Category: Contemporary fiction

Release Day Blitz for Living Out Loud by Nyrae Dawn & Christina Lee (excerpt)

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LIVING OUT LOUD

NYRAE DAWN & CHRISTINA LEE

M/M ROMANCE

RELEASE DATE: 09.08.17

living out loud cover

COVER DESIGN

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COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

Wander Aguiar Photography

https://www.facebook.com/WANDER.AGUIAR.PHOTOGRAPHY/

COVER MODEL: Brook

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Ben Emerson has lived by his minister father’s rules most of his life. Born into an ultra-conservative church community, he’s finally brave enough to break free and move to San Francisco. Distancing himself certainly helps create a new mindset, but living as an openly gay man takes some getting used to. When he reaches out to Xavier, a childhood friend who lives in the city, Ben isn’t sure how he’ll respond given their thorny history. Ben hopes the familiar connection will help him right some wrongs as well as provide the solace he’s been craving.

Xavier Ramos is who he is, and he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. Whether it’s eyeliner, nail polish, tattoos or his love of hooking up, he uses his body as a form of self-expression but doesn’t let anyone get too close. When Ben reenters his life, Xavier helps him experience the city and feel comfortable in his own skin. Seeing the world through Ben’s eyes, he begins to wonder if he’s also not living as freely as he thought.

When Xavier challenges Ben’s beliefs about sex, it becomes explosive—for both of them. Xavier breaks apart Ben’s sheltered world and shows him what it’s like to live out loud. The more time they spend together, the more Xavier begins to long for Ben in a different way—one that both surprises and scares him. But real life doesn’t fade into the background, so when Ben’s past comes knocking, old habits are hard to break. Testing the foundation of their deepening connection will take a trust that will either bind them…or tear them apart.

**Riley Hart writing as Nyrae Dawn

**Ben is from PAINT THE STARS and Xavier is from A HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS, but LIVING OUT LOUD can be read as a complete standalone.

 

Goodreads:  http://bit.ly/2uG9n08

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EXCERPT

“Get your ass down here.” He frowns and I pat the floor beside me. “I’m serious, B. Get your ass down here. You can take it off when I’m done if you don’t like it. How do you know if something’s your style if you’ve never done it?”

I blow on my fingernails trying to get them to dry. Ben doesn’t move right away, but then he slides down to the floor beside me.

My pulse kicks up a notch. I don’t know why I want this so much for him.

He puts his hand on the table and I paint the first nail.

“I feel stupid,” he tells me.

“Do you think I look stupid with it?”

“Hell no. You look hot but—”

“But nothing. Be quiet and let me work.”

He chuckles. “You’re bossy.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” I reply before getting back to work on his nails. His fingers are long, thicker than mine. His hands are beat up from his work, rough and abused with little scratches on them. “I can’t wait till you can touch me. I love rough hands.”

“Oh shit,” he says with a thickness to his voice that tells me he’s getting turned on again.

I finish the first hand before saying, “Now, the other.” He sets that hand on the table, but I grab it, suck one of his fingers into my mouth, even though I hadn’t planned to touch him again tonight.

“Fuck, Xavier,” he says and his eyes roll back in a way that really gets me hard.

“Good?”

“Yes.”

“You’re trembling,” I tell him as his hand gently shakes.

“That’s because I’m really turned on right now.”

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

 Nyrae Dawn

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 Nyrae Dawn can almost always be found with a book in her hand or an open document on her laptop. She couldn’t live without books—reading or writing them. Oh, and chocolate. She’s slightly addicted.

She gravitates toward character-driven stories. Whether reading or writing, she loves emotional journeys. It’s icing on the cake when she really feels something, but is able to laugh too. She’s a proud romantic, who has a soft spot for flawed characters, who make mistakes, but also have big hearts.

Whether she’s writing young adult, new adult, or adult you can always count on a healthy dose of romance from her books. She likes to tackle tough subjects, and believes everyone needs to see themselves in the stories they read.

Nyrae is living her very own happily ever after in California with her gorgeous husband (who still makes her swoon) and her two incredibly awesome kids.

Facebook

 https://www.facebook.com/nyraedawnwrites/?fref=ts

Website

http://www.rileyhartwrites.com/p/home.html?zx=48696725e5833865

Blog

http://www.rileyhartwrites.com/index.html

Twitter: @NyraeDawn

 Christina Lee

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 Once upon a time, I lived in New York City and was a wardrobe stylist. I spent my days shopping for photo shoots, getting into cabs, eating amazing food, and drinking coffee at my favorite hangouts.

Now I live in the Midwest with my husband and son—my two favorite guys. I’ve been a clinical social worker and a special education teacher. But it wasn’t until I wrote a weekly column for the local newspaper that I realized I could turn the fairytales inside my head into the reality of writing fiction.

I write Adult, New Adult, and M/M Contemporary Romance. I’m addicted to lip gloss and salted caramel everything. I believes in true love and kissing, so writing romance novels has become a dream job.

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChristinaLee

Twitter:

 http://twitter.com/Christina_Lee04

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover Reveal for His Dark Reflection (Heart and Haven #3) by Heloise West (excerpt and giveaway)

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Title: His Dark Reflection
Author: Heloise West
Series: Heart and Haven #3
Release Date: September 12th 2017
Genre: Gay Romance, mystery

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Disgraced FBI agent Nick Truman has failed to save his sister, held hostage by a drug cartel until he could give them Alex Crow, who eluded him. His epic downfall lands him in witness protection, where he plays by the rules and keeps to himself. But the murder of his neighbor brings danger to his door. He unexpectedly finds himself the champion of innocents and helplessly attracted to the homicide detective in charge of the case.

This can’t end well.

Homicide Detective Hank Axelrod is good at digging out secrets, maybe because he hides a big one of his own. He also suspects his husband has one foot out of the door of their marriage and the specter of single life looms unpleasantly on the horizon.

A murder resembling another brings Nick into his world, a man who claims to be a mystery writer looking for a real life resource. Hank’s instincts say he’s more than that, and he’s rarely wrong.

Torn between the errant soon-to-be-ex husband and the distracting, sexy stranger, Hank needs to focus all his attention on his murder case before he becomes the next victim.

Pre-Order: Loose ID

Find Heart and Haven series on Goodreads

EXCERPT

It was different when he’d wanted information from Nick. Hank wanted to confide in Nick, like with the partner he used to have before he got stuck with Burgess. Like Nick knew what he was talking about—could be trusted.

“Are you a cop?”

Nick touched his fingers to his mouth. He must have needed a cigarette, if the telltale scent of tobacco was any indication. “I answered that one already. Nope.”

That nope was annoying. “Fed? PI? Security?” Hank threw out a few more. “Reporter? Work for the criminal court?”

“I drive limos,” Nick said with a languid shrug. Glancing over his shoulder at the impatient date, he held up two fingers.

“Oh, a fan, are you? Watch CSI, NCIS—a lookie-loo?”

By the tightening of his mouth into a sneer, that pissed Nick off. “I’m no cop wannabe. I don’t watch the idiot box.”

Well, shit. The pain in Nick St. Cloud’s brown eyes was real. Deep. Hank gave him a minute to recover, watching him rub his wrists, then naked arms. It gave Hank a thrill, as if he could feel the man’s heated skin on his own.

“Don’t be a bastard, Detective.”

“Well? I can run a background check on you in a heartbeat.”

Nick tried to hide it, but a flare of panic made his pupils dilate. “And if I say I’m not that extremely guilty guy who hangs around helping the know-nothing cops, you’ll believe me?”

“You’re something. What is it, I wonder?”

Don’t tease the cat, Hank.

“Okay.” A bead of sweat dripped past a pale white scar at his hairline, the only imperfection Hank could see. “I’m a writer, not a journalist. I mean, I’m a mystery writer.”

“Published?”

“Nope, not yet. So maybe you can be a resource, you know? I can do a ride-along with you or something.” Nick looked away, back toward Probably and gave him a nod. Probably picked up his sweater from the back of the chair and stood.

“Sure,” Hank agreed.

“Wait, what—really?”

Hank held still a moment, beer glass halfway to his mouth, unsure what he was seeing in Nick’s intelligent eyes. Hope? Excitement? Fear? “We can talk about procedure—I’ve got some good stories. But I don’t know about the ride-along at this point. My partner’s a prick.”

“But we can meet…and talk.” Nick stood and dug into his pocket for his wallet.

“I’ve got this.” Hank waved it away. “You want the book to be accurate, right? It’s good PR too.”

Nick’s smile curled Hank’s toes.

“On me next time. We can meet here or wherever.” Nick hovered, as if Hank had held out something sweet to him, and he was afraid to take it.

Probably cleared his throat loudly.

“Have a good night, Nick,” Hank said. “We’ll talk. You have my number.”

What did you just do?

Giveaway: Win 3 x His Dark Reflection ebooks

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About the Author

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Heloise West, when not hunched over the keyboard plotting love and mayhem, dreams about moving to a villa in Tuscany. She loves history, mysteries, and romance of all flavors. She travels and gardens with her partner of thirteen years, and their home overflows with books, cats, art, and red wine.

Links: Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Goodreads

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A MelanieM Review: Broken Records (Spotlight #1) by Lilah Suzanne

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Los Angeles-based stylist Nico Takahashi loves his job—or at least, he used to. Feeling fed up and exhausted from the cutthroat, gossip-fueled business of Hollywood, Nico daydreams about packing it all in and leaving for good. So when Grady Dawson—sexy country music star and rumored playboy—asks Nico to style him, Nico is reluctant. But after styling a career-changing photo-shoot, Nico follows Grady to Nashville where he finds it increasingly difficult to resist Grady’s charms. Can Nico make peace with show business and all its trappings, or will Grady’s public persona get in the way of their private attraction to each other?

Book One in Lilah Suzanne’s “Spotlight” series.

Broken Records (Spotlight #1) by Lilah Suzanne is one of those books and series I ended up backing into by mistakenly starting at the end of the series.  Without realizing it was part of a trilogy, I picked up and read (and reviewed) Suzanne’s  Blended Notes, the story the concludes the Spotlight trilogy.  It’s a wonderful story but as I mentioned in my review, I absolutely felt of lack of backhistory that reading the previous stories might have provided.  And I was going to rectify that.

Wow,  am I glad I did!

I love, love Broken Records.  Yes, it absolutely gave me the missing foundation and history I needed to give heft and depth to Nico and Grady’s relationship in Blended Notes.  Here I get to watch it all begin.  I have the joy of watching the characters, meet, mesh, love, laugh, have hot sex (fans self) and decide, that they are it for each other, no matter what.

Lilah Suzanne introduces both characters, supplies them with their history, supporting cast of characters and businesses so each remains fiercely independent financially of each other for better or worse.  Nico Takahashi has a little bit more in his support section. ( I don’t consider people with a financial hook in you a support system, plus I read book three.) There’s Nico’s partner Gwen Pasternak and her wife, as well as Nico’s family.  On Grady’s side?  Well, it’s much smaller and sadder.  How each other navigates the perils and trust issues between them is a realistic element here along with the whole music/style side of the business.  All of this was hinted at in Blended Notes but to read/experience here?  Amazing!

Yes, there are moments I laughed out loud.  And some I sniffled.  Suzanne takes the believable approach that love isn’t just romance, that a relationship is communication and sometimes hard work.  Between Nico and Grady, fear of the spotlight and fear of being left behind, the work is constant even if the love is always present.

I loved all the characters here, including Gwen, her wife, and others  that keep popping up throughout the story to add in wisdom, levity, strength and support.

Yes, I wish I had read this story first.

But  coming at it backwards somehow works too.  I have an appreciation for the timeline, I can get a real free for the character growth and the relationship dynamics that play out over the course of three stories (yes I’ve read the second as well).  I’ve fallen in love with the entire trilogy and every single character in it.  You really need to put Spotlight the trilogy on your must read series list.  But read them in order!  I highly recommend them all…second book review coming up.

Cover art brands the series and works for the storyline as well.

Sales Links:  Interlude Press | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 280 pages
Published December 17th 2015 by Interlude Press
ASINB0190QX8WQ
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series Spotlight:

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Friendly Fire by Cari Z and Nick J. Russo (Narrator)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

I really enjoyed the narration of this audiobook by Nick J. Russo.  I say that up front because listening to the story unfold is always a different experience from reading the book, and in the hands of a talented and experienced narrator, an average or above average story can be even more enjoyable. That’s the case here as I set out to listen to what I thought would be an interesting story but turned out to be so much better than I expected. 

Elliot McKenzie is the CEO of a highly popular social media corporation, Charmed Life.  Ostensibly, it’s for those who want to learn from past mistakes and make their lives as good as their potential.  Against all odds, he’s succeeded, and on the surface one would think he’d be pretty full of himself, but Elliot is not like that.  He’s quite down to earth and he certainly relies heavily on his staff, including his assistant, Serena.  So when she finds out he’s been getting threats, she’s on him to call the cops—something he won’t do because his sister is running for DA for the second time around and she lost the first race because of his arrest on the eve of the last election.  He won’t let bad publicity affect her this time—under any circumstances—so Serena convinces him to hire her sister’s ex-husband, a former Army Ranger who now works for a security firm.

Lennox West suffers from severe PTSD, so much so, that he’s afraid to spend too much time with his teen daughter, leading to an even further estrangement with his ex and with his daughter.  He’s trying though—going to therapy and making an effort to hold a steady job and to spend brief periods of time with the young girl.  When he meets Elliot McKenzie, life as he knew it changes drastically.  Elliot is not what he seems to be on the outside and he captures Lennox’s attention and holds it. That the sparks are mutual leads to some pretty hot sex for the two and lays the foundation for a closeness that Lennox is certainly not used to.

When accidents and threats and outright attempts on Elliot’s life keep throwing the men together and the mystery gets heavier as it appears that more than one culprit is involved, the men risk losing their independence as they see they need each other.  Does it help that Elliot’s presence in his life seems to increase the time Lennox gets to spend with his daughter? Definitely. 

The story is highly enjoyable as told by Nick J. Russo who uses a deep, rough, slightly Southern accent for Lennox and a well-paced, business-like, professional tone for Elliot’s voice.  The women in the story don’t sound the least bit fake, and in fact, at times I forgot a man was doing their voices.  My enjoyment only increased as the mystery got more complex, the men got closer, Lennox got to spend more time with his daughter, and the threats and danger to Elliot escalated out of control.  My only downside was that the couple didn’t commit to a solid future together.  Possibly the author has plans to bring them back in a sequel, and that’s something I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing.  So though the guys are together at the end, I’d call it more of a HFN rather than a HEA—still good—just not where I wanted them. 

I definitely recommend this to those who like a murder mystery—in this case attempted murder—in a contemporary MM romance with well-rounded, interesting characters.  It’s likely obvious by now, but if I must say so outright, I highly recommend the audiobook version. 

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Cover art by LC Chase depicts the rear view of a man holding a gun down at his side. Done in black on gray and with a smudged look—somewhat like a watercolor effect—the only part of the cover that stands out from a distance is the bright “fire” red title of the book.  I don’t think the cover adds any appeal at all and would not induce me to purchase it.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Audible | Amazon | iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Listening Length: 8 hours and 5 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Audible.com Release Date: August 10, 2017
Whispersync for Voice: Ready
Language: English
ASIN: B074N5PZCH

In the Spotlight: Her Hometown Girl (Belladonna Ink #3) by Lorelie Brown (Riptide Publishing Tour & Giveaway)

Her Hometown Girl (Belladonna Ink #3) by Lorelie Brown
Riptide Publishing

Cover by: L.C. Chase
Read an Excerpt/Purchase it Here at Riptide Publishing

 

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host the spotlight tour for Her Hometown Girl (Belladonna Ink #3) by Lorelie Brown.   Check it out below and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

♡

 

About Her Hometown Girl

I had doubts before the Big Day—doesn’t everyone?—but I didn’t expect to find my fiancée banging the caterer’s assistant right before the ceremony. Especially because he’s a guy. And we’re lesbians. The proper sort of Southern Californian lesbians who invest in hedge funds and wear bedazzled wedding dresses and wouldn’t be caught dead in a Subaru.

But then I became a runaway bride, headed straight for Belladonna Ink to get the kind of tattoo I always wanted and my ex always called trashy. She didn’t approve of a lot of things I did. I think maybe she didn’t approve of who I am.

So I’m determined to be as much of myself as I can manage. Dating my tattoo artist? I’m in. Cai is smart, sexy, and mysterious. Exactly what I need for a rebound. She keeps herself guarded, but I understand—I’m holding on to secrets too. The kind of secrets that make a girl want to run home to Mom, even if home is Idaho. Maybe especially then. I just didn’t expect Cai to come with me.

I wonder what it would take to get her to stay forever.

Now available from Riptide Publishing.

About the Belladonna Ink Universe

Belladonna Ink is the hottest female-centric tattoo parlor in Southern California. It doesn’t matter if you’re cis, trans, het, gay, or spectrum, our host of female tattoo artists will give you beautiful ink, personally designed. We don’t believe in paint-by-number drawings—you’re worth more than that. Give us a chance and we’ll help you find the meaning in your personal scribbles, and turn your skin into our professional canvas.

Just one thing: it’s really weird, but all our friends and some of our artists keep falling in love. Maybe it’s something in the ink.

Check out Belladonna Ink! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/universe/belladonna-ink

About Lorelie Brown

After a seminomadic childhood throughout California, Lorelie Brown spent high school in Orange County before joining the US Army. After traveling the world from South Korea to Italy, she now lives north of Chicago. She writes her Pacific Blue series of hot surfers in order to channel some warmth.

Lorelie has three active sons, two yappy dogs, and a cat who cusses her out on a regular basis for not petting him enough.

In her immense free time (hah!) Lorelie cowrites award-winning contemporary erotic romance under the name Katie Porter. You can find out more about the Vegas Top Guns and Command Force Alpha series at www.KatiePorterBooks.com or at @MsKatiePorter. You can also contact Lorelie on Twitter @LorelieBrown.

Connect with Lorelie:

Website: loreliebrown.com/

Twitter: @LorelieBrown

Facebook: facebook.com/lorelie.brown

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Her Hometown Girl, one lucky winner will receive a bottle of Macallan single malt whisky! Contest IS restricted to both US entries and to those over the age of 21. Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on September 9, 2017. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Release Blitz for Be My Best Man by Con Riley (Giveaway)

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Length: 260 pages
 
Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design
 
Blurb


Will Jason’s third time as a best man lead to first-time love for Vanya?

After fleeing violence in Moscow, student teacher Vanya Petrov winds up lonely in a run-down London hostel. At least visiting the Bond Street store where his roommate works lets him practice his English, but as Vanya’s vocabulary expands, so does his isolation, especially when he sees happy couples planning their perfect weddings.

According to Jason Balfour, weddings are a waste of time and money. After all, he’s been best man for his brother twice already. Saying that a third marriage will end in divorce too leads to an angry ultimatum: to save his relationship with his brother, Jason must meet his fiancée, at last, and make a good first impression.

Jason’s need to dress to impress brings him and Vanya together. Language is no barrier to falling in love with the young and fragile Russian, and neither is their age difference. But Vanya’s bruised soul carries secrets that could rip them apart. As the wedding draws near, Vanya must confess, and soon, or risk losing Jason—his own best man in Britain.

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Author Bio
 

Con Riley lives on the wild and rugged Devonshire coast, with her head in the clouds, and her feet in the Atlantic Ocean.

Injury curtailed her enjoyment of outdoor pursuits, so writing fiction now fills her free time. Love, loss, and redemption shape her romance stories, and her characters are flawed in ways that makes them live and breathe.

When not people watching, or wrangling her own boy band of teen sons, she spends time staring at the sea from her kitchen window. If you see her, don’t disturb her—she’s probably thinking up new plots.

 
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A Kai Review: Facing West (Forever Wilde #1) by Lucy Lennox

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Nico: 
I left my family and tiny Texas hometown fifteen years ago to escape small-town gossips and to give my mom and sister the chance at a better life. But when a phone call from an attorney back home informs me that my sister passed away, leaving me custody of her newborn baby, I’m shocked out of the steady life I’ve built for myself running a tattoo shop in San Francisco.
The thing is: I don’t do babies. And I don’t do small towns. Or commitment. And I especially don’t do family. My plan is to go back to Hobie just long enough to sign adoption papers, giving my niece the kind of stable, loving family I could never provide.
But the moment I meet my niece in the arms of Weston Wilde, my sister’s best friend, and the town’s handsome doctor, my plans begin to change. Because suddenly, I see a different future. One with the very thing I thought I never deserved: a family. If only I can convince West that I’m not the same good-for-nothing kid ready to bolt when things get tough.
Weston:
There’s one thing I know for sure about Nico Salerno: he was a good-for-nothing as a kid and judging by the purple-haired, tattooed punk who shows up at his sister’s funeral, he hasn’t changed. There’s no way I’m letting him take custody of my best friend’s baby.
But the more time I spend around him, the more I realize that his rough exterior is just a shell and that beneath all the tattoos is a scared, insecure man searching for a place to belong. And pretty soon I know exactly where he belongs: in my bed and by my side.
The problem is, he abandoned his family once before, how do I know that if we become a family he won’t do it again?

 

Facing West is a light, funny, sweet and sexy story. Absolutely just what I needed!

I love the Lucy Lennox style and in this book, she didn’t disappoint. She brought us a story filled with good writing, good and complex characters, hot-hot scenes, a crazy and big family and hot guys with babies. That’s right! (take care of your ovaries ladies, they can explode).

At first, I didn’t like West. He was presumptuous and judged Nico for things he didn’t know anything about. Even I could see that was more than the surface there. Luckily for him (since I didn’t have to hate him for long) he came around and realized Nico was a great guy. With problems, of course, but the guy’s heart was in the right place. And since Nico was a super-Hot tattooed man, I think it helped a little. Right, West?

Nico was a great character. I just loved him. I know he had problems and he was used to running instead of fighting, but I could see his struggle. Please don’t judge him so much, ok?

Guys, one of the things I absolutely loved about this book was the interaction between Nico and Pippa (his baby niece). For someone who feared babies, he got involved with Pippa so well. And it was clear he did love her. Stay with her, Nico!

Nico and West were super hot together. Are you hearing? I said: SUPER hot, like more than hot. I won’t spoil you the details but keep a ventilator close by. Just a little tip. 😉

The city was well described and the supporting characters were so great. Even the douche ones were well represented. Curt, for example, was one of the homophobic in closet dudes. I hated him, but thought Lucy did a great job with that character.

I loved West’s family. They were really huge, so guess what? That’s right, more books to come! Yay! The family patriarchs weren’t anyone less than two grandpas. Yes, Like couple grandpas. Isn’t that sweet? I think so. They were also funny and much supportive of their family and friends. I loved it about them.

I can talk more and more about this book, but I will leave you with this quote, below. Hope you enjoy this reading as much as I did.

“Spending time with Weston Wilde was supposed to have been temporary—like a stick-on tattoo at a child’s birthday party. But with every touch of his fingers in my hair and every brush of his lips over mine, I found myself wanting to cement those feelings into my skin forever with permanent ink.”

P.S: The cover art by AngstyG is beautiful and sexy, isn’t it? I absolutely love it!

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Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition: 312 pages

Published August 20th, 2017

Series: Forever Wilde #1

An Ali Review: Circle (Roads #3) by Garrett Leigh

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
I love him…but he’s forgotten why.


A lot can happen in six years, and Ash and Pete have seen their world flipped upside down more times than most. Being parents to Pete’s young nephew wasn’t in their plan, but life happens to them and they roll with the punches. Or at least they did, until new heartache rocks their hard-won happily-ever-after.

Ash loves Pete as much as ever—more, in fact—but Pete battles alone with a burden that weighs heavily on his heart. Ash is no stranger to dark clouds, but the secret Pete keeps from him is a storm that could break them.

Despite the fierce love that once buoyed them, they’re both drowning until a new friend throws them a lifeline. His wisdom offers insight—for better or worse, real love is rarely a smooth journey. For Ash and Pete to come full circle once more, they’ll have to hit the road and chase it. 
I was both excited and nervous when I saw that this book was coming.  The first book in the series, Slide, was one of the first books I read in this genre and it holds a special place in my heart.  I was happy with how things ended after book two and I wasn’t sure I wanted to revisit these two if their happily ever after was going to be changed.  As it turns out I had nothing to worry about.  This book was fantastic.  I loved every page of it.
When the book starts Pete and Ash are having some troubles.  Pete is really struggling with something and as a result he’s pulling away from Ash emotionally.  The thing that made this ok to read was that despite their struggles, you never doubt how much they love each other.  It jumps off every page at you.  You see that they’re going through something bad but you know that it’s going to work out in the end.  
I’m hesitant to say much about the plot because there are a lot of plot points that can be spoiled.  In fact, I recommend, rather ironically, that you avoid most reviews on this book.  There are just too many things that can be spoiled and I think it’s best to just go in to it with no information.  
This is the third book in this series and can not be read as a standalone. If you want to try this series you need to start with book one. If you are already a fan of this series you can read this without doing a re-read of the previous books.  It takes place a few years down the road and the author does a good job of catching you up on what’s been happening.  I did it without doing a re-read.  Honestly though, I wish I had done a re-read but just because once I got in to this I realized how much I’ve missed these two.  
This book was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not let me down.  I loved it from the first page to the epilogue that I cried happy tears through.  A must read for fans of this series.
Cover by Garrett Leigh:  I love this cover.  It’s a gorgeous cover and it fits well with the previous books in the series 
Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 179 pages
Published September 5th 2017
ASINB0758BPRLJ
Series Roads #3

An Ali Review: Making It (Ringside Romance #3) by Christine d’Abo

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Devan knows exactly what he wants from life: a good career, a husband who loves him, and a child to call his own. He’s working at the perfect job, and has found the man of his dreams in Eli. That only leaves one box left to tick. When his friend offers to be a surrogate mother for Devan and Eli, he’s convinced all his dreams have come true.

Eli has been fighting his entire life. Fighting to keep his sick mother safe, fighting his frustration, and fighting daily as an up-and-coming MMA star. The one thing he can’t fight is the feeling that he’s made a terrible mistake agreeing to be a father with Devan. On the worst night of their lives, Eli knows Devan is better off without him, and leaves.

When Eli returns three years later he comes face-to-face with Devan and a son who might be his. Devan has moved on with his life, but seeing Eli once again reignites forgotten passion. Yet if Eli wants to make it work with Devan, he must decide if he’s ready for the biggest fight of his life.
I was super excited about this book. I love a good second chance story. Unfortunately this didn’t live up to my expectations. 

The book starts three years in the past. Eli and Devon are married and they’re in a bad place. Things happen and Eli walks away from it all and the way he does it is truly horrible. My status update at this point said “Eli exhibited a bionic level of asshattery. He’s going to need to crawl through broken glass while begging for forgiveness for this to work for me.”

And there is the problem. He didn’t. He just shows back up, says he’s sorry and they’re seeing each other again. I couldn’t understand any decision Devon made at this point. They do this weird thing where they decide Devon should see other people so he knows he wants Eli back (but he hasn’t dated at all in the three years he’s been gone) AND he leaves his kid with Eli as the babysitter. Devon was like that one friend we all have who makes constant decisions that make you scream “WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING!?!” internally every time you talk about their relationship.
Despite the dramatic set up, the story is actually low angst and low drama and a nice and mellow love story. Which is not necessarily a bad thing but it was absolutely not what I was expecting or wanting from this book.

This is the third book in the series but is fine as a standalone. You see both couples from books one and two in this but the way the books are done they can all be easily read on their own.
This cover was done by L.C. Chase and I like it a lot.  I think it’s a good cover by itself but overall the covers of the books in this series have been some of my favorites this year.  They coordinate really well and they’re all striking in their own way.
Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 226 pages
Published August 7th 2017 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleMaking It
ISBN139781626495821
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesRingside Romance #3