Cover Reveal for Heart of a Redneck by Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga

Heart of a Redneck by Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga

Release Date: November 13, 2018
Preorder Sales Link: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: Alexandria Corza, http://www.seeingstatic.com/

Blurb:

Colby McBride is a blue-collar cowboy trying to make ends meet laying tile in Colorado. A loner by choice, Colby works hard with his hands and finds his peace camping in the mountains outside Boulder. Gordon James is a white-collar restaurateur who owns not one, but two successful establishments in downtown Boulder. He’s a sophisticated urbanite who is devoted to his work and is accustomed to getting what he wants.

The men are friends, but sparks fly when Colby falls in love and decides to show Gordon how much fun a good old boy can be. They’re just beginning to explore their relationship when Gordon’s sister’s suicide leaves him with custody of his five-year-old niece.

Colby comes from a huge family and is eager to help with the girl and to prove his worth to Gordon. But neither of them is ready for the tremendous changes to their already busy lives, or for how this new relationship with Olivia challenges them, complicating the way they interact with each other.

They say opposites attract, but can these two very different men work together to join their disparate lives and form a strong, if highly unlikely, family?

Category: Contemporary

Pages: 234 (ebook), 240 (paperback)

About the Authors

Jodi Payne spent too many years in New York and San Francisco stage-managing classical plays, edgy fringe work, and the occasional musical. She therefore is overdramatic, takes herself way too seriously, and has been known to randomly break out in song. Her men are imperfect but genuine, stubborn but likeable, often kinky, and frequently their own worst enemies. They are characters you can’t help but fall in love with while they stumble along the path to their happily ever after.

For those looking to get on her good side, Jodi’s addictions include nonfat lattes, Malbec, and tequila however you pour it. She’s also obsessed with Shakespeare and Broadway musicals. She can be found wearing sock monkey gloves while typing when it’s cold, and on the beach enjoying the sun and the ocean when it’s hot. When she’s not writing and/or vacuuming sand out of her laptop, Jodi mentors queer youth and will drop everything for live music. Jodi lives near New York City with her beautiful wife, and together they are mothers of dragons (cleverly disguised as children) and slaves to an enormous polydactyl cat.

Website: http://www.jodipayne.net
Email: jodipaynewrites@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/payne.jodi
FB Author Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/jodisgents
Twitter: @JodiPayne
Instagram: @jodipayne1800
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/267617.Jodi_Payne

BA Tortuga, Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting, and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.

Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery ménages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeonholed by anyone but the voices in her head.

Website: http://www.batortuga.com
Blog: batortuga.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/batortuga
Twitter: ,

A Jeri Release Day Review: Rocking the Cowboy by Skylar M. Cates

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

This was a cute, what I like to call, a throw away read. It kept me fairly entertained, there was no big angst, the sex was fairly hot and the romance tried. But overall I wasn’t emotionally connected to the characters and it left me wanting a little more.

Jed is running the family ranch and has since his father took off to become an entertainment manager in LA. Specifically the manager of Remy Sean, up and coming Disney star. But as the years pass and Remy becomes more and more popular until he is mobbed at a concert. Overwhelmed with anxiety, he goes off to hide at the ranch. With Jed, who barely remembers Remy but who Remy couldn’t forget.

So, that was part of my issue. How could Jed hardly remember Remy when it was Remy’s career that his father left for. Jed just sees this as a means to an end. His father gets to send his biggest client to the ranch to relax and Jed will get his father to sign over the other half of the ranch and guarantee his father’s presence at his sister’s wedding.

Overall Jed was so blah. He didn’t even really perk up when he and Remy got together. He really was a wet blanket.

I get that Remy needed the time on the ranch, but it seemed to dull his sparkle. There was so much there that could have been used to make the story more interesting. More playing, more banter, more longing looks. Just more.

I won’t remember this story in a week, but it was ok.

Cover art: Aaron Anderson. The cover is eye-catching and splashy! A perfect combination of cowboy and rockstar.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 228 pages
Published August 21st 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
Original TitleRocking the Cowboy
ISBN139781640804449
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Lucy Release Day Review: Wanted Bad Boyfriend by TA Moore

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Nathan Moffatt is a 37-year-old wedding planner who loves his mother, Ally, and his best friend, Max. What he doesn’t love is how they are constantly at him about finding someone of his own. Despite his protests, they (and seems like everyone else on the island) are always trying to set him up. In desperation he decides to enlist the help of Flynn Delaney, the local bad boy who everyone gossips about and no one seems to like. If he can show off Flynn as a boyfriend, everyone will be relieved when they break up. What could go wrong?

Nate is the wedding planner at the Granshire, “… one of the top ten destination-wedding locations in the UK. Wedding parties arrived from around the world.” It’s not the easiest place to get to but people believe it’s worth it. It is Nate’s job to make sure the couples get what they want and their weddings go off smoothly. We get some wedding planning details, particularly of Katie and Bradley, a TV star who is going to be married at the Granshire if things stop happening to complicate matters.

Flynn is the owner of the local garage, bequeathed from his dad, and is also a rescue worker. When Nate asks for the favor of being his fake boyfriend, he immediately says no. But Nate works on him a little. “He could resist anything but pettiness and pretty men. Now there they both were in one well-dressed package.” Even if Nate presents it badly, “So I thought I’d get one- a really bad one, or at least the worst one I can find at short notice on the island.” “And you immediately thought of me,” Flynn said.”

So they begin this whole fool the locals drama and the problem is that Flynn is not a bad boyfriend. There is one time he acts “badly” and I thought he had good reason to. It’s more of Nate being a bad boyfriend than anything.

Secondary characters are interesting. I absolutely loved Ally. She is recovering from cancer and doesn’t want people treating her like she is about to die. Flynn doesn’t do that, although he is embarrassed when she observes, “So you’re the one that gave my son a hickey”. She also doesn’t treat Flynn like he is the island pariah, even when Max is incredibly rude about him. That brings us to Max, the best friend who needs to get a life and grow up, facing his father. Max acts badly way more than Flynn ever does. There is also Teddy, Max’s father and Nate’s boss, who is an a**hole of the highest order.

I am a big fan of the fake boyfriend trope so I was excited for this. There are things that didn’t add up for me, or maybe I should say things that I wanted explained. Flynn is the island a**hole, most people treat him badly and they have all sorts of nasty stories about why he left the island in the first place and why he came back, but it is never really explained why they all feel that way. There is no defining event in the past that caused this thinking, other than him not returning for his father’s funeral, by which time he was already the island’s lead jerk. . Another point was, Nate just shows up at Flynn’s lighthouse (which he has been hounding Flynn to let as AirBnB for the weddings) and clumsily and insultingly puts forth his proposal for fake boyfriend. Did they know each other before? I know Flynn knew of Max but it is never mentioned that Nate and Flynn were friends. Nate had a crush on the older man (by five years) but that didn’t explain they seem to know each other now.

I liked that each chapter begins with either gossip or an attempt by someone to hook Nate up. It made me both sad at the nasty things said and smile at the obvious attempts (I think you’ll have so much in common. You’re both gay, after all).

The rumors that fly about Flynn are seriously horrible at times. “Is it true that Delany was a whore you and Max used when you are in London?” I kept thinking, why does he stay here? And when his reason came out, it made me want to hug him. Go into this knowing that the whole worst boyfriend isn’t really Flynn and it’s a fluffy, easy read.

Cover art by Reece Notley is interesting but not really relevant to the story. There is a man I assume to be Nate reading a newspaper with the wanted add circled and that isn’t what this was at all. So cute cover but misleading.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 218 pages
Expected publication: August 21st 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781640802605
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Lila Release Day Review: Art House (Buchanan House #6) by Charley Descoteaux

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Chase Holland spends his days painting Portland scenes to hang in local businesses, neglecting his own surrealist style. After twenty-five years as a full-time artist, he’s frustrated that his career has stalled, but churning out the equivalent of corporate art is better than getting a day job. Chase and Garrett have been together—off and on, but mostly on—for a decade. If asked, they would both say the source of their trouble is the seventeen-year age gap. The truth is less clear-cut. Life would be so much easier if Chase could make a living with his own art, or if Garrett held less conventional ideas about relationships.

Garrett Frisch has been watching their friends get married for the past two years, and it’s taking an emotional toll. When he proposes as a way to keep them together permanently, he thinks he’s being responsible, but Chase is ambivalent and hurt and can’t hide it. It doesn’t help that Garrett’s anxiety is out of control and he’s dealing with insecurities about his own art career. They will have to do their least favorite thing—talk about something more important than which food cart to visit—if they are to get the happy ending they both want.

Art House is the last book in the Buchanan House series and it delivers a lovely new story. Plus, it gives us a last hurrah with the rest of the couples. We get to see a little more of their journeys and how their love and friendships have developed over time. It’s nice to be part of their family.

As for this particular book, I have to be honest, it’s not one of my favorites but it’s the most real of them all. It is very depressing, but not because of the content. It’s because the reader becomes one with Chase and Garrett. Their troubles are palpable and the reader has no other option but to share the burden with them.

Don’t get me wrong, the book is interesting and hard to put down. The love and passion between the MCs are breathtaking and the extremes they go to keep each other from falling apart are incredible. Their relationship takes place within ten years but is not until the very end that they turned a new page and commit to their future. It’s not easy but it is exactly what they needed.

Everyone in this story plays an important part in Chase’s and Garrett’s happy ending. They are the bumpers that kept them from losing themselves in the darkness that followed them. Their actions, words, and encouragement are intense and hopeful. This was definitely the right couple to wrap-up this series.

The book has another perfect cover by L.C. Chase. It’s not only beautiful but it goes perfectly with the story and the covers for the rest of the series.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | iBooks

Book Details:

ebook, 254 pages
Published: August 21, 2018, by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781640805668
Edition Language: English

Series: Buchanan House
Book #1: Buchanan House
Book #2: Pride Weekend
Book #3: Tiny House
Book #4: Safe House
Book #5: Holiday Weekend
Book #6: Art House

SERIES REVIEW TOUR for Directions by Jena Wade (giveaway)

SERIES REVIEW TOUR

BOOK 1

Book Title: Up to Code

Author: Jena Wade

Publisher: Self-published

Genre/s: m/m romance mpreg

Length: 28 000 words

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Blurb

Aiden was an Omega who needed a job doing what he loved. He never imagined he’d meet his fated mate during the interview. He was ready to bond right away, but something stopped his Alpha from claiming him. Aiden’s patience held strong, but being near his mate every day without bonding threatened to drive him insane.
Brandon owned a successful company, and he wanted to share that success with his mate and their child. But the continued thefts troubled him and the last thing he wanted to do was drag his new mate into any danger.
Danger found them anyway.

This is a 28K non-shifter mpreg novella featuring a sweet romance, a HEA, and no cliffhanger

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Excerpt

With one deep breath and a quick step I crossed the threshold and came face to face with pure sex dressed as a six-foot grown man with broad shoulders, slim hips, dirty blond hair and piercing green eyes.

Holy hell.

Mate, my mind screamed.

Blood roared in my ears as I took in his scent. Oh my God. I’d always wondered how a person knew when they’d met their fated mate. “You’ll just know” was all I was ever told by my Omega dad.

I knew, all right. I could feel it in every part of my body. I belonged to him and he belonged to me already and I hadn’t even heard him speak. All he had to do was give the word and I’d bare my neck, ready to bond.

I couldn’t form words. I never was good with people, least of all people I was attracted to. Though, that hadn’t happened in a long time. I would have to leave the house in order to meet someone and I didn’t do that very often, unless it was for work. In those cases, I kept it professional.

I didn’t feel very professional right now.

BOOK 2

Book Title: Down to Earth

Author: Jena Wade

Publisher: Self-published

Genre/s: m/m romance mpreg

Length: 26 000 words

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Blurb

Everett Surlin longed for the day that his Fated mate finally recognized him. It’d been eight years since he’d first met Matt Jenkins, he’d never imagined it take this long for his mate to realize their connection.

Matt Jenkins had done his best to put his past behind him. The abuse he’d endured as a child stayed locked away inside him, never to be shared with anyone. He’d assumed that as a result of his upbringing, he was broken and he would never have a mate. That didn’t stop him from desiring Everett and wishing that they could be together.

When tragedy strikes, Matt stays at Everett’s side, which just might be the push he needs to discover what had been there all along and a future he never dreamed would be possible.

This is a 26K non-shifter mpreg novella featuring a sweet romance, a HEA, and no cliffhanger.
This is the second book in the Directions series, but can be read as a standalone.

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Excerpt

I twirled the wedding band around in my hand, running my fingers over the smooth, silver metal. The ring had once belonged to my father, and hopefully someday it would belong to my mate.

Matt.

My body heated at the thought of my mate, as it often did. I’d known for almost a decade now that Matt was my mate.

Matt remained oblivious.

My fists clenched instinctively. I couldn’t help but feel angry at Fate for showing me my mate before he was ready. I often wondered if he would ever be ready. Usually, it was a magical moment full of marvel and enlightenment. Eyes met, fireworks burst, and nature took its course. A mate bond was established, and the couple lived happily ever after. I’d never heard an Alpha recognizing his mate before their Omega.

BOOK 3

Book Title: Back to You

Author: Jena Wade

Publisher: Self-published

Genre/s: m/m romance mpreg

Length: 25 000 words

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Blurb

Victor Docimo loved his mate more than anything, and he’s worked hard to provide Charles with the life that he deserved. He’s strived to be the Alpha that his own Father was not.

Charles spent the last twenty-six years mated to his perfect Alpha. He raised their son and managed their home. He’s tried to provide his Alpha with a family, despite the fact that he can’t have more children. After seeing Victor with another Omega, he begins to wonder if he’s enough.

Now, the two of them must face their greatest challenge yet, something that shouldn’t be possible: a broken bond.

This is a 25K non-shifter mpreg novella featuring a sweet romance, a HEA, and no cliffhanger.
This is the third book in the Directions series, but can be read as a standalone.

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Excerpt

I was about to tell my roommate I was heading home, when the air in the room shifted. I became hyper aware of everything around me and, as silly as it sounds, time stood completely still. I searched around the room, looking for what had changed, what was causing this awareness in me that made my skin tingle. Then, I locked eyes with him.

Victor.

Something in the back of my mind whispered his name to me. I knew him. Though I had only seen him one time and spoken to him for less than a minute. He made his way over to me, the crowd parted for him as he moved through the room. I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to look away.

When he finally reached me, he smiled. There was kindness in his eyes, but also a heat and arousal that set my body on fire, and we hadn’t even touched yet.

“Charles, right?” he said.

“Mate.” My hand flew to my mouth. I couldn’t believe I’d said that aloud. I realized that it was the truth. The man, Victor, standing before me right now was my mate.

He chuckled. “I was hoping you’d notice this time.”

About the Author

Jena began writing in January of 2013 as a New Year’s Resolution—and so far she has stuck to it!

She lives in Michigan. By day she works as a web developer, and at night she writes. Born and raised on a farm, she spends most of her free time outdoors, playing in the garden, or riding her horses. She also helps run the family dairy farm.

Social Media Links

Blog/Website

Facebook

Twitter

Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win a choice of ebook from Jena’s backlist.

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A Barb the Zany Old Lady Release Day Review: Threepeat (Secrets #3) by KC Wells and Parker Williams

Rating: 4.5 stars pout of 5

I love KC Wells, and in combo with Parker Williams, this dynamic duo always makes reading a pleasure. The BDSM stories in Collars and Cuffs are among my favorites, and so far, the stories from the new club, Secrets have been great. Add to that the fact that I love ménage, and I was set up to love this one right from the start.

And I did enjoy it tremendously, even though I felt a little icky a few times when the two big Doms were with their boy, a twenty-year-old twink who had been abandoned by his family. They weren’t overbearing and there were no heavy BDSM scenes. In fact, they were very respectful of his needs and aware of his family history where he was beaten by his father and brothers. I just think I would have liked them to be a little younger—a smaller age gap. That being said, their specific ages weren’t mentioned so I assumed their ages based on their successful careers—and on the cover photo.

On the positive side, we had ample opportunity to see characters from previous books in the series—Jarod and Eli, Vic and Ben, Ellis and Wayne, and Jarod’s inimitable mother, Maggie. She’s a hoot and very well-written. Ben and Ellis played a major role in helping Tim acclimate to his new lifestyle, and I came to like them more in this story than I had when I first met them.

Aaron and Sam had suffered from the abandonment by their sub for two years when Aaron bumped into a very ill Tim outside a shop. It was evident to the soft-hearted man that the boy was homeless and suffering, so he opened his home to Tim until he healed. He had permission from Sam, of course, and by the time Tim had gotten healthier, all three were enmeshed emotionally. As Tim learned more about their lifestyle and came to care for the sweet gentle giants, he realized being with them as their sub was something he definitely wanted.

The story explores the Dom-sub relationship dynamic, safe practices, and the ménage dynamic. By the end of the story I was totally invested in the threesome, and I am looking forward to seeing more of them when Secrets introduces us to another couple. The revisits by past characters are always appreciated.

The cover by Reese Dante is a close-up photo of all three men, and after I finished the story I realized it’s intended to be a selfie. Cute concept.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 1st edition, 340 pages
Expected publication: August 21st 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781640808034
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesSecrets #3

Release Blitz and Giveaway: Last Chance by R.J. Scott

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 5660 words

Blurb

It’s the last year of college and Luke can’t forget the captain of the hockey team, or the kiss they shared as freshman.

Justin has to decide if hockey outweighs his attraction to Luke, because this might be the last chance he’ll have of making things right.

*This short story was previously released in the Love For All Seasons Charity Anthology.

RJ’s goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

RJ is the author of the over one hundred novels and discovered romance in books at a very young age. She realized that if there wasn’t romance on the page, she could create it in her head, and is a lifelong writer.

She lives and works out of her home in the beautiful English countryside, spends her spare time reading, watching films, and enjoying time with her family.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit and has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.

She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the following links below:

Email RJ (rj@rjscott.co.uk)

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Cover Reveal for In This Iron Ground by Marina Vivancus (giveaway)

Release Date: September 3 2018

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Cover Design: Natasha Snow

Length: 85,000 words approx.

Blurb

Damien is nine years old when his parents die. He goes into foster care, seven jumps and seven houses and seven families by the time he’s thirteen. He learns what words like ‘exhausting’ and ‘I can’t do this anymore’ really mean.

Then, he’s taken in by the McKenzies.

The McKenzies can see there’s something wrong with him. They try to fix him, but Damien isn’t sure if it’s making him better. All he knows is that he feels worse.

People say that that the moon has a call that even people can feel. In the wash of their blood and tide of their soul, they can hear it calling. Maybe that’s what makes Damien run through the forest on a full moon night, trying to escape what awaits him at the McKenzies. He wants to lose himself in the green and the silver, disappear into the black. Instead, he’s found.

The Salgado family have been part of the town for as long as anybody can remember. Their Native American roots are anchored deep into the ground, and Damien has seen the Salgado children in his school. Koko, who is in his class, and Hakan, two years older and infinitely unreachable. Damien is too much of a loser to ever have anything to do with either of them, until that full moon night reveals that the Salgados are not only a family. They are a pack.

Damien is suddenly introduced into a world that had only ever existed in his imagination, where there is magic in the forest and the moon, in the earth under his feet. He meets creatures that look like monsters, but Damien knows what monsters look like. They have the same face as anybody else.

The Salgados welcome Damien in a way he never would have expected. Damien and Hakan grow closer, first into friendship, and then into something heated and breathless as they end up in the same university together. But, Damien knows, deep down in that bruised and mealy part of his core, that he’s not good enough to be part of their family. He’s not worthy of calling Hakan his home.

Damien is used to losing things, but he’ll hold onto this for as long as he can.

CONTENT WARNING: This book contains themes of (non-sexual, mostly emotional) child abuse and the subsequent emotional, cognitive and behavioural impact on said child. However, at its core, this book is about recovery through found family and love.

This story contains several sexually explicit scenes between consenting adults and therefore is meant for an adult audience.

Author Bio

When Marina was a child she couldn’t sleep. Night after dissolving night she just couldn’t sleep. Nothing much worked – until she started making up stories in her head. Suddenly, the transition into unconsciousness was a smooth dive into calm waters.

Marina is currently in a period of sleepless upheaval, and she hopes writing down the stories in her head will cast the same spell it did decades ago.

Marina hopes to write in a variety of romance sub-genres, from contemporary to supernatural to sci-fi. Her style, however, tends to focus on character-centred stories that explore different facets of the human experience, such as mental health. She also enjoys writing explicit, drawn-out sex scenes, so expect those to be a prominent feature of her stories.

Marina tends to keep to herself unless prompted, so don’t be shy in approaching her!

Twitter | Facebook | Website

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Do You All Read the Whatchamacallit?? This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Do You All Read the Whatchamacallit?

By that I mean the paragraphs or pages the author writes before you get started into the book? I’m an avid reader of these things and love them deeply. I often find that I feel that I know more about why the author felt compelled to write this story or why it’s situated in the location it’s in or even given a more in depth look at a main character because of what an author has written prior to starting their story.

But what the hell is it called?

Most, might have referred to it as The Foreward, myself included. Wrongo! That would have had to have been written by someone else, not the author themselves. For correct usage see the flash fiction anthology Impact with it’s foreward by J. Scott Coatsworth.

So it would be either Introduction or The Preface. How many of you know the difference? I needed a refresher course myself so I went looking for definitions and correct usages for all three. A lovely blog, BPS Book Blog, supplied this succinct roundup:

From the BPS Book Blog:

… here are some definitions and descriptions – supported by the dictionary and the august Chicago Manual of Styleand proven to be helpful in my work as an editor and publisher – that my authors have found of assistance.

THE FOREWORD

A foreword (one of the most often misspelled words in the language) is most often written by someone other than the author: an expert in the field, a writer of a similar book, etc. Forewords help the publisher at the level of marketing: An opening statement by an eminent and well-published author gives them added credibility in pitching the book to bookstores. Forewords help the author by putting a stamp of approval on their work.

THE PREFACE

A preface is best understood, I believe, as standing outside the book proper and being about the book. In a preface an author explains briefly why they wrote the book, or how they came to write it. They also often use the preface to establish their credibility, indicating their experience in the topic or their professional suitability to address such a topic. Sometimes they acknowledge those who inspired them or helped them (though these are often put into a separate Acknowledgments section). Using an old term from the study of rhetoric, a preface is in a sense an “apology”: an explanation or defense.

THE INTRODUCTION

If a preface is about the book as a book, the introduction is about the content of the book. Sometimes it is as simple as that: It introduces what is covered in the book. Other times it introduces by setting the overall themes of the book, or by establishing definitions and methodology that will be used throughout the book. Scholarly writers sometimes use the introduction to tell their profession how the book should be viewed academically (that is, they position the book as a particular approach within a discipline or part of a discipline). This latter material is appropriate for a preface, as well. The point is that it should appear in the preface or the introduction, not both.

What brought all this on?

As I said I always read them. To bring me knowledge, insight into the story, what the author was thinking when they were writing it…all sorts of things. They aren’t always labeled correctly but I love them dearly.

The one that launched this one was the Introduction to Ryan Field’s Pretty Man, a M/M reworking of Pretty Woman. He writes about the total lack of any happy gay literature in the 20th century and his need to “fill the bill”. Ryan Fields now writes “happy romances” as a gay man for the youth today looking for literature much as he once did. How this got me thinking on so many levels (and researching).

Thankfully, there are so many positive and happy examples to point to from books to movies* these days (not tons amounts true in the movies more much more. Look at but there are now LGBT movie channels) so progress has been made. Plus there is a veritable flood of Quiltbag fiction out there now to quench the thirst of those looking for happy endings for LGBTQIA couples. The more writers the merrier I say.

But lets return to gay fiction of the 20th Century. What books do you find or comes to mind? Are they all tear fests?

Here are some that I found and the dates they were published:

Tales of the City (Tales of the City Series #1) by Armistead Maupin 1978
Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown 1973
Maurice by E.M. Forster 1913
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood 1964
Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig 1976
A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White 1982
A Queer Kind of Umbrella (Pharoah Love, book 5) by George Baxt 1995

I also found childrens books about Daddy’s Roommate (1994) and My Two Uncles (1995) so I was wondering about the author’s timeline. Some early 20th century classics are devastating certainly (Gore Vidal, James Baldwin to name just two), but a sea change had started with Stonewall and its ripples spread out and impacted everywhere and everything, media included.

Anyhow….see what a Introduction can do to me? Laughing….

How to you feel about Forewards, Introductions, and Prefaces? Do you read them? What do you learn, if anything from them?

And how do you feel about the 20th Century’s lack of feel good romantic gay fiction? True or False?

As to Pretty Man…well, that review will come up and it caused me to do some thinking as well. More on that later.

Now here is what our upcoming week is looking like. Happy Reading and Listening!

This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, August 19:

This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Do You All Read the Whatchamacallit?
Release Blitz – In The Shadows – TL Travis

Monday, August 20:

Cover Reveal – Marina Vivancus – In This Iron Ground
Release Blitz – RJ Scott – Last Chance
Review Tour – Bitten By Her (Regent’s Park Pack #4.5) – Annabelle Jacobs
An Alisa Review : Love Spell by Mia Kerick
A MelanieM Review : Bitten By Her (Regent’s Park Pack #4.5) by Annabelle Jacobs
A Barb the Zany Old Lady Release Day Review: Threepeat by KC Wells and Parker Williams

Tuesday, August 21:

Book Blast – A Thread in Time by Jess Thomas
SERIES REVIEW TOUR – Directions by Jena Wade
DSP Cover Reveal Heart of a Redneck by Jodi Payne/BA Tortuga
An Ali Release Day Review: Hex and Candy (Strange Bedfellows #1) by Ashlyn Kane
A Jeri Release Day Review: Rocking the Cowboy by Skylar M. Cates
A Lila Release Day Review: Art House (Buchanan House #6) by Charley Descoteaux
A Lucy Release Day Review: Wanted Bad Boyfriend by TA Moore

Wednesday, August 22:

Audio Review Tour – Changing Lines – RJ Scott & V.L. Locey
Blog Tour Circle of Trust by Aimee Nicole Walker & Nicolas Bella
Riptide Tour Shelter from the Storm by Kate Sherwood
A Free Dreamer Review: Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves
A MelanieM Review : Dark City by Sarah Kay Moll
A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Shelter from the Storm by Kate Sherwood

Thursday, August 23:

DSP Cover Reveal Femme Faux Fatale by Susan Laine
Of Princes False and True” by Eric Alan Westfall
Harmony Promo Beau Schemery
An Ali Review Death Days by Lia Cooper
A VVivacious Review Of Princes False and True by Eric Alan Westfall
A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Last Chance by R.J. Scott
An Alisa Audiobook Review Sweet Nothings (Amuse Bouche #1) by T. Neilson and Simon Ferrar (Narrator)

Friday, August 24:

Book Blast Born to be Wild by A.L. Simpson
DSP Promo Remmy Duchene on Tempt Me
A Stella Release Day Review: Midnight in Berlin by JL Merrow
An Alisa Review: 2230: The Perfect Year by CM Corett
An Alisa Review Up to Code (Directions #1) by Jena Wade
A MelanieM Audiobook Review: Sun and Shadow (Day and Knight #2) by Dirk Greyson and Andrew McFerrin ( Narrator)

Saturday, August 25:

Looking Forward by Michael Bailey Release Blitz
Media Blitz – FINDING MY WAY HOME BY KENDEL DUNCAN
A MelanieM Review: Pretty Man by Ryan Field

*Gay Movies with Happy Endings!

Love, Simon
Big Eden
Jeffrey
Touch of Pink
Boys (Jongens)
Maurice
The Birdcage
The Way He Looks
Shelter
Beautiful Thing
Were The World Mine
G.B.F.
Kinky Boots
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

And wait there’s more!

1) All Over the Guy
2) Boy Culture
3) East Side Story
4) Fourth Man Out
5) Friends & Family
6) God’s Own Country
7) Long Term Relationship
8) Latter Days
9) Salt Water
10) Save Me
11) Trick
12) Yossi

Release Blitz – In The Shadows (Social Sinners #2) by TL Travis

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 202 pages

Social Sinners Series

Book 1 is the only book in the series that can be read as a stand-alone.
Book 1 – Behind the lights (MM) – Amazon US | Amazon UK – Currently only 99c
Book 2 – In the shadows (MM)
Book 3 – A heart divided (MMM)
Book 4 – Beyond the curtain (MM)
Book 5 – After the final curtain (MM/MMM)

Blurb

For Ricky “Stoli” Branson, the stars were on his side. Social Sinners was headlining their first sold out US tour. Radio stations across the states were playing their songs, and he’d won the heart of the man he loved.

Everything was going great, or so he foolishly believed…

When an accident has them burying one of their own and leaves another fighting for his life, Stoli questions his beliefs. Or lack thereof.

“Have faith,” his mother tells him. But how can you have faith in something that threatens to take away your only reason for breathing?

Author Bio

TL Travis is the author of The Sebastian Chronicles along with numerous other erotic novelettes (and many more in the works), The Elders Trilogy – an erotic paranormal (Vampire) romance novel series and many non-fiction articles.

In her spare time she likes to fish, enjoy all the Pacific Northwest has to offer, spin spicy erotic webs for readers to enjoy, and rescue any 4 legged lost souls she comes across. Since her children are grown and have flown the coop, she’s taken to spoiling her two deaf white boxers even more so than they were before.

To view TL Travis literary and photography works please visit her website atwww.tltravis.com
TL Travis can also be followed on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tltravisauthor
Or via twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tltravis1

Hosted By Signal Boost Promotions

Heart of a Redneck by Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga

Cover Artist: Alexandria Corza, http://www.seeingstatic.com/

About the Authors

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SERIES REVIEW TOUR

SERIES REVIEW TOUR SCHEDULE

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Giveaway

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Do You All Read the Whatchamacallit?

This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, August 19:

Monday, August 20:

Tuesday, August 21:

Wednesday, August 22:

Thursday, August 23:

Friday, August 24:

Saturday, August 25:

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