SERIES BLAST : Hunter Dane and Camden Snow Series by Adira August (excerpts and giveaway)

 

BOOK 1 

On His Knees (#1 Cam & Hunter 4Ever)

Author: Adira August

Publisher: RedDeer

Length:  13k words/76 Kindle pages

Genres: Contemporary gay, BDSM, erotica

Blurb:

Sometimes it’s the cop who needs to hit the floor…

As a homicide cop, every blood-soaked crime scene settled in my bones and snaked around my spine. There was only one way to exorcise the images from my soul …

Inside the club, I stopped to scan the room. He was here, Camden Snow. A Norse sex god in the guise of unpretentious youth. Only his ice-blue eyes gave evidence of the Dom who took whomever he wished, whatever way he wanted, with a look and a nod. Merciless.

Cam found me watching him and fixed me with his arctic gaze. This time, I didn’t walk away. He cocked an eyebrow. Well?

The last thing I needed was mercy.

I dropped to my knees.

A frank exploration of the D/s dynamic between two powerful men. Consensual. Adult. Intense.

Buy Links

Amazon US  

Amazon UK  

Free on Instafreebie until Nov 24th

Excerpt

It was an early summer evening, the sun half set. I was making my way to the door with one of the club’s boozeless Bloody Marys to find a deck chair and keep an eye on whoever came up the stairs. Decide what I wanted after sunset.

The door opened before I could touch it. He paused, backlit by the setting sun. Golden. Glowing. Idealized male beauty wrapped in an invisible cloak of incredible power. He was so careless of it. He scanned me and grinned. As if the sight of me delighted him. No one grinned here. Not with genuine pleasure.

He passed close to me, still scanning. It was the kind of moment that called for locked gazes and hardening cocks. Instead, he happily looked me over like I was a pastry display and he was deciding which succulent treat to select.

Cam was fresh from deep powder and Olympic triumph. Exuding health and vitality and bonhomie and danger.

I wanted to give him everything, simply because he existed. And looked at me.

He reached out and put a hand on the side of my neck, his thumb skating lightly along my jawline and down, across my larynx. My insides turned to water.

Don’t pick me. Please.

His eyes narrowed a little as if he’d heard. His hand tightened – scarcely, definitely – and withdrew.

“Kneel for me when you’re ready,” he said. And was gone.

BOOK 2

Matchstick Men: Hunter Dane Investigation 1

(Book 2 of 3 in the HuntandCan4ever series)

Author: Adira August

Publisher: RedDeer

Genre/s: Police Procedural, Murder Mystery, Contemporary Gay Erotica, BDSM

Length:  48k words/ 274 pages

Blurb:

SEX, GAMES & MURDER Want to play?

It was munch night at the most elite underground BDSM club in the Rockies. Relaxed and informal, highlighted by the weekly Matchstick Challenge game. Detective Sergeant Hunter Dane, reigning champion, looked forward to a relaxing evening to start his 3 days off. A few beers on the deck. An interlude with a sweet sub. Stumping a challenger with a new puzzle. Home early for a decent night’s sleep.

Some people are SO deadly serious about their games.

Now Hunt has a fresh body and a new puzzle to solve in twenty-four hours if he wants to find a killer.

A 48k police procedural with a liberal dose of M/M hotness. Which means our fave full-metal Dom shows up to collect on Hunter’s offer of his … coffer. So to speak.

There are puzzles for the reader and mysteries to be solved. Based on characters introduced in the short story On His Knees. 

Buy Links

Amazon US

Amazon UK 

Excerpt

Cam looked out the window, leaving me to myself  while I drove us through the quiet dark of the Capitol Hill streets. I wondered why this killer wasn’t perfectly obvious to me. I wondered if it was impossible for me to see them, being so close that everything blurred at the edges and melded together.

“Did anyone ever tell you, you think too much?” Cam asked.

“Did anyone ever not?”

“Take the next alley,” he told me.

“What? Why?”

“You need to stop thinking.”

“Cam,” I put a warning in my voice. “There’s not much time-“

The bastard grabbed the wheel and cranked it hard right.

“Shit!”

“Steer!”

I lifted my foot off the gas, or tried to. He had his left hand on my thigh just above my knee, digging in, pressing down.

“Stop it, goddamn it!”

“Pull into that parking lot.”

“Alright! Just let go, for Christ’s sake!”

He released me instantly and sat back. I managed to miss the light pole and the dumpster and slide into a parking space behind a converted Victorian housing psychologists’ offices. An appropriate place to stop when riding with a no limits lunatic.

The offices were dark, now, but the mosquito bulb over the back door and the security lights at the rear of the building illuminated the lot. And the car’s interior. Anyone walking by could see us. If they saw us in flagrante delicto, they’d call the cops.

Cam had gone too far. I shut off the engine but before I could turn and bust his ass, his fingers found my seat belt release and he launched himself up and over the console into my space, his big hands slid down my arms toward my wrists. I twisted sideways and we wrestled for control of my hands.

I was at a distinct disadvantage under the steering wheel. He bent me toward him and my head was on his thigh.

“Stop it, Cam! Not now, we are not playing!”

He fell back into his seat, taking me with him and manacled me with one hand. But we were sweaty from the struggle and I managed to break his grip, freeing my hands.

He didn’t try to regain them. He simply raised himself and laid his body over mine. My head pressed into his crotch, his weight forced me onto the hard lump of the console.

“You can always safeword you know,” he said. I heard the challenge. The taunting. He was having fun.

“Fuck you,” I grunted underneath him.

I’d never safe worded in my life. Not to “red,” anyway. “Yellow” a few times when I had a cramp or was on call and my cell went off with a dispatch tone.

Safewording might have been an option for me now, if his power and the idea of being at his mercy, of which he possessed none, hadn’t given me a blazing erection.

He’d been betting I wouldn’t go there—confident I wouldn’t safeword. He really was good at this.

I felt his hand at my belt in back. Handcuffs. A thrill of fear and excitement made me choke on air. I struggled again, just enough to feel my inability to stop him from doing exactly what he intended. Jesus, I was hard, weeping against my thigh, trapped by the elastic briefs.

My legs were twisted and caught under the steering wheel. His body locked my right arm against the seatback. He deftly handcuffed my left wrist and calmly found my right and ratcheted the other cuff around it.

This was not the infamous Dom of the club, calculatedly giving me what I needed. Not the sexual virtuoso of last night, expertly bringing me everything I never knew I wanted. Pleasures I never thought existed.

This was the sadist in his element. Loving what he did to me because of what it did for him.

Then, suddenly, I knew who the killer was.

 

BOOK 3

Book Title: Dancing Men: Hunter Dane Investigation 2

(Book 3 of 3—and counting—in the HuntandCam4ever series)

Author: Adira August

Publisher: RedDeer

Genre/s: Police Procedural, Murder Mystery, Gay erotica, BDSM

Length:  70k words/385 pages

Blurb:

You have to bury the past, or the past will bury you.

An ancient burial urn, empty for millennia, is suddenly not so empty.

When Detective Lieutenant Hunter Dane probes the murder at Natural History Museum, it’s his own past that haunts him. To solve the complex case, Hunter needs the talents of Camden Snow, the brilliant, beautiful, “no limits” Dom who’d helped him unravel a very peculiar, and very personal, murder.

But Cam’s ready to kill Hunt, himself! Their high-intensity D/s relationship that began in a playroom, ended in an emergency room.

“If you want to be with me, you’ll have to do more make some big re-entry gesture,” Cam said. “That’s just more drama. You’ll have to work for this, Hunter.”

“All right. What work would that be?” Hunter asked, eager to perform any penance Cam gave him.

“You’re the champion puzzle-solver and ace detective. Unravel a mystery.”

Hunter’s brows pulled together. “What mystery?”

“Me.”

For adults who love some mystery with their men. A 70k police procedural with a liberal dose of M/M heat. The 2nd of the Hunter Dane Investigations. Matchstick Men, their 1st case, also available on Amazon. Their next case, Psychic Men, will be out in spring of 2018

Excerpt

The Mystery

“You are familiar with the Tamil burial jars case I’m hearing?” the judge asked as she led him into her chambers.

“Enough to know the case exists,” he said, putting his professional face on. Why would they need a homicide investigator for an international property dispute? “I should mention I’m acquainted with Doctor St Clair who was appointed head of the research team.”

“I see,” she said, taking her chair but not inviting him to sit. “Do I have to go over confidentiality? I was informed with you it wouldn’t be necessary.”

“It isn’t,” he said.

“Good.” She sat forward and clasped her hands on the desk. “Expert testimony the Court finds to be compelling establishes the impossibility of determining the geographic origin of the jars or when they were created and sealed without extensive testing. There will be a problem of international relations if I award the urns to the Denver museum and later testing reveals clearly that the plaintiff did have standing.”

Hunter nodded. The judge cocked a skeptical eyebrow at him. “You understand the issue?”

“It will look as if we must have known all along and used a technicality in the law to keep the jars here. I imagine they have more than scientific value?” he said.

A slow and very small smile appeared. “Have a seat,” she told him. He did.

“At my request, Doctor St Clare sent a doctoral fellow to take air samples from the jars to determine how long ago they were sealed. That was ten days ago. I received the results on Friday. So did the attorneys. After which, I issued a gag order.”

Hunter waited for her to get to the point.

“I’m curious, detective, what you would guess the tests showed?”

“At least one of the air samples had a much higher level of carbon dioxide than would be present when the jars were made. And traces of methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and nitrogen. Decomp gases.”

Her Honor nodded.

“There’s flesh rotting in one of those jars and it wasn’t put there a thousand years ago,” Hunter said.

Buy Links

Amazon US

Amazon UK

 

GIVEAWAY

November Rafflecopter Prize 1 x $25 Amazon gift card 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

SERIES BLAST AND REVIEW TOUR SCHEDULE

NOVEMBER

 

November 13

Millsy Loves Books    

Gay Book Promotions 

November 16  

Lily G Blunt   

November 21

Bayou Book Junkie 

Men & Men Midnightcafe.uk  

November 24

Gay Book Reviews 

November 30  

The Blogger Girls

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 

Stories That Make You Smile      

MORE POSTS TO FOLLOW IN DECEMBER

 

 

About the Author

TYPOS ARE MY TRADEMEARK

I write mostly BDSM EROTICA because I love exploring the power dynamics in terms of the love relationships. The work is explicit. It’s always consensual. If you have triggers about certain kinds of practices, use discretion. I do not make kink lists for my titles.

I went to school interminably, it seemed like. I studied anthropology and paleontology and genetics and literature and theology and ancient Greek. I chased down bad guys, raised children, climbed mountains, played poker, searched for dinosaurs and have had a rather large number of lovers. (I’m not giving up any numbers because TMI) Through it all, I wrote.

No wonder I’m so tired.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

You can read all my books stand-alone. There’s plenty of information about what happened previously in Hunt and Cam’s story for you to easily follow their relationship arc. The mysteries are always complete within the stories.

BUT if you’re a romance lover, the relationship story is not a romance. It is a love story. But it’s also the story of two independent Alpha males: one gay and one bisexual, one Dom and one switch with a preference for BDSM. And they aren’t simple, take it from someone who shares headspace with them.

I love these guys. They surprise me and challenge me and break my heart, sometimes. They inspire me.

(Just some FYI for the new readers. Hi. Welcome.)

Addi

Social Media Links

Blog/Website

Facebook Author Page

Addi’s Facebook Spoiler Group

Twitter

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

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RIPTIDE TOUR & Giveaway: Infamous by Jenny Holiday

Infamous (Famous #2) by Jenny Holiday
Riptide Publishing
Cover art: L.C. Chase

Read an Excerpt/Buy it Here at Riptide Publishing

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Jenny Holiday here today on tour with Infamous. Welcome, Jenny.

✒︎

Hello! I’m Jenny and I’m happy to be here to celebrate the release of Infamous. Infamous is book two in the Famous series, which mixes m/f and m/m romance. (And mixes famous musicians and regular people!) In Infamous, Jesse, our resident bad-boy rock star has to decide if he’s willing to risk his career to be with Hunter, a doctor he’s rapidly falling for. I hope you enjoy it!

About Infamous

All that up-and-coming musician Jesse Jamison has ever wanted is to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. When a gossip website nearly catches him kissing someone who isn’t his famous girlfriend—and also isn’t a girl—he considers the near miss a wake-up call. There’s a lot riding on his image as the super-straight rocker, and if he wants to realize his dreams, he’ll need to toe the line. Luckily, he’s into women too. Problem solved.

After a decade pretending to be his ex’s roommate, pediatrician Hunter Wyatt is done hiding. He might not know how to date in the Grindr world, how to make friends in a strange city, or whether his new job in Toronto is a mistake. But he does know that no one is worth the closet. Not even the world’s sexiest rock star.

As Jesse’s charity work at Hunter’s hospital brings the two closer together, a bromance develops. Soon, Hunter is all Jesse can think about. But when it comes down to a choice between Hunter and his career, he’s not sure he’s brave enough to follow his heart.

Available now from Riptide Publishing!

About Jenny Holiday

Jenny Holiday started writing in fourth grade, when her aging-hippie teacher, between Pete Seeger songs, gave the kids notebooks and told them to write stories. Jenny’s featured poltergeist, alien invasions, or serial killers who managed to murder everyone except her and her mom. She showed early promise as a romance writer, though, because nearly every story had a happy ending: fictional Jenny woke up to find that the story had been a dream, and that her best friend, father, and sister had not, in fact, been axe-murdered. Today she is a USA Today bestselling author of historical and contemporary romance. She lives in London, Ontario.

Connect with Jenny:

● Website: jennyholiday.com

● Blog: jennyholiday.com/blog

● Facebook: www.facebook.com/jennyholidaybooks/

● Twitter: @jennyholi

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Infamous, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Amazon gift card! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 2, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A MelanieM Release Day Review: Watermelon Kisses by Freddy Mackay (Mischief holiday story)

Rating: 5 stars plus out of 5

Life hasn’t been easy for Amir since he fled Iran after a brutal imprisonment. The trauma experienced at the hands of the guards left a dark spot on his soul. The one constant in his life since relocating to Chicago has been his lover—now husband—Esmail, whose steadfast love and support has soothed his wounded heart.

​But this Shab-e Yalda, Amir wants to be the one giving his husband something special, because even after the darkest nights, the sun will rise again.

Really, Watermelon Kisses by Freddy Mackay  is one of those stories that makes me want to run outside, grabbing people to say “have you read this story? You must read this story…”.  Because it’s so powerful, it’s message of hope and love so enduring and impactful that I want to send it out there as a holiday gift to everyone.

And it starts out so gently, and like the gentle ripples spreading across a lake, you have no idea of the power of the swift currents waiting for you just underneath the initial surface you see, waiting to sweep you emotionally under.

You first meet Amir when he’s shopping for Shab-e Yalda.  Freddy Mackay gives a description of the religious holiday and the dishes they eat at the back of the story.  Don’t miss those.  But they aren’t needed to read the story through…the first time. Or the second. Or even third. From the manner in which you meet him and the way he’s handling the shopping, you know that there’s something wrong.  But the revelations about Amir unfold slowly, heartbreakingly, with hints and then facts that will crush you… little peeks into his  past history and horrors over the course of the story.  At points I had to stop because I just   not have enough tissues nearby to go on.  But go on you must.  Because this beautiful story is about surviving the dark, waiting for the light, the sunrise to arrive bringing hope and love.

Mackay’s writing is exquisite.  Each word, each sentence is precisely right…forming a picture in your mind and heart of the past, present, and finally, what the future may hold for Amir and husband Esmail.  Waiting for the golden rays of the  sunrise to put them back together again reminded me of the ancient Japanese art of mending broken pottery with a special lacquer dusted with powdered gold. Called Kintsugi which means golden repair because you can see the seams of gold glinting in the cracks of the newly whole pottery,  the sun shining down on Amir and Esmail seemed to help seal and mend the broken man huddled in the darkness.  So powerful, so enduring….this is a story that you will want to reread often.  It will be in the top stories of 2017 for me and I want everyone to go out and read it immediately!  That’s how highly I recommend Watermelon Kisses by Freddy Mackay.

Cover art is wonderful containing an important element of the story but nothing can really do justice to this story.

Sales Links:  Mischief Corner Books | Amazon

Book Details:

First Expected publication: November 29th 2017 by Mischief Corner Books, LLC
Edition LanguageEnglish

A MelanieM Review: Texas Gift (Texas #8) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

A gift for every single reader who said they needed to know what happened next for Jack and Riley…

When Hayley arrived on the steps of the D, Riley and Jack knew life would never be the same.

Told through Riley and Jack’s eyes, this is ten years in the life of their family and watching Hayley grow up, fall in love, and start her own life. Hurricanes, illness, babies, happiness, sadness, work, play, the barn, the office, horses, friends, enemies, and above all love.

Texas Gift (Texas #8) by R.J. Scott is exactly that, a wonderful gift to all of her readers, myself included, who fell in love with Riley and Jack from book one of her Texas series.  Through seven stories, starting with The Heart of Texas, we have been through heartache, blackmail, murder, misunderstandings, accidents, illnesses, adoptions, and so much more.

We’ve watch their love grow from a business deal wedding to a deep abiding love that spans decades and expands to include children and friends cobbled together from all walks of life.  It’s been such an amazing journey.  It’s included  Max their autistic son, a character that RJ  Scott has  handled with such joy and loving authenticity that Max was at first both a poignant yet quietly awesome young man, someone we loved from the moment he entered their lives.  Of course we watched Hayley grow up and then there’s the twins as well.

Now in Texas Gift we get to see what happens…watch the years go by.  Hayley goes off to college with the appropriate parental meltdowns.  The twins grow up and we get to see what adulthood has in store for them…prepare to have your tissue boxes nearby. There are family crises, some of the other characters we have come to love over the course of the years at the DoubleD Ranch also  go through some life altering changes that will gladden your heart.  Texas Gift is like sitting down on a  couch with your family with their family albums and going through it with them as they tell you the stories from each picture, pointing out every loving detail with laughter, some sniffles and oh, so much joy.  It fills your heart with happiness and a warm glow because you’ve made such a connection with these men and their family over the course of these stories that they feel real and part of you.

Now as RJ Scott  closes the final chapter on Texas we get to see their whole story…what an amazing journey, what a marvelous gift. You’ve left me smiling and full of heartwarming memories.  I’ll miss you.

Cover art by Meredith Russell is absolutely perfect, framing out Riley and Jack when they were young and their family. Sniffles.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Book Details:

ebook, 180 pages
Published November 12th 2017 by Love Lane Books Ltd
ASINB077DJB1K8
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesTexas #8

Texas Series

Book #1 – The Heart of Texas – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book #2 – Texas Winter – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book #3 – Texas Heat – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book #4 – Texas Family – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book #5 – Texas Christmas – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book #6 – Texas Fall – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book #7 – Texas Wedding – Amazon US | Amazon UK

A MelanieM Release Day Review: Hearts and Hazelnuts (States of Love) by Kris T. Bethke

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Mechanic Jordan Hart is down on his luck, so he gladly accepts a temporary job servicing tractors at a hazelnut farm in Newberg, Oregon. He doesn’t expect to be attracted to his boss, Beckett Shaw. Still working on embracing his bisexuality, he’s reluctant to start anything, but Beckett’s gentle coaxing convinces Jordan to take a risk.

Beckett has vowed not to get involved with anyone until he can restore the Shaw Farms name as a leader in hazelnuts. But there’s no denying his interest in the shy mechanic who shows up at his door. Just as they begin to find a balance, outside forces threaten to tear them apart. Job opportunities force Jordan out of the Portland area he loves so much. But when danger comes too close to Beckett, Jordan must decide if he can follow his heart to the Willamette Valley… and straight back to Beckett.

One of the first things Hearts and Hazelnuts (States of Love) by Kris T. Bethke does is make you want to head out and visit the Willamette Valley of Oregon as it’s a virtual love letter to that portion, in fact all of the state.  Lushly described, the scenery and locations alone are a draw for this sweet romance novella. Then you add to it a slow burn love story and the fascinating element of hazelnut farming, and Dreamspinner Press’ States of Love and Kris T. Bethke have come up with another winner.

For 109 pages, the author did a lovely job of letting Jordan and Beckett build a relationship through working together rather than  a sort of “instant impact/love”  you often find in the shorter stories.  The attraction is there but each man has other responsibilities and issues in their lives they also need to concentrate on…a very realistic element I appreciated.  Told from both men’s perspectives, we get to see the stress they are under as well as the hopes they have for each other and the future.

There is a minor drama/suspense angle here that I thought was resolved far too quickly but again this is a novella not a novel so there’s a constraint as far as words allowed.  That aside, I thought Hearts and Hazelnuts was a lovely, heartwarming romance by Kris T. Bethke.  It certainly made me want a cup of hazelnut coffee and more.  If you love contemporary romance, check out Hearts and Hazelnuts (States of Love) by Kris T. Bethke.   I definitely recommend it.

Cover art by Brooke Albrecht is not only beautiful and eye catching but perfect for the story.  Love it.

Buy Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 103 pages
Expected publication: November 29th 2017 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781640800007
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesStates of Love

Review Tour for Texas Gift (Texas #8) by R.J. Scott (excerpt and giveaway)

 

 
Length: 50,000 words approx
 
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
 
Texas Series
 
Book #1 – The Heart of Texas – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #2 – Texas Winter – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #3 – Texas Heat – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #4 – Texas Family – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #5 – Texas Christmas – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #6 – Texas Fall – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #7 – Texas Wedding – Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Blurb
 

A gift for every single reader needed to know what happened next for to Jack and Riley…


When Hayley arrived on the steps of the D, Riley and Jack knew life would never be the same.


Told through Riley and Jack’s eyes, this is ten years in the life of their family and watching Hayley grow up, fall in love, and start her own life. Hurricanes, illness, babies, happiness, sadness, work, play, the barn, the office, horses, friends, enemies, and above all love.


Excerpt


Chapter One


Riley needed to apologize. Right now.


He’d fucked up big time, and he should have seen it coming, because everything he did went in cycles. He and Jack hadn’t argued in so long and maybe the tension that had been building inside Riley had needed an outlet; he’d provoked the argument. He’d pushed and prodded and sulked and shoved at Jack until Jack had snapped.


Not in loud, shouting temper, or anything like what Riley deserved. No, Jack had gone deathly quiet.


Absolutely. Utterly. Quiet.


Riley shouted at him, got everything out of his system, felt the weight of it all lessen by throwing it at Jack and what had happened? He’d stood there at first, confused, and then steadily calmer. Weirdly calmer.


They argued; no normal marriage went without arguments over things as important as the kids and as trivial as picking up wet towels. But they resolved things, Jack/Riley was a unit that worked. They sometimes bickered and teased, they shouted rarely, and on the odd occasion there would be sulking. Mostly from Riley. He considered it as thinking time but Jack just called him on his sulking like a child.


Their arguments always ended in love; talking, kissing, complete forgiveness that could only come when two people understood and loved each other.


This morning though, he’d made Connor cry, Lexie scowl, and Max hide under the table with Toby. Jack hadn’t even stayed for that. The crying, scowling and hiding had happened after he’d left.


“Why are you shouting at Pappa!” Connor shouted back at Riley. “Stop shouting.” Then he’d started to cry, and Riley’s heart had broken into a million pieces. He’d sat between a crying Connor, and a sullen, angry Lexie and tried to explain that he had a bad headache and he didn’t mean to shout. For headache, read migraine, tight painful migraine that blurred his vision and made him feel sick. He’d taken meds and the sharp edges of the glass in his head were easing, but he couldn’t think straight. Connor stopped crying.


“You were so mean,” Lexie summarized, but she did give Riley a hug and kiss him on the forehead to make it all better.


Max on the other hand, while not angry with Riley and the shouting, was still under the kitchen table with Toby. The black lab, Riley’s black lab, was between Max and Riley in a protective furry wall.


“It’s okay Tobes, I got this,” Riley tried to fold all six-four of himself under the wood. He got caught on a bench, his neck burned, his stomach was in knots, but nothing was going to stop him from getting to Max. Toby did eventually move to one side but not too far. Toby may well have been Riley’s dog at the start, but he and Max were inseparable now.


“Max, buddy?” he began, and Max at least looked up at him for a split second. “You okay?”


“M’okay,” Max said. “You’re noisy.”


At least he wasn’t rocking, or stimming. He was just sitting with his dog in his favorite place under the kitchen table.


“Is everything okay?” Carol said from behind him. He scrambled back and brushed himself off. “Riley?”


“I shouted,” Riley explained simply.


“At the kids?” Carol asked, aghast, as if that was the ultimate sin in her eyes. Which, to be fair, it was in Riley’s as well. He and Jack didn’t shout, they cajoled, and bargained, and ran a happy house. Most of the time, anyway. Just not this morning.


“No, at Jack.”


“Is Max okay?” she peered under the table and smiled at Max. He adored her, the kids all loved their nanny, probably quite a bit more than they loved their dad today.


“He seems fine.” Riley peered out of the window at where Jack had gone. The damage had been done, but Connie and Lexie were chatting to each other, Max was with Carol and he needed to go and make things right with Jack.


“I think we’re okay in here,” Carol said, “Go find Jack.”


Riley shot her a grateful glance, and as he left the kitchen he heard Lexie telling Carol that her Pappa had a headache and that she’d kissed it better. When he closed the door it was just him and the ranch and finding Jack. It didn’t take him long; he was outside their barn, looking up at the siding, with his feet apart and his arms crossed over his chest.


Riley inhaled the fresh morning air and pulled back his shoulders. He could do this; he could ignore the pain in his head now it had lessened a little, he could push back the nausea, and he could go and apologize to Jack for being a fucking idiot.


“I’m sorry,” he murmured, coming to a stop next to Jack, only a few inches separating their arms. Jack didn’t move.


“It’s okay.” Although it didn’t sound okay at all. Okay was one of those words that meant nothing in the context of an argument, it was a word that plastered over cracks in a relationship. Okay was quiet and tight-lipped silences and Riley recalled okay from when he was a kid.


He hated okay.


“It’s not okay, I have a headache and I didn’t mean any of what I said.”


“You didn’t mean to say that life would be easier if you didn’t have to listen to me?” Jack’s voice was low and serious, and Riley winced.


“You were saying too much, and I couldn’t think.”


Their discussion had started in the bedroom.


“I asked if you’d made an appointment to see someone about the headaches.”


“I know—”


“And why you were limping again—”


“Jack—”


“And why you weren’t sleeping, and why you spent so much time at the office, and why the fuck have we not used the barn in over a month?”


The barn wasn’t just the barn, it was a euphemism for sex. They hadn’t been together in a month, over a month now. How did Riley explain that he’d been at the office, sometimes with the blinds shut, closing out the light, sleeping? How did he explain he didn’t want to see a doctor because the headaches scared him? And how the hell did he tell Jack he was limping because every single one of his muscles hurt, because he was tired, because it was all too much?


“Jack, I’m sorry.”


“You’re not, Riley, because you won’t listen to me.” Jack pointed at the barn. “I’m thinking we turn this into a games room for the kids.”


Riley gripped Jack’s arm. “No, what the hell?” His tension fled and in its place was panic. This was their space. Sometimes they came out here to talk, to hide away from the world, but it was also the one place they had the hottest sex he’d ever experienced. He wanted that again, but he was so tired, every time he turned over in bed his neck hurt, and his head pounded, and his leg ached, and he was fucking tired of it all. “Jack, I’m sorry, don’t…”


Jack turned to face him, and his expression wasn’t angry. “Either you go to the doctor, right here, right now, or I start clearing the place for a pool table.” He looked deadly serious, and Riley couldn’t tell if this was an empty threat. Then Jack softened, cradled his face and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Riley, please.”


Just those two words pierced the fear in Riley, he couldn’t stop the pain, or the threat of being sick, or not sleeping, but whatever was wrong, Jack would be there for him.


“I’m scared,” Riley murmured.


Jack gathered him close. “You think I’m not?”


“Please don’t,” Riley said against Jack’s neck. His words sounded slurred and fear made him sway. What the hell? “Please don’t let me chase you away.”


“I won’t.”


And that was the last thing he heard as his world went to black.

 

Find Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 5 Star Review Here.

.



November 15 – Sexy Erotic Xciting, Gay Media Reviews
November 21 – Making It Happen, Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings
November 23 – Padme’s Library
November 25 – Dog-Eared Dadydreams
November 27 – Valerie Ullmer, The Geekery Book Review
November 29 – Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Bayou Book Junkie, Jim’s Reading Room, Wicked Reads

Author Bio

RJ Scott is the bestselling romance author of over 100 romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men and women who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.

mailto:rj@rjscott.co.uk
www.rjscott.co.uk/
www.facebook.com/author.rjscott?ref=ts&fref=ts
www.goodreads.com/author/show/3432558.R_J_Scott
twitter.com/Rjscott_author
www.librarything.com/author/scottrj

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Review Tour and Giveaway: Jackie Keswick’s Undercover Star

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Length: 41,000 words
 
Cover Design: Emma Griffin
 
Blurb
 

It sounds like the stupidest idea in the history of stupid ideas. Detective Inspector Josh Ingram wants to find a deadly medieval locket and through it, a murderer. So why does his boss decide to team him up with Matisse Vervein, a pop idol many consider just a pretty face… and expect the two of them to hunt down an art thief?


Marissa Godwin, Matisse’s no-nonsense manager, isn’t stupid. Neither is her brother-in-law, Detective Superintendent Tim Montgomery. Each is looking out for a lonely man on the verge of quitting what he does best, and both believe that their charges would make a great team.


The attraction sizzling between Josh and Matisse is hard to miss, but there’s plenty of resentment, too. Focussed on pushing Josh and Matisse towards each other, Marissa and Tim haven’t imagined the kind of trouble a music star and a detective can find when they ditch their prejudices and accept that the attraction between them is mutual. Or how far each is prepared to go to prove it to the other.


A feel-good, action adventure romance set in England and Scotland, featuring a reluctant pop star who’s not out, a detective trying his hand at being a bodyguard, plenty of adventure, and a happy ending.

 



November 22 – Urban Smoothie Read
November 24 – OptimuMM
November 27 – Ebook Addicts, Making It Happen
November 29 – Zipper Rippers, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Valerie Ullmer, Wicked Faerie’s Tales & Reviews
December 1 – Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings, Bayou Book Junkie

Author Bio

Jackie Keswick was born behind the Iron Curtain with itchy feet, a bent for rocks and a recurring dream of stepping off a bus in the middle of nowhere to go home. She’s worked in a hospital and as the only girl with 52 men on an oil rig, spent a winter in Moscow and a summer in Iceland and finally settled in the country of her dreams with her dream team: a husband, a cat, a tandem, a hammer and a laptop.


Jackie loves stories about unexpected reunions and second chances, and men who don’t follow the rules when those rules are stupid. She has a thing for green eyes, blogs about English history and food, and is a great believer in making up soundtracks for everything, including her characters and the cat.


And she still hasn’t found the place where the bus stops.


For questions and comments, not restricted to green eyes, bus stops or recipes for traditional English food, you can find Jackie Keswick in all the usual places:



Website
Twitter
FB
Newsletter

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A MelanieM Review: Junkyard Heart (Porthkennack #7) by Garrett Leigh

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Tired of the London rat race and the heartbreak that comes with it, photographer Jas Manning returns to Porthkennack, the Cornish seaside town where he spent every childhood summer on his father’s farm. Resigned to year-round rain, wind, and homemade jam, he’s sorely unprepared for the impact that artsy carpenter Kim Penrose has on his heart.

Kim’s free-loving reputation precedes him, and he’s as generous with his inked-up body as he is with his time. The sex is hot, the easy friendship even better, and Jas’s time with him building his family’s new farmhouse canteen is everything Jas was missing in his empty city life.

But Kim’s carefree existence isn’t as simple as it appears. He’s worked hard to vanquish his demons and build his dreams, but the devil on his shoulder is ruthless, and when it comes to call, their happy bubble bursts like it was never there at all. The canteen opening looms, but Kim is gone in more ways than one, and it’s down to Jas to shore up Kim’s soul and convince him that he deserves his place in Jas’s heart.

Kim Penrose makes his first appearance in House of Cards (Porthkennack#4) where Kim and Lena, his gf, with their open relationship and “all that free love and stuff” worked in Brix Luxmoore’s tattoo shop.  A damaged soul, even in that story Kim made quite an impression.  So much so that you wanted to know more about him, his breakup with Lena, and see him get a love that would last.

In Junkyard Heart, a perfect title and expression for the tumult of emotions inside of this fragile, addicted man, we get Kim, his story, and Jas Manning, a photographer who will be the one to understand and love him if  he can first gently work through the obstacles and mini minefields that lays in the path to a relationship and love.

Understanding Kim in many ways is like traveling a labyrinth, Kim’s an addict who’s worked hard on his recovery.  Issues of trust, honesty, and the ability to understand Kim is essential in the path forward.  Plus it works both ways, Kim has to trust Jas too with his heart.  Garrett Leigh understands these men and the author’s ability to write them in such a way that they breathe, and are such viable human beings that can cut into your heart with their situations and pain is credit to her skills.  There’s no huge drama that unfolds here other than that of two men trying to work out  how to mesh their lives into each others because it’s exactly what feels right and true.

Which brings me to the one element that threw me  here.  That is  Lena, also known as “Red”, Kim’s former partner/gf who left him for a woman she’s now serious about.  She returns and there’s a brief M/M/F sex scene which on one level I got because of the characters bisexuality and her importance to Kim.  But it never flowed for me.  Instead for some reason it felt jarring and intrusive, the exact opposite of what the author intended.  Another mention later in the story had the exact same effect….like a bucket of cold water on the men, it froze the narrative if only for a moment and not in a good way.

Junkyard Heart is another strong story in the Porthkennack series.  I adore this entire collection and each addition makes this old Welsh village a more alive and complete place in my mind and heart.  I certainly recommend it,  plus the  one I mentioned House of Cards.  Start with that and get to know intimately this small village and it’s incredible group of characters.

C0ver art by G.D. Leigh is wonderful and perfect for the character.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 192 pages
Expected publication: December 4th 2017 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN13 9781626495487
Edition Language
English Series

A Jeri Review: A Sniper’s Devotion (Cuffs, Collars and Love #5) by Christa Tomlinson

Rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Miguel has managed to get himself out of an abusive relationship and he is in need of help and who better to provide it then the very guy who protected him on the schoolyard and who Miguel always thinks of as his protector.

Hector and Miguel were close prior to Miguel’s relationship with his now ex-boyfriend. As Hector finds himself in close quarters with Miguel, a lot of those old feelings are coming up along with a whole lot of suppressed desires.

One crazy night opens a whole new can of worms. Is Hector ready to embrace his sexuality? Is Miguel ready for another relationship given how his last one ended? Is their relationship going to take off or is it doomed to fail before it even starts…

Okay, first of all, I just need to get this off my chest. That epilogue is on fire. Oh My God! It has been two days since I finished this book and the first thing that comes to mind when I sit to write this review is that epilogue. On Fire! I tell you. God it just gets me, how confident and secure Miguel is in their relationship like nothing can touch him. It is actually a pretty good indicator of how their relationship turned out and I must say it was one hell of a ride.

Friends-to-Lovers is one of my all-time favourite troops and this book just took it to another level. Miguel and Hector were such amazingly well-written characters and what I loved most about this book was that it let these two characters develop outside of their relationship as well, especially with regards to Miguel.

Miguel has just gotten out of a bad relationship and he needs to stand on his own two feet before he can commit to another relationship and I personally loved the fact that he stood up for himself every time. It was so good to see Miguel find his way back to being self-confident and independent.

I loved Hector and I have no idea why. I never paid much attention to him in the previous books and I had no special interest in Hector’s story as such, it would have been okay for me if the series ended with “An Officer’s Submission” though I will never say no to more Logan and Clay. So reading this book and liking Hector so much was a surprise. Hector is a bad-ass and I loved his character so much. I especially loved all his soul-baring conversations with Clay and Ryan and it was damn good to see the team.

Hector and Miguel always had chemistry, like off the top sizzling chemistry, so, I loved the fact that what they struggle with is not how to get in a relationship or be in it but how to get rid of their own hang-ups before they can commit to each other. Personally, I loved the book and how it plots out each characters’ journey and I especially loved where they end up.

The only reason this book is not a 5-star read is because I am docking half a star for getting me all hot and bothered and not delivering on it.

All in all an amazing book in a very amazing series.

Cover art by Melody Simmons of eBook Indie Covers. I really like the cover, it really fits the aesthetic of the series.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 268 pages
Published November 7th 2017
ASINB076GP7TDK
SeriesCuffs, Collars, and Love #4 settingHouston, Texas (United States)

Kris T. Bethke on Writing, Stories and her release ‘Hearts and Hazelnuts’ (guest blog)

Hearts and Hazelnuts (States of Love) by Kris T. Bethke
Dreamspinner Press
Cover art by Brooke Albrecht

Buy Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to be hosting Kris T. Bethke here today on her Hearts and Hazelnuts tour.

Thanks so much for hosting me today, and I’m so glad to be here!

How much of yourself goes into a character? A little bit of me always ends up in characters, and some much more than others. Sometimes I find my peculiar speech pattern creeping in, and then leave it as a character quirk. Sometimes characters have my likes and dislikes, or feelings about a particular subject. I find it really hard to completely separate myself from my characters, though I often make a concerted effort to make my character like/do/react differently than I would.

Does research play a role into choosing which genre you write?  Do you enjoy research or prefer making up your worlds and cultures? There’s never been a book where I didn’t have to research something. In my newest release, which is out tomorrow, I researched extensively about hazelnut farming. I found it way more fascinating than I ever imagined, and spent a good week reading and watching everything I could get my hands on, even though not all of it made it into the book. So I really enjoy research and learning, and use it in everything. Even when I create a new world or culture, it’s always rooted in something I started out researching, then changed and evolved for my own purposes.

Do you like HFN or HEA? And why? I like them both, but I find HFN more real. In fact, I think most books end with HFN. You never can know what the future will bring. So having the MCs solidly in love, and moving into the future, satisfies me deeply.

Do you read romances, as a teenager and as an adult? Yes! I was reading Harlequin romances years before it was appropriate, but I’ve always been a romantic at heart and romance makes up the bulk of my reading. When I do veer to other genres, it’s usually sci fi or paranormal, and even then, I like a romantic subplot

How do you feel about the ebook format and where do you see it going? I love the ebook format, though I will admit I resisted for years. There’s nothing like holding a book in your hand. But once I got on the ebook wagon, I was thrilled. It allows me to having thousands of titles at my fingertips without storage space issues. And they are a bit more affordable. I think it will only continue to grow. Though there are definite issues with piracy and undercutting prices, I think on the whole it’s a health market that will improve as time continues.

How do you choose your covers?  (curious on my part) I don’t always get to pick, but I usually get at least some input. With the ones that I get to hands on for, I mostly concern myself with the feeling of the cover. Does it convey the story within? Of course I want the models (if there are any) to look appropriate for my characters. But I focus more on the aesthetic. The cover for Hearts and Hazelnuts, for example, took a little back and forth with the artist, Brooke Albrecht. But in the end, she brought my vision to life. The rich, vibrant colors really sold it for me.

Have you ever put a story away, thinking it just didn’t work?  Then years/months/whatever later inspiration struck and you loved it?  Is there a title we would recognize if that happened? I have! To be honest, if I shelve something, I rarely go back to it. But I have a release in January, Ghost of a Chance, where this exact thing happened. Several years ago, I started writing it, but put it away because it just wasn’t working. A year ago, I pulled it out, dusted it off, reworked some things, and the story flowed from there. It’s even better than the original idea, and I love it.

With so much going on in the world today, do you write to explain?  To get away?  To move past?  To widen our knowledge?  Why do you write? All of these things, really. I write to escape, and to give my own opinions and thoughts and feelings voice. And to project hope. That, especially, I think. That in all the bad and scary going on, there is still love and the happy is still within reach. A lot of my characters are bisexual, too, which is a soapbox I get on. Bi-erasure, and the myths surrounding bi folk, really get under my skin. It hits close to home. So I like to show my bi characters finding love…and use them to educate and dispel some of those myths and fallacies.

What’s next for you as an author? I’ve got a lot coming up, as I’ve had a very productive writing year. A Timely Gift is out in December, which starts on solstice and ends on Christmas. And then in January, the first of my paranormal series releases. Ghost of a Chace is the the first in the Requiem Inc series with the Dreamspun Beyond line, with two more slated for release later next year.

Blurb:

Mechanic Jordan Hart is down on his luck, so he gladly accepts a temporary job servicing tractors at a hazelnut farm in Newberg, Oregon. He doesn’t expect to be attracted to his boss, Beckett Shaw. Still working on embracing his bisexuality, he’s reluctant to start anything, but Beckett’s gentle coaxing convinces Jordan to take a risk.

Beckett has vowed not to get involved with anyone until he can restore the Shaw Farms name as a leader in hazelnuts. But there’s no denying his interest in the shy mechanic who shows up at his door. Just as they begin to find a balance, outside forces threaten to tear them apart. Job opportunities force Jordan out of the Portland area he loves so much. But when danger comes too close to Beckett, Jordan must decide if he can follow his heart to the Willamette Valley… and straight back to Beckett.

About the Author

Kris T. Bethke has been a voracious reader for pretty much her entire life and has been writing stories for nearly as long.  An avid and prolific daydreamer, she always has a story in her head.  She spends most of her free time reading, writing, or knitting/crocheting her latest project.  Her biggest desire is to find a way to accomplish all three tasks at one time.  A classic muscle car will always turn her head, and naps on the weekend are one of her greatest guilty pleasures.  She lives in a converted attic with a way too fluffy cat and the voices in her head.  She’ll tell you she thinks that’s a pretty good deal. Kris believes that love is love, no matter the gender of people involved, and that all love deserves to be celebrated.

Find her on her site https://kristbethke.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/people/Kris-T-Bethke/100014524539852 or on Twitter https://twitter.com/kristbethke