Category: Contemporary fiction

Release Day Blitz A Way with You by Lane Hayes (excerpt and giveaway)

Title:  A Way with You

Series: A Way With, Book 2

Author: Lane Hayes

Publisher: Amazon

Release Date: January 18, 2018

Heat Level: 4 – Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 30K

Genre: Romance, Bisexual, Humor, Office Romance, New York City

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Synopsis

Reeve Nelson is determined to make it in Manhattan. He’s hardworking, dedicated and willing to put in the extra hours required to be successful at his new job at a prestigious real estate firm in the city. There’s no way he’s going back to small-town living and an ex-girlfriend who won’t let go. But his boss isn’t making it easy. 
Leo Rodriguez enjoys his reputation as a ruthless businessman. He’s a lone wolf who’s scraped his way from the gutter to rebuild his life and launch a distinguished career on his terms. When an opportunity to expand in the market comes up, Leo wants the eager new agent with a sense of wonder on the project. But nothing goes quite as planned. Reeve expected to be intimidated and overwhelmed by Leo, however, the explosive mutual attraction and fierce desire between them is a big surprise. Neither man is looking for love and yet, something special just might happen if they can find their way…together.

Excerpt

Yeah, this was my idea but I wasn’t prepared to be this close to Leo again. His mere presence overwhelmed me. He smelled so good. I wanted to bury my nose in the collar of his button-down shirt and just…breathe. I told myself Leo was a regular guy like every other guy here, but truthfully, he wasn’t the least bit ordinary. Even in executive chic, Leo turned more heads than the shirtless bartenders. And when he smiled at the young man next to me who offered him his stool, he added another admirer to his list.

I’d never been around anyone who changed the temperature in a room simply by entering it the way he did. It wasn’t his appearance either. His height and sharp sense of style might garner a second glance, but his true appeal was innate. It was in the way he spoke and moved. He didn’t mince words or waste time. He was concise and direct and acted with purpose. I got the impression Leo Rodriguez had a reason for everything he did, including wanting to meet with me.

Leo perched on the vacated stool and then hooked his thumb at me when I didn’t reply. “He’ll have a martini too.”

“No. I mean, yes. But with olives, please. No onions.” I thanked the bartender then swiveled to face Leo, accidentally bumping his knee.

I muttered a quick apology and cautioned myself to pull it together. Leo wasn’t my boss anymore, for fuck’s sake. I just wished he didn’t make me so anxious.

Commence the nervous chatter.

“Onions? No one orders onions,” I snorted. “And vodka-soaked onions are especially gross.”

Leo’s lip curled on one side like a pirate. “When was the last time you had a vodka-soaked onion?”

“Uh…well, never,” I admitted with a frown. “But it sounds gross.”

“Chocolate covered scorpions and braised frog legs are gross. Onions aren’t in the same zip code.”

I made a face and shivered. “Have you actually eaten those things?”

“Yeah, and actually, they’re not so bad. Chocolate hides the taste of anything, even insects, and frog legs taste like chicken. But you never know unless you try.”

“No thanks.”

Leo tsked playfully. “You have big opinions, a big mouth, and a hot temper, Nelson. No wonder I like you.” He nodded his thanks when the bartender delivered our cocktails then raised his glass in a mock toast. “To onions.”

“Onions?”

“We sure as fuck ain’t drinkin’ to olives,” he quipped.

I chuckled at his comedic expression then sipped my martini while I wracked my brain for a non-confrontational topic of conversation to stall the inevitable one.

“What do you have against olives?” Weak. But it was better than nothing, and Leo seemed willing to play along.

“Nothing. It’s a texture thing. I don’t eat them if I can help it but I love olive oil. And tapenade is cool as long as those little suckers are chopped really fine. Otherwise, olives are a hard pass for me. Everyone has a food like that. What’s yours?”

“Kidney beans,” I replied quickly. “I like them in chili but not in salad. I have a great recipe for spicy chili that requires multiple glasses of water on standby. My grandmother made it when we were kids and”—I stopped to take a gulp of my drink before braving a look his way—“I’m sorry. You make me nervous.”

“Why, Reeve?” he purred, leaning into his elbow on the bar next to mine. “Is it because of last night?”

Purchase at Amazon

Meet the Author

Lane Hayes is grateful to finally be doing what she loves best. Writing full-time! It’s no secret Lane loves a good romance novel. An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. These days she prefers the leading roles to both be men. Lane discovered the M/M genre a few years ago and was instantly hooked. Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions, and won first prize in the 2016 and 2017 Rainbow Awards. She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband in a newly empty nest.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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L.A. Witt and Cari Z On Andreas’ Honeymoon Site and ‘Romantic Behavior’ (Guest Blog for Riptide Publishing Tour and Giveaway)

Romantic Behavior (Bad Behavior #4) by L.A. Witt and Cari Z.
Riptide Publishing
Cover Art: Garrett Leigh

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here at Riptide Publishing

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host L.A. Witt and Cari Z today on their tour for Romantic Behavior. Welcome!

 

Where would Andreas want to go for the honeymoon?

By L.A. Witt and Cari Z

So if money and time off work weren’t issues, where would Andreas want to take Darren for their honeymoon? I picked five places that I think would top his list, though you’d have to ask Cari if Darren’s list would look even remotely the same…

  1. Amsterdam. For many reasons, but mostly because even if he won’t admit it out loud, Andreas thinks it would be hilarious to watch Darren get stoned.
  2. A cabin in the woods a million miles from everything in like Canada or Alaska or something. Basically, anywhere he can escape from all of humanity except Darren, who’s one of the few people he actually likes being around for any length of time. But with a phone in case his kids need to reach him.
  3. Disneyland or Disney World. Hey, Andreas has a perpetual kid side just like everyone else, and he’s never gotten to go without his own kids in tow. He thinks it would be fun to go with Darren, and he’ll even considering putting on a pair of mouse ears if his man deploys the puppy dog eyes. Just don’t ask him to get on It’s a Small World or he might tase you.
  4. Anything that doesn’t tax his ankle. Andreas pretty much won’t say no to anything that makes Darren happy, so as long as it’s not cross country skiing, snowboarding, or like the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage or anything else that might make his ankle tender, he’s game.
  5. Tell everyone they’ve gone on a big cruise or whatever, but just stay home. At the end of the day, all Andreas really wants is to be with Darren. The less traveling they do, the less opportunity there is for disaster to strike, and besides, he’s more than happy to have a staycation. As long as he’s got Darren, he can’t ask for much more, especially if no one knows where they really are. Except the kids, of course.

About Romantic Behavior

Detective Andreas Ruffner is no fool—he’s found a man who loves him, puts up with him, and has stuck with him through hell and back, and it’s time to put a ring on it. Darren Corliss is the love of his life, and he wants the whole world to know it.

Now the fun part—the wedding!

Well, after the not-so-fun part of planning the wedding in between dealing with overbearing and impossible-to-please family members. With future mothers-in-law driving them both up a wall, the guest list growing out of control, and the wedding getting ever more complicated, Darren and Andreas have to wonder if they’re in over their heads.

But they’re going to make it to the altar if it kills them . . . and at this rate, it just might.

Available now from Riptide Publishing!

About the Bad Behavior Series

It’s “hell no” at first sight for newly partnered detectives Andreas Ruffner and Darren Corliss. Darren is too chipper, Andreas is too gruff, and that whole “IA wants me to prove you’re a dirty cop” thing really doesn’t get them off on the right foot.

It doesn’t matter if they like each other. They’re partners and that’s final. Though Andreas is easy on the eyes. And Darren is kind of cute. And . . . okay, maybe they can make this work.

They’d better, because as their cases get more horrifying—and more personal—they’ll have to trust each other with their lives, and with their hearts.

Check out Bad Behavior!

About Cari Z.

Cari Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing, because some things she just thought she could do better. She’s still climbing that ladder, but can’t stop herself from writing, or from sharing what she creates.

Cari enjoys a wide range of literary genres, from the classics (get ‘im, Ahab) to science fiction and fantasy of all types, to historical fiction and reference materials (no, seriously, there are so many great encyclopedias out there). She writes in a wide range of genres as well, but somehow 90% of what she produces ends up falling into the broad and exciting category of m/m erotica. There’s a sprinkling of f/m and f/f and even m/f/m in her repertoire, but her true love is man love. And there’s a lot of love to go around.

Cari has published short stories, novellas, and novels with numerous print and e-presses, and she also offers up a tremendous amount of free content on Literotica.com, under the name Carizabeth.

Connect with Cari at http://cari-z.net/  or via her blog, http://carizerotica.blogspot.com/

About L.A. Witt

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn’t lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don’t tell Lauren. And definitely don’t tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut . . .

L. A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Romantic Behavior, one lucky winner will receive a $10 Riptide credit and their choice in an ebook from each of Cari and L.A.’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 20, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

An Ali Review: Two Man Station (Emergency Services #1) by Lisa Henry

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Gio Valeri is a big city police officer who’s been transferred to the small outback town of Richmond with his professional reputation in tatters. His transfer is a punishment, and Gio just wants to keep his head down and survive the next two years. No more mistakes. No more complications.

Except Gio isn’t counting on Jason Quinn.

Jason Quinn, officer in charge of Richmond Station, is a single dad struggling with balancing the demands of shift work with the challenges of raising his son. The last thing he needs is a new senior constable with a history of destroying other people’s careers. But like it or not, Jason has to work with Gio.

In a remote two man station hours away from the next town, Gio and Jason have to learn to trust and rely on each another. Close quarters and a growing attraction mean that the lines between professional and personal are blurring. And even in Richmond, being a copper can be dangerous enough without risking their hearts as well. 
This author is one of my favorites so I was really excited to see she had a new book coming out and this did not disappoint.  I was drawn in right from the beginning.  The pacing on this story is a bit slow but it works really well for the plot.  Due to the dynamics of their relationship we need the slow burn that happens between the two MC’s.  Anything faster wouldn’t have seemed realistic.
I loved the world building that was done here and the remote town that they live in was almost like it’s own characters.  I felt like I was there with the MC’s and I could picture everything so clearly in my mind.  I really loved how this setting and the side characters were done.
 
I enjoyed both Gio and Jason.  They were very different but when they finally get together it’s a beautiful thing.  I also liked how Jason’s daughter was done.  She seemed age appropriate and was just a kid.  I liked that she wasn’t precocious and she wasn’t there to provide humor.  I’m frequently disappointed in how children are presented in books and it sometimes seems like authors have never meant an actual real child.  That wasn’t the case here.  
 
If you’re looking for a really good read I definitely recommend this.  It’s a well done slow burn with engaging characters and an entertaining plotline.
 
This cover was done by Natasha Snow. I liked this cover a lot and thought it was not only well done but fit the story perfectly.
Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 273 pages
Expected publication: January 22nd 2018 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626497109 (ISBN13: 9781626497108)
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series Emergency Services #1

A MelanieM Review: Tribute Act (Porthkennack #8) by Joanna Chambers

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Nathan Bridges hadn’t intended to settle down in his home town of Porthkennack—he just ended up staying after saving the family business from ruin. The truth is, Nathan can’t stop himself from stepping in when problems arise. He’s a fixer, the man everyone turns to. But even fixers can’t solve everything.

When Nathan’s sister needs an organ transplant, it’s his stepbrother, Mack, who the family turns to as Rosie’s only potential living donor. Nathan’s curiosity about the stepbrother he’s never met turns to shock when he realises that Mack is his latest—and hottest ever—one-night stand.

Nathan and Mack agree to forget their single night together, but that’s easier said than done. When Mack moves in to Nathan’s place to recuperate after surgery, it’s not just the sexual tension between them that keeps growing. Against all the odds, and despite Mack’s wariness of intimacy, the two men grow close enough that Nathan begins to wonder what it would take to mend the rift that’s kept Mack and his father estranged for over a decade . . . and whether Mack might consider staying with Nathan in Porthkennack for good.

Sometimes, when the writing, the themes, and, the characters all come together, then a place comes alive for a reader.  You feel like you can walk down the pathways, watch the wild seas, look in through the glass windows into the pubs and storefronts of a place and feel you know it intimately because it’s now real for you.  Porthkennack is now that place or me.  Which is more amazing because the series isn’t written by one author but by five (at least for the moment).  Each one adding to the mythology, the foundation of the place, it’s people and its history.

Some are stand alone novels, such as this one, others are not.

All make you wish with all your heart that Porthkennack was a place you can grab a plane or bus to.  Tribute Act is just another reason why.

Tribute Act opens with music from songs from Nathan’s father’s band, one he walked away from, along with his marriage when he married Nathan’s mother in Porthkennackk, giving up music, settling down to have a family and fun a ice cream store.  That’s where we meet Nathan Bridges.  Home to rescue his Dad (awful businessman), his Mom, and sister.   It’s Nathan who is the rock of the family, always giving, sacrificing to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the family.  Nathan’s character is so well defined.  We see how much it takes out of him to continually be the giver, leaving little for himself, including dreams for his future.

Nathan’s sister is in need of a transplant which introduces Mack to the family and a series of startling revelations for all, especially Nathan who’d hooked up with Mack the night before not knowing he was his stepbrother.  Mack also was shocked by that little surprise.  Mack is a torn, bitter young man, hurt by seeing the family before him he never had as he was abandoned by Nathan’s dad.

Ah, that’s the huge weakness at the center.  The roaring musician, the dad who’s basically a coward but still loves his family.  This story is full of flawed people.  Some you will love, some you’ll understand, some you might despise…but all of them feel downright authentic.   They act, talk, yell, and react from places that you expect….deep wells of pain and anguish.  Childhood abandonment and loss.  Lack of familial love.  That’s very powerful stuff and it flows from the very heart of the narrative here.

And when hesitatingly, it all  starts to find a way to  come together, in forgiveness and as a family?  Well, you can’t help but feel joy and love for them all.  And another story and group takes its place in your Porthkennack corner of your heart.  How I love this place.

If you aren’t familiar with the Porthkennack series, Tribute Act (Porthkennack #8) by Joanna Chambers works fine on its own.  I highly recommend it and the others.  Check out the entire series here.  You might find me waiting on the bench by the bus stop waiting to walk with you into town.   You never know what magic can happen there.

Cover art by Garrett Leigh is spectacular.  Moody, it captures the tone, location, and character and pulls you in.  I love it.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 206 pages
Published January 15th 2018 by Riptide Publishing (first published January 13th 2018)
ISBN139781626496842
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesPorthkennack #8

This title is part of the Porthkennack universe.

Riptide Publishing Tour and Giveaway for Tribute Act by Joanna Chambers

Tribute Act (Porthkennack #8) by Joanna Chambers
Riptide Publishing
Cover Art: Garrett Leigh

Available for Purchase/Read an Excerpt at Riptide Publishing

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Joanna Chambers here today on her tour for Tribute Act, another great release in the Porthkennack series from Riptide Publishing.  Welcome, Joanna.

✒︎

Hello, book lovers! I’m Joanna Chambers and this is the blog tour for Tribute Act, my new romance which is book #8 in the Riptide’s Cornwall-set Porthkennack series. I’ll be sharing thoughts on writing my first full length contemporary, writing Christmas songs as an extreme form of authorly procrastination and my love of men with sad eyes. Please join me for a chance to win a copy of the book and a $25 Riptide gift card!

About Tribute Act

Nathan Bridges hadn’t intended to settle down in his hometown of Porthkennack—he just ended up staying after saving the family business from ruin. The truth is, Nathan can’t stop himself from stepping in when problems arise. He’s a fixer, the man everyone turns to. But even fixers can’t solve everything.

When Nathan’s sister needs an organ transplant, it’s his stepbrother, Mack, who the family turns to as Rosie’s only potential living donor. Nathan’s curiosity about the stepbrother he’s never met turns to shock when he realises that Mack is his latest—and hottest ever—one-night stand.

Nathan and Mack agree to forget their single night together, but that’s easier said than done. When Mack moves in to Nathan’s place to recuperate after surgery, it’s not just the sexual tension between them that keeps growing. Against all the odds, and despite Mack’s wariness of intimacy, the two men grow close enough that Nathan begins to wonder what it would take to mend the rift that’s kept Mack and his father estranged for over a decade . . . and whether Mack might consider staying with Nathan in Porthkennack for good.

Available now from Riptide Publishing!

About Porthkennack

Welcome to Porthkennack, a charming Cornish seaside town with a long and sometimes sinister history. Legend says King Arthur’s Black Knight built the fort on the headland here, and it’s a certainty that the town was founded on the proceeds of smuggling, piracy on the high seas, and the deliberate wrecking of cargo ships on the rocky shore. Nowadays it draws in the tourists with sunshine and surfing, but locals know that the ghosts of its Gothic past are never far below the surface.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by five award-winning, best-selling British LGBTQ romance authors: Alex Beecroft, Joanna Chambers, Charlie Cochrane, Garrett Leigh, and JL Merrow. Follow Porthkennack and its inhabitants through the centuries and through the full rainbow spectrum with historical and contemporary stand-alone titles.

Check out Porthkennack! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/universe/porthkennack

About Joanna Chambers

Joanna Chambers always wanted to write. In between studying, finding a proper grown up job, getting married and having kids, she spent many hours staring at blank sheets of paper and chewing pens. That changed when she rediscovered her love of romance and found her muse. Joanna’s muse likes red wine, coffee and won’t let Joanna clean the house or watch television.

Connect with Joanna:

● Website: www.joannachambers.com

● Facebook

● Twitter: @ChambersJoanna

● Goodreads

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Tribute Act, one lucky winner will receive an ecopy of the book and a $25 Amazon gift card! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 20, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Blog tour for Resist and Triumph charity anthology Edited by Grace R. Duncan and Tucker McCallahan

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From Red, The Mo Shíorghrá Saga by Vicktor Alexander

 

Present Day, February 9th

 

Brant Nelms stepped onto the back porch and stood behind Marius. He knew showing up at Marius’s home when he did, how he did, he had a lot of explaining to do.

It had been so long since he’d last seen his lover. His mo shíorghrá. Though, technically, Marius was more of an A rúnsearc, a secret love, since the bond hadn’t been completed… yet. Something Brant fully intended to rectify this Valentine’s Day.

If Marius forgave him.

“Mo shíorghrá,” Brant rasped.

Marius turned to face him and shook his head. “No. You don’t get to call me that anymore, Brant. I have been patient and faithful to you, and understanding of your situation, But it’s been six months since your wife died, and I haven’t seen or heard from you in that time. Have you told your pack about me? About us? Have you told your children? Do they know I exist?”

Brant glanced away from Marius’s piercing and all-too-knowing gaze. He hadn’t told anyone except his Beta, Katriona, and Katriona’s mate, Kenan, about meeting his true mate six years before. They’d both encouraged him to claim Marius and bring him to the pack lands, but Brant had a duty to fulfill, one that they hadn’t understood. Though Marius spent some time as a female, he was biologically male, and could not produce heirs for Brant. Brant had a duty to keep the Alpha line going. For the pack. It was also a promise he’d made to his father on the man’s deathbed.

“I haven’t told everyone, but I have shared the news with my Beta, Katriona, and her mate, Kenan,” Brant explained.

Marius crossed his arms. “That’s not enough for me anymore, Brant. Do you know how I’ve felt these last six years? Being the other woman? Being your mistress? Your dirty little secret? Knowing that you’ve told me we are meant for each other? That we are true mates but you had to marry a female from your pack so she could give you children?” Marius scoffed.

Brant winced at the sound. He wanted to step forward and take Marius into his arms, but knew his comfort and touch would be unwelcome.

“Do you realize how difficult it was for me to wrap my head around the whole shifter thing in the first place? I mean, if you hadn’t shown me it was real, I would have thought you were insane.”

Brant couldn’t help but smile at that, though he knew Marius might take his expression the wrong way. The memory of his telling Marius that he was not only a shifter, but an Alpha, and then shifting into his wolf while Marius looked at him as if he were crazy, was a fond one. Not only because it proved to Brant that he could trust Marius, and the man was his mo shíorghrá, but also because it was the first time he and Marius had made love—and when their Valentine’s Day tradition began.

 

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As 2017 opened, the United States took several steps back in the progress toward equality. In response, a group of authors has stepped up to offer positive stories of hope and love. In an effort to help fight and support those groups who are facing even greater challenges, we wrote these stories to offer a small amount of aid.

Stories of hope, resistance, and ultimately triumph fill the pages of this anthology.

All proceeds of the anthology go to The Trevor Project and GLAAD to help fight the effects of the dark times we’re facing.

 

Purchase Resist and Triumph here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078NKHVCK

Cover art: Jess Small
Publication date: 1/26/2018

Genres: M/M Romance, Paranormal, Historical, Dystopian, Contemporary, BDSM, F/F Romance

 

Other stories included in the anthology:

Breaking Ties with the Bully by Perci T. Brooks

Consummation by Tucker McCallahan

Fighting the Alpha, the Omega Way by Carol Pedroso

Get Off of My Runway by Shane K. Morton

Leto of The Ionian Sea by Maria Siopsis

The Respect of Love by Mandi Ware

Small Victories by Helen Dupres

White Rabbit by Grace R. Duncan

Cover Reveal for Selina Kray’s In Wild Lemon Groves (giveaway)

 

Add to Goodreads.
 
Cover Design: Tiferet Design
 
Length: 110,000 words approx.
 
Blurb
 

A telltale knock on a quiet winter night is a sound no husband wants to hear.

Sébastien Osaki has spent the past three years surviving the loss of his beloved Henry. When Seb lands in Amalfi, Italy, for their would-have-been tenth-anniversary trip, he’s haunted by the memory of the man he loved. Following Henry’s notebook leads him to some breathtaking coastal views but also right back to his despair. Seb’s there to get his groove back, not let the past wrong-foot him at every turn.

Enter Andrea Sorrentino, chauffeur, part-time pet whisperer, a Bernini statue in a soccer tee and tight shorts. From the moment Andrea picks Seb up from the airport, he knows just how to soothe Seb’s case of the sulks. But Seb isn’t sure he’s ready for Mr. Right Now, let alone a potential Mr. Right, in a part of the world where all roads lead back to Henry.

Can sun, sea, and eating your weight in pasta mend a tragedy-stricken heart? Will wine-soaked Amalfi nights and long walks through lemon groves work their magic on Seb’s wounded soul? Or will he slink back into the shell of his grief once his grand Italian adventure is over? 

Author Bio

Selina Kray is the nom de plume of an author and English editor. Professionally she has covered all the artsy-fartsy bases, having worked in a bookstore, at a cinema, in children’s television, and in television distribution, up to her latest incarnation as a subtitle editor and grammar nerd (though she may have always been a grammar nerd). A self-proclaimed geek and pop culture junkie who sometimes manages to pry herself away from the review sites and gossip blogs to write fiction of her own, she is a voracious consumer of art with both a capital and lowercase A.

Selina’s aim is to write genre-spanning romances with intricate plots, complex characters, and lots of heart. Whether she has achieved this goal is for you, gentle readers, to decide. At present she is hard at work on future novels at home in Montreal, Quebec, with her wee corgi serving as both foot warmer and in-house critic.

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A MelanieM Release Day Review: Fighting Addiction (Fighting Addiction) by B.A. Tortuga

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Country hat act Markus Kane is skeptical when he’s asked to do a joint tour. He hasn’t seen Sebastian Longchamps since he gave up drinking—and since their compulsion for each other nearly cost them both their livelihoods. But Markus’s career is on the downhill slope, while the country-fried Cajun rocker’s star is still rising. His label thinks it’ll be a match made in ticket-sales heaven.

Sebastian knows better. One wrong move and Markus will break his heart all over again. This time he has much more to lose.

Time has changed both men, though, and while Markus and Sebastian try to fight their addictions, the big music industry machine has plans for them that don’t include a quiet retirement. Can Markus convince Sebastian that there are things in life more important than adrenaline and control? And can Sebastian make Markus understand that all he really wants is his music and his man?

Fighting Addiction is about music, breakups, breakdowns, chicanery, and second chance at love.  That’s a country song right there.  And that’s sort of perfect because music, the writing of it, the singing of it, the getting together and hashing out a melody and tracks…that’s an essential part of these men and the story Fighting Addiction.  In fact, you could say, that music is the deep addiction that helps save both of them from their demons and reunites them so they can have their HEA.

And no one gets rednecks, music, and perhaps their demons better than BA Tortuga.  Check out her playlist for this story here.

From the prologue to the epilogue, music is driving the story and these men.  Both the need to get the music out for the labels, the need to write, the need to sing….music is at the heart of this story.  And Tortuga makes us understand this fundamental element.  From the sessions with the bands to the scenes where Markus and Seb are talking to each other through lyrics and songs, the power of music and its ability to direct lives sings in this book through the author’s vivid descriptions and lively dialog.  The scenes are intimate, the language local and knowing, flavored with sayings, terms of endearment, and nicknames that speak of long term familiarity and love.

The characters, main, secondary, fleeting and not, all  feel like people you know.  Maybe musicians you’ve heard howling or picking along, if you’re lucky enough to  go SXSW about 5 years ago or some of the bars in Nashville.  Tortuga makes you feel their love of music and each other.  You get the laughter, the love, and yes, the pain, and angst, when it all starts to go wrong with Seb.

Along with the music addiction, you have two main characters with other addictions.  Markus is an alcoholic who’s sober now.  Seb has his own demons driving him that you need to read about in the story.  And yes, one more addiction.  They are addicted to each other at a level almost cellular.  All flowing to the country beat, as country melodies float through the stories like a sweet and sad refrain.

I loved the story, the fight for each other and for their music, all the cast of characters…but I confess I’m a dance on the graves of my enemies sort of gal and miss the total comeuppance at the end.  That’s all that’s keeping this from a 5 star story.  Except for that?

Fighting Addiction by BA Tortuga is fine as frog’s hair and a story I absolutely recommend!

Cover Artist: Tiferet Design.  Sexy cover but I’m getting tired of the half naked torso.  More bank perhaps?

Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 217 pages
Expected publication: January 16th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press (first published September 25th 2012)
ASINB078QH89QX
SeriesFighting Addiction