mourning that fact.

You probably won’t.

Darn cover.

Cover art by Reese Dante,  I’m now biased and no, I don’t like it.  But only because of petty reasons, it’s actually pretty dramatic but where are the other elements from the story?

Buy Links:  Totally Bound Books  –  All Romance (ARe) –  Amazon   Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 53 pages
Published August 24th 2012 by Total-E-Bound
ISBN 1781841020 (ISBN13: 9781781841020)
edition languageEnglish
Note:  All LGBT books from Totally Bound are being transferred to their new LGBT imprint, Pride Books.

 

 

Its Time to Reveal the Cover for Vampire Rising by Larry Benjamin (author interview and giveaway)

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Vampire Rising by Larry Benjamin
Release Date: Summer, 2015

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Goodreads Link
Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow

Sales Links: http://www.vampirerising.com

Beaten Path Publishing  (eBook and Paperback)  – Amazon – Beaten Path Publishing eBook only

Blurb:

It’s the mid twenty-first century. Anti-Semitism, racism, sexism and homophobia have been consigned to the dustbin of history. The world is run by “the state,” and Christian zealots, whose chief governing tools are fear and oppression. It’s a wonderful time to be alive—unless you’re a Vampire. Vampires are despised, and feared, and subjected to discrimination and unspeakable violence.

Considered undead, unholy, without basic human rights, Gatsby Calloway lives on the fringes of society, avoiding humanity. Until he meets Barnabas, a young encaustic painter.

When Barnabas is mortally wounded during an anti-Vampire attack, Gatsby must forget everything he has known, and learn to trust.

Pages or Words: 67 pages

Categories: Fantasy, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Urban Fantasy

Excerpt:

“This here coming up is the stop for Chicksand Street,” the bus driver called out.

Barnabas stood and walked to the front of the bus. He peered out the windshield into the dark, then looked at the driver. “The schedule said you stopped at Chicksand Street,” Barnabas said.

“Not after dark I don’t,” the driver shot back. “This here is as far as I’m going tonight!”

Barnabas shrugged and moved to the door. The Mexican woman he’d noticed earlier touched his arm. As he turned to her, she drew a silver crucifix attached to rosary beads from around her neck and, muttering a prayer in Spanish, pressed it into his hands. He closed his hand around the offering still warm from her bosom and said, “Thank you.”

The bus slowed and the driver said, “This here road, about a mile on, becomes Chicksand Street.” He opened the door, barely stopping long enough for Barnabas to disembark. As soon as his feet touched the curb, the driver closed the door and sped away as fast as the bus’ ancient diesel engine would allow. As the bus passed him he saw the passengers with their foreheads and palms pressed against the windows, their eyes wide, and their mouths forming tiny “O”s of fright.

 

About the author:

Bronx-born wordsmith, Larry Benjamin considers himself less a writer than an artist whose chosen medium is the written word rather than clay or paint or bronze. His debut novel, the gay romance What Binds Us was released by Carina Press in March 2012. His second book, Damaged Angels, a collection of short stories, is a 2013 Rainbow Award Runner-Up in the Gay Contemporary General Fiction category. His third book, Unbroken, was a 2014 Lambda Literary finalist, and a 2014 IPPY (Independent Publishers Book Award) Gold medalist.

He lives in Philadelphia with his husband and their two dogs.

Where to find the author:

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLarryBenjamin
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WriterLarry
Website: http://www.larrybenjamin.com

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Tour Dates & Stops: June 3, 2015
Parker Williams, Multitasking Mommas, Divine Magazine, Bayou Book Junkie, Andrew Q. Gordon, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Inked Rainbow Reads, TTC Books and More, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Rainbow Gold Reviews, MM Good Book Reviews, Molly Lolly, Happily Ever Chapter, My Fiction Nook, BFD Book Blog, Mikky’s World of Books, Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance, Havan Fellows, Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My, Hearts on Fire, Michael Mandrake, Elin Gregory

Contest

Rafflecopter Prize: 3 books from Larry’s backlist.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

Unbroken
My parents, unable to change me, had instead, silenced me. When they’d stilled my hands, they’d taken my words, made me lower my voice to a whisper. Later I remained silent in defense, refusing to acknowledge the hateful words: Brainiac. Sissy. Antiman. Faggot.
Lincoln de Chabert’s life is pretty unremarkable until he comes home from kindergarten and announces he will marry his best friend, Orlando, when he grows up.  His parents spring into immediate action, determined to fix him―his father takes him to baseball games and the movie “Patton”―igniting an epic battle of wills as Lincoln is determined to remain himself, and marry whom he chooses, at all costs.

What Binds Us
When 17 year old Thomas Edward meets the man of his dreams, he assumes they’ll be together forever. When their relationship ends abruptly, he learns that sometimes it’s in an ending that we find our beginning.
At 17 Thomas-Edward escapes southern New Jersey and the tyranny of his parents love thinking he is ready for his life to begin, thinking he is ready for anything.  Anything quickly arrives in the form of one Donovan Dion “Dondi” Whyte, his freshman roommate at the University of Pennsylvania. Dondi, who is like no one he has ever met before, in his own words: “Dondi became my guide, my Virgil, on my personal odyssey of self-discovery.”
Dondi introduces Thomas him into “a looking-glass world in which everything was familiar yet larger, more exquisite, more precious than anything he had ever known.” Dondi is stunningly wealthy, sophisticated, passionate, urbane—everything Thomas has dreamed of loving.  They fall in love but the relationship fails. They remain uneasy friends. Their fragile relationship is threatened when Thomas falls in love with Matthew, Dondi’s younger brother.

Damaged Angels
Damaged Angels is the first collection of short fiction by Larry Benjamin. The 13 stories in this collection give voice to the invisible, the damaged: the drug addicts and hustlers, the mentally ill, the confused, and the men who fall in love with them, all of them bravely trying to make a place for themselves in the world of unbroken men. Their worlds are sometimes the mean streets of decaying cities, sometimes the great beyond and, once, the earth itself. Often dark, always evocative and lyrical, these stories delve into the lives of men clearly less-than-perfect and explore love in the context of disease and oncoming death as in “The Cross,” drug addiction, as in “The Seduction of the Angel Gabriel,” and mental illness in “2 Rivers.” These stories explore the possibility that less-than-perfect is sometimes perfect.

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Head Into the Woods For Fantasy and Romance with Stephen del Mar’s The Live Oak Tales (author interview and giveaway)

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The Live Oak Series by Stephen del Mar:

Books in the series include…

Dark Love; The Bear, the Witch, and the Web; and Hunter Moon and the Red Wolf
Should be read in order

STRW In The Spotlight Header
Release Date: Book 1: Spring 2015, Books 2 & 3: May, 2015

In love with paranormal romance?  Want new tales with dragons, and shifters, and wolves, and love?  Check out the books that make up The Live Oak Tales by Stephen del Mar.  Blurbs and excerpts below.

My Interview with Stephen del Mar…

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Stephen del Mar author of The Live Oak Tales series. Hi Stephen, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

Thanks, I’m very excited to be here. This is my first blog tour. Basic stuff about me: I’m a 54 year old gay man living in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I have a background in media production and attended seminary for a while.

I’ve just finished and released “Hunter Moon & the Red Wolf,” which is the last book in “The Live Oak Tales.” This series is a fun and, at times, a quirky take on contemporary/paranormal fantasy. We have witches, faeries and a number of shifter folk all trying to do the right thing and live together. All of this is set in the Bennett Bay area on the Gulf Coast of Florida. A fun little place I’ve made up. I wanted a place where I could condense all of Florida into one county with a tourist town and backwater villages. I’ve been very influenced by the southern literary traditions and setting is always one of my main characters. A strong sense of place is a must for southern fiction, as is a bit of spirit, in whatever form that may take.

What book do you wish you could have written?

I honestly have no idea how to answer this. I’m in the process of writing everything I want to write. I’ve read a lot of very good books over the years, but if I’d written them they’d be different. Each writer has their own voice. Maybe I’m over thinking this and need more tea!

How important are names to you (in your books)? Do you choose names based on liking the way it sounds or meaning? How do you choose your names?

Names are really important to me. The sound of a name is really important as is the meaning. Sometimes characters come to me with their names in place. This is usually true of main characters. For minor ones, I search baby name sites for names that catch my eye. I also collect cool names for later use.

I move to my current location about a year ago and one of the streets I take to get home is Krycul. I just loved the harsh sound of that name. I knew I’d use it somewhere. In “Hunter Moon & the Red Wolf” I needed an evil guy that owned a meat packing plant. Krycul was it!

Were you already a great writer? Have you always enjoyed writing? How long have you been writing?

Okay, I’m not touching the “great” thing. 😉 I’ve wanted to write probably since high school, but two things stood in my way. One is I have dyslexia which makes writing a real bitch. I had to wait for computer technology to come around to assist me. The second is I’m a real pantser. That’s a writer who writes by the seat of their pants, without an outline, and discovers the story as it unfolds, much like the reader. Not one of my writing teachers in high school or college ever mentioned that this was a thing. Not one of those how to write book I bought over the years ever said you could just sit down and start writing. I imagine you can’t sell a lot of books that say, just write.

Outlines freeze me up for some reason. For thirty years, I was in this stuck state, then a writer friend of mine visited and took me to task for not writing. So I told her what I mentioned above and she looked at me like the fool I was. First she said, well there are these people called editors and proof readers that can help me clean up the spelling issues. Then she told me to just sit down and write. You don’t need an outline. Lots of writers don’t use them. Everyone writes different. Really? They couldn’t put that in a book?

So the best writing advice I can give: Just do it. Early drafts are supposed to be messy. There are people to help with that, if you need it. And most importantly, find what works for you. Go back to the first part, butt in chair and write. Finish what you write. Get it edited and beta read, publish the sucker and move on. Seems so easy now.

Which character, from any of your books, do you consider your greatest work?

There’s that word again. I really like Dieter in “Dark Love.” It’s a first person story so we get into his head. He’s gone through a lot and he’s become somewhat of a jerk. I think it’s fun to see him realize that and wrestle with it. He really doesn’t want to be a jerk, especially to his closest friends and his new boyfriend, but bless his heart, sometimes he just can’t help himself.

What hobbies do you enjoy?

Hobbies? Oh, yeah, those things I did before I started writing. I used to really be into aquariums. I had fish tanks everywhere and I also really enjoyed photography, it was my minor in college. But writing has taken over all of my free time. If I’m not at the Evil Day Job, I’m doing something writing related. And I really like hanging with my imaginary friends.

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Goodreads Link
Publisher: LMW Books

Sales Links:

“Slay me,” said the dragon.  Buy At Amazon
Dark Love   Buy At Amazon
The Bear, the Witch and the Web   Buy At Amazon
Hunter Moon and the Red Wolf  Buy At Amazon

STRW Author BookSynopsis

About The Live Oak Tales

The Live Oak Tales is a paranormal/contemporary fantasy series set in the wider Stories from Bennett Bay collection by Stephen del Mar. The series consists of one short story (“Slay me,” said the dragon.), which serves as a standalone prequel and three novels, Dark Love, The Bear, the Witch and the Web, and Hunter Moon and the Red Wolf.

  • “Slay me,” said the dragon. is a tongue-in-cheek look at a romantic encounter between a dragon and a slayer. It sets up the mythology of dragon shifters that runs through the rest of the series.
  • Dark Love, a metaphor for gay love, takes us from the ordinary world of the Bennett Bay, a Gulf-side tourist town in Florida, to the tiny, backwater village of Live Oak. Dieter Reinhold, the proprietor of a trendy café in Bennett Bay’s Spanish Quarter travels back to Live Oak to deal with the death of his great uncle, the man that raised him as a father. While there, he learns there are more interesting creatures in the woods than he ever imagined. He discovers that magic, witches, and undying love are real.
  • In The Bear, the Witch and the Web, Innes Callahan and the circle of witches we met in Dark Love are facing a number of crises. The greatest of which is that the faeries are missing. In fact, all the enchantment seems to be gone from the Jumble, the wild woods adjacent to the farm. They need to find the faeries and discover who the new Witch of the Wood will be.
  • The final book in the series, Hunter Moon and the Red Wolf, finds the Circle still in disarray as Janos Pac tries to come into his own as the new Witch of the Woods. This is complicated by a plot by the dragons and wolves returning to Florida after nearly a hundred years, but are they really wolves?

These books are on the lighter side of the paranormal spectrum with a fair bit of humor. However, they do touch on deeper issues. Dark Love explores loss, grief, and what it means to hide one’s love. The stories also explore what it means to make hard choices about our path in life; and, an overarching theme is the changing nature of family as we move through life. How we move from our family of birth to the family we create with friends and lovers.
Pages or Words:
“Slay me,” said the dragon: 45 pages
Dark Love: 398 pages
The Bear, the Witch, & the Web: 153 pages
Hunter Moon & Red Wolf: 249 pages
Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy. (Book two also includes an older main character.)

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

Excerpt from Dark Love: Book 1 in the Live Oak Tales
Setup: Dieter is alone at the family’s old farmhouse after the death of his uncle. His ex-lover and still good friend Innes comes over to comfort him. Innes finds the mysterious silver box Dieter found out in the barn, which seems to have human ash in it. Innes warns him that it might be dangerous. Innes is a witch and Dieter thinks magic is bull. Innes calls in his mentor, Flora May Crawford, to help him convince Dieter there is danger afoot. It doesn’t work. Later, Innes calls back with another warning for Dieter. It doesn’t make him think Innes is any less crazy.

*****
Of course that was the moment my phone made the little nose-twitch tinkle-tinkle. I sighed, go with the flow and remember you love him.
I picked up the phone. “Hello, Innes.”
“Didn’t you get my text?” He sounded flustered.
“No. I haven’t looked at my phone. I’ve had other things on my mind.”
“Oh. Right. Well, what are you doing?”
“Sitting naked in the kitchen having soup and a sandwich.”
“Why?”
“Because I was hungry. What do you want?”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. I heard the creak of a screen door and the chirping of frogs. He must have moved outside onto Flora May’s front porch. “Look,” he said, “Flora May just got back from the faeries.” He paused like he expected me to comment. I had nothing.
“She’s not telling me a lot. Said they’re pretty agitated about the whole thing.”
Again the pause. Again I was silent; although I was worrying my grip on the phone would reach its crush point.
“Dieter, you gotta promise me to take this seriously.”
Actually, I didn’t have to promise him anything.
“Dieter?”
“Yes?”
I heard him swallow. “Tonight is a full moon.”
“So? It happens every twenty-eight days from what I understand.”
“Fuck.” He was agitated. “Listen, whatever you do, don’t jack-off in that box under the full moon.”
My mind kicked into neutral and spun its gears as it tried to make sense of the string of words it just received. Because they didn’t make any sense and they kept coming.
He continued. “I mean it. Whatever you do, do not mix your semen with that ash in the full moonlight.”
Some emergency back-up system took over. My thumb slid over my phone and ended the call. I stood up, opened the fridge and pulled a beer out. I twisted the top off and dropped it on the table. I pushed my way through the swinging door into the living room. As I fell back onto the couch, I tried to imagine a world where the idea of masturbating into a box of human ash existed, let alone the need to warn someone not to do that. Ohhh, I’m gonna cum, make sure the drapes are pulled and the lids are on all the urns, ‘cause we don’t want our spunk and ash and moonlight to mix! ‘Cause that will start the zombie apocalypse or something.

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

About the author:
Stephen del Mar is a fresh voice in Southern Gay Fiction. His Bennett Bay collection of books and stories explore life in that unique corner of the American South known as Florida. He also writes fantasy and science-fiction. Del Mar lives in the Tampa Bay region of Florida and enjoys Key Lime Pie and mango margaritas, but not at the same time.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephen.delmar.5
Facebook Author Page
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StephendelMar
Website: http://www.stephendelmar.com

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Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: Ebook copy of Dark Love, Book 1 in the Live Oak Tales. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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Tour Dates & Stops:
1-Jun
Bayou Book Junkie
Rainbow Gold Reviews

2-Jun
Parker Williams
My Fiction Nook

3-Jun
Molly Lolly
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

4-Jun
Divine Magazine
MM Good Book Reviews
Havan Fellows

5-Jun
BFD Book Blog

A Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Closing the Loop by Jane Davitt

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Closing the Loop coverJust as he’s finally ready to take a romantic Valentine’s Day gay cruise, travel agent Lee Jones discovers that his partner Ryan not only wants to have sex with other men while on the cruise, he’s already done so right under Lee’s nose. It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and Lee dumps him, not needing to continue to put up with Ryan’s self-centered ways.

When he finds out Ryan is still planning to go on the cruise and share their room, a room Lee paid for, it just adds insult to injury, and Lee puts out the extra bucks to get half of the only other room available—the Presidential Suite. It turns out the other half is occupied by Joseph Cole, a gorgeous lawyer who was on the wait list due to Lee’s own work. Cole had come into the office during the previous week, wanting to get a spot on a fully booked cruise so Lee put him on the waiting list. As far as Lee is concerned, this is a win:win situation. Cole is hot, virile, wealthy, and just the thing to help Lee forget Ryan.

But Cole isn’t interested in the cruise so much as he’s interested in a young man on the cruise, and Lee is continually disappointed that he’s not the center of Cole’s attention. When Cole and Lee discover they have a bit of a kink for leather and spankings, they spend a night creating memories that Lee knows he’ll never forget. But, yet again, Cole’s attention wanders to the young man the next day.

Pushed to the limit, Lee confronts Cole and finally gets the answer. The young man is Cole’s nephew and is recovering from the death of his partner. Unfortunately, over the next few days, his behaviors interfere with the budding romance between Lee and Cole, and when a near-tragedy occurs, Cole has to leave the cruise to escort the boy home, and he departs, Lee loses all hope for any future contact. What happens next is not something I’m about to detail in the review due to spoilers, but it ultimately leads to a very definitely hopeful future for these well-matched men.

I enjoyed this story very much. The author allows the characters to explore their kinky side to the point where the story might be classed as light BDSM, yet she also gives them life beyond the bedroom. Their shared enjoyment of various activities, topics of conversation, and life circumstances all combine to make their compatibility very evident, despite the mismatch in their careers and economic status. . Their personalities are well-developed; their attraction to each other is believable; and the story is interesting and fun.

If you love contemporary M/M romance, you should enjoy this. The BDSM is light, so those who normally aren’t attracted shouldn’t have any major issues with it. Those who like it will enjoy the leather and spanking kink, and those who just want to find a good book to read at the beach should look no further.

Cover Art by LC Chase depicts a birds-eye view of two men lying on deck chairs on the balcony of their cruise ship suite. It’s very bright and colorful and beautifully sums up rest and relaxation in the sun.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing  –  All Romance (ARe) – Amazon   Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 150 pages
Published May 25th 2015 by Riptide Publishing (first published May 23rd 2015)
original titleClosing the Loop
ISBN139781626492813
edition languageEnglish

In Our Book Spotlight: Two Sides of the Same Coin by Thianna Durston (excerpt and giveaway)

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Two Sides of the Same Coin by Thianna Durston
Release Date: May 17, 2015

A Kindle Exclusive: Amazon Buy Link

STRW In The Spotlight Header

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Thianna Durston

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STRW Author BookSynopsis

Blake Loughton was pretty sure life was over at the age of forty. All he did was work, work, work, except for the few hours a week he spent online with a dominant who seemed to get him. When he met his dom in person quite by accident, it changed everything, especially when he fell in love with the man behind the online persona.

At thirty-four Dusty Brandon had been involved in his alternative lifestyle for ages, but hadn’t had a sub in years until he met Blake online. The more he knew him, the more he wanted to take things further. Getting through Blake’s barriers used all the knowledge he had, but getting his boy to move to Texas took even more.

Join Blake and Dusty on their journey from meeting online to the moment Sir collars his boy. A BDSM erotic romance sure to make everything worth it. Two men. Dominance, submission, kink, and love. The Blake/Dusty Chronicles: Two Sides of the Same Coin – an erotic romance you won’t want to miss.

Pages or Words: 90,000 words

Categories: BDSM, Contemporary, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

PG Excerpt:
December 10th ~ Texas

Walking through the doorway Dusty Brandon held back the sigh that wanted to leave his lips as the conversation in the room stalled slightly. It had been that way ever since he came out years ago. His whole damned family never knew what to say when he was around. Except for his Uncle Larry who winked at him across the room.

“‘Bout time you got here!” Larry bellowed.

Grinning, he strode through the throngs of uncles, aunts, and cousins over to a man he loved. “Happy Holidays, Uncle,” he said, giving him a hug.

“Same to you. How’s business?” Larry asked as the conversations in the room began to pick up again.

“Good. Have several new deals in the works. Found out about a company in Seattle that might be worth lookin’ into. They would add a lot. And life’s good.”

It was just the quirk of an eyebrow that told him his uncle was not in the least convinced. “Sure it is. Any new man on the horizon?”

Grimacing, Dusty shook his head. “Naw. Last one was too taxing. Needed a break.”

With one of his smiles, the kind that let you know he was up to something, Larry picked up a couple glasses of champagne and handed him one. “Sell that to someone who’ll buy it,
Nephew. Now let’s celebrate the season. I hear Carilee has somethin’ to announce.”

Snorting, Dusty took a swig of the expensive champagne. “Probably that her daughter is expectin’. She loves rubbin’ that in Mama’s nose every chance she can get.”

Even worse, four pregnancies in the family were announced, meaning four of his cousins, all younger than he was, were expecting a child. “It could be worse,” Larry mused as they watched Dusty’s mother have to smile and congratulate another of her sisters on a new grandchild.

“How?” Dusty was gay. He had known it for years and when he came out, it was because he needed to do it. It never occurred to him how hard it would be on his own mother. As her only child, he had not understood just how important being a grandmother was to her and hearing her only son was gay had been hard enough. Having the other women in the family gloat over it every time their daughter or son announced a new baby downright pissed him off.

“You could have tried to hide who you are and got someone pregnant before you came out.”

Musing on that, Dusty nodded. “Don’t think that woulda’ worked. No girl would get me that excited.”

Sales Links:

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

Thianna loves to write strong stories with even stronger heroes. While all of her books have an erotic overtone, it is the story that is the most important to her. “The story should be able to stand on its own. The erotic elements are an add-on.”

She enjoys writing about couples with kink, paranormal couples, and straight out strangeness. But more on that later… You can find her at mm.thiannad.com.

She also writes m/f under the name Thianna D.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thiannaDismyname?fref=ts
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/ThiannaDurstonAuthor?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_weremouse
Website: http://www.mm.thiannad.com

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Tour Dates & Stops: June 2, 2015
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A MelanieM Review: Two Hearts One Voice (Mending the Rift #3) by Valentina Heart

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Two Hearts One Voice coverThey are at war, fearing for each other, both carrying the upbringing of their children and the survival of their country. They are kings.

With the future of the throne secured, Rin and Merin still have little time to rejoice for their children or the unity of their kingdoms. Stuck in the middle of a battlefield, their lives prove to be once again at risk, Rin heads out on a long journey home with his heirs, leaving Merin to lead their army.

Rin receives his rightful title of a king from the Kari council and for once feels as if he belongs on the throne without Merin there to guide him. Missing his husband, he raises their children the best he can, but there’s no end to the war in sight and, after months of futile conflicts, Rin sees Merin cut down in battle.

Distraught and with no patience for his council, Rin threatens the Riki, making even his own men fear him.

Can Rin cope alone and still win the war, or will his sorrow mark the end of his reign?

I fell in love with Valentina Heart’s Merin and Rin in the first two stories in the Mending the Rift series.  Two kingdoms, torn by constant warfare, turn to royal marriage to stop the conflict and losses from battle.   Prince Rinin, heir to the throne of Kari Kingdom, has been demanded as a war conquest by King Merinej of Jede.  Rinin is an innocent, sheltered and lovely.  King Merin, a warrior,experienced and bold.  As part of their marriage contract, Rinin demands that Merin be faithful and in return Rinin will  provide the heir Merin needs.  And yes, this is a male pregnancy series.

The first two stories had an interesting format that brought y0u intimately into the thoughts of the main characters.  The first book is narrated by Rinin, the second by Merin and I loved that.  It was even more powerful when the traumatic events of the second story came close to shattering the characters and our hearts.  So I was thrilled to see that the last story in the trilogy was out.  How would it all end?  Who would be the narrator of this final story?

Two Hearts, One Voice by Valentina Heart brings the trilogy to a close with a tale that, while it supplies a satisfactory happy ending, is missing the impact and drama of the first two stories.  And that has to do to the manner in which it is told.  We lose the powerful single person narration to a narrative of multiple points of view and a time frame that goes from immediate events unfolding to years down the line.  Unfortunately, this change up in style brings about a loss of energy and power to the story.  Two Hearts, One Voice fluctuates between powerful scenes of battle to the intrigue of the court, and then back again.  These transitions don’t feel as smooth as they should and the momentum of Merin and Rin’s story gets lost along the way.

Another element that lessens the impact of the finale is that the power of Owner of My Heart (Mending the Rift #2) was so strong and that story so full of pain and loss, that any finale would be hard put to equal its effect upon the reader.  Plus the children grow at such a speed here that its hard to connect with any of them emotionally as we do their parents.  For those readers not fond of mpreg, other than the mention of the children and Rin’s after-childbirth body, this element takes a back-burner to the battles still going on and the mechanisms found at court.

So, while I was not completely satisfied with the story, I still found many wonderful scenes to throw my heart into.  Merin’s segments at the front, Rin’s anger and pain….that made this story sing with life and energy.  That and their love for each other that Valentina Heart made so real and gripping.  I loved their love story most of all and here they get the ending they both deserved and wanted.  I will have to be content with that.

Two Hearts, Once Voice is not a standalone story. As part of a series, the books must be read in the order they were written.  None are long and that works if you want to read them together in one sitting as I did the first two.  I recommend this series. The love story is moving, the mpreg aspect well done, and you get a HEA you want for them both.

Cover art is ok but nothing that really captures your imagination like it should.

Sales Links:  Totally Bound Books – Amazon   Buy It Here

Book Details:

Note: This book and series contains scenes of and references to Mpreg.

book, 95 pages
Expected publication: June 2nd 2015 by Totally Bound Publishing
original titleTwo Hearts One Voice
ISBN 1784305731 (ISBN13: 9781784305734)
edition languageEnglish
seriesMending the Rift #3

Books in the Mending the Rift series:

  • King’s Conquest (Mending the Rift, #1)
  • Owner of My Heart (Mending the Rift, #2)
  • Two Hearts One Voice (Mending the Rift #3)