Category: Contemporary fiction

Susan Mac Nicol “Revival” Tour and Giveaway (excerpt and giveaway)

Revival Tour

Title: Worth Keeping
Author: Susan Mac Nicol
Release Date: December 23rd 2013
Published by: Boroughs Publishing
Genre: MM Contemporary Romance

WorthKeeping_Cover Final

BLURB

Abused horrifically as a boy, Nick Mathers has come to terms with his existence as a man. Mostly. Other days life seems a little much. Especially when Nick knows he’ll always be alone.

On those days his thoughts turn black. He walks the Norfolk coast and considers the frigid embrace of the waves. And then, one stormy night, he finds someone who’s tasted just that. The beautiful stranger on the beach is near death, and Nick rushes him home to slowly nurse back to health. As he does, he finds a love unlike any other.

Owen Butler’s body is as warm as the sea was cold, his heart as big as an ocean. And Owen is a man who swears to repay the favor. Nick can yet be saved from himself, and he will see that he is indeed a man … worth keeping.

Worth Keeping on Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Boroughs | B&N | Smashwords | iBooks

Karen Jones

EXCERPT

“Jesus, Nick, for God’s sake, man, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.” The panicked voice of Owen Butler stirred Nick into wakefulness. He sat up in panic, his chest heaving, his throat raw and sore. He reached out an arm, grabbing Owen’s shoulder tightly. Owen winced and brushed hair from Nick’s sweat-drenched face. Nick stared at him blindly. Socks jumped up and down in agitation on the bed, his paws waving frantically as he chittered in panic.

“Nick, you were screaming. You had a nightmare. It’s all right.” Owen’s soothing voice cut through Nick’s fear and he started to breathe deeper, more evenly.

Owen encouraged him. “That’s right, take deep breaths. You’re awake. You’re fine.”

Nick’s tears rolled down his cheeks as he sobbed quietly. Owen leaned forward, wiping them off with tender fingers. “God, you’re a bloody mess, aren’t you? And I thought I was a basket case. Come here.”

Nick was pulled into a pair of warm arms and a hard chest that promised comfort and safety. It had been a long time since he’d been touched this way. When he was in the town with his regular fuck buddy, Daniel, it was pure sex. At Nick’s insistence, there was no kissing, no real tenderness, just lust and animalism that ended in both of them getting their relief and then Nick going home. He’d never stayed over, as that would have been too intimate. But this stranger holding him close, softly stroking his hair and his back, lulling him back to sleep. This was intimate and it felt good, just for a while. He closed his eyes, enjoying Owen’s closeness and scent.

GIVEAWAY: Win a SIGNED copy of Saving Alexander by Susan Mac Nicol

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About the Author

Susan bio pic

Susan Mac Nicol is a self-confessed bookaholic, an avid watcher of videos of sexy pole dancing men, geek, nerd and in love with her Smartphone. This little treasure is called ‘the boyfriend’ by her long-suffering husband, who says if it vibrated, there’d be no need for him. Susan hasn’t had the heart to tell him there’s an app for that…

In an ideal world, Susan Mac Nicol would be Queen of England and banish all the bad people to the Never Never Lands of Wherever -Who Cares. As that’s never going to happen, she contents herself with writing her HEA stories and pretending, that just for a little while, good things happen to good people.

Sue is a PAN member of Romance Writers of America and is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association in the UK. She’s also Editorial Manager at http://www.divinemagazine.biz, an online LGBTQ e-zine, and she’s a Charity Board trustee at http://wwwbeingmecampaign.com in London.

She’s passionate about research for her books and has stayed in a circus, taken lessons from a blind person on how it feels to be non-sighted, and travelled to a lighthouse with maintenance crew to see first-hand what it’s like inside. She’s also writing a screen play with a Hollywood actor named Nicholas Downs, with a view to taking her latest release, Sight Unseen, to the big screen.

All in all, she’s happy with her lot and loves that you love to read her books.

You do, right?

Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads

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A Caryn Review: All Wheel Drive (Bluewater Bay #18) by Z.A. Maxfield

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Well, that was 3 hours of my life wasted.  I wanted to DNF early on, but that is the drawback to getting a book for review — you gotta review it even when it’s just that bad…

This book was set in the Bluewater Bay series, and I admit I’ve only read one other in this universe — Burnt Toast B&B — and that one I actually enjoyed. The books are all pretty much stand alone, although the various characters do show up in other books.  And at first I thought that’s what I was missing, and why I struggled with this book:  I just didn’t have enough background.

But as I went on, I realized, no, this book was just that random and disorganized.

The main characters here are Healey, who grew up in Bluewater Bay although he’s been at school and away from home for years, and Diego, who moved in as part of the Wolf’s Landing production crew (the unifying theme of this series).  Healey came back to town broken both physically and mentally from a recent car accident that for extremely vague reasons he is not allowed to talk about.  His family has long since moved out of his boyhood house, but he feels like he just has to be there.  So he shows up, beaten, wet, and bedraggled, on the doorstep, and begs the new owner, Diego, to let him stay in the garage apartment.  And pays him a couple thousand dollars for the privilege and gives him a false name.  The apartment is full of Diego’s dead mother’s art, apparently because Diego wanted it as far away from him as possible — because Diego is in a wheelchair, he cannot get to the apartment.  Despite this inauspicious beginning, there is instant, undeniable chemistry between the two men, which is convenient because otherwise these two have absolutely nothing in common and there would be no story.  The next day Healey moves out, so I guess he got over his extreme need to be back in that home pretty quickly.  But he goes back, fesses up to who he is, admits that there really was no reason for the subterfuge and bribe, and helps to move Diego’s mother’s things to the garage where he can reach them.

Diego, in the meantime, has never really come to terms with being disabled, and now he’s also being hounded by his stepfather to collect and write about his mother’s art and life.  But something about the instant attraction he has to Healey makes him want to start accepting his disability, and to dig deeper into his mother’s past — because Healey makes a fairly random comment about one of her photographs that gives Diego an epiphany about his mother.  Which, as a side plot, completely fails because there is a big mystery brought up about her which is ultimately just dropped.  Healey summed up his side of things like this: “for me, attraction is instantaneous.  I lock eyes with a dude, and it’s either on or it’s not.”  Seems to be the basis of this romance, and that’s not enough for me.

What other things bothered me?  How about head bopping, changing from Diego’s to Healey’s point of view with each chapter, and their dialogue was so generic and stupid that I didn’t know which one of them was even talking.  The way both men would go from friendly to pissed off to sad to passionate from one sentence to the next, without any sort of explanation that made any sense.  The way the mystery of the car accident was dragged out way too long so I had almost no idea why Healey was so full of angst until the big reveal, which was pretty anti-climactic.  The way both of these guys were completely inconsistent in what they wanted, and how they acted — I mean, yes, characters should grow and change and let the story lead them to new things in life, but I didn’t buy any of it in this book.  Completely random.  The editing errors, like when Healey was afraid to tell Healey about the accident, when Healey came between Diego’s thighs and all of his cum ended up on his own stomach, or the multiple times when words were just left out.  I was really wondering if I got a rough draft instead of the final book, but as far as I know, this was the final book.  Then there were weird descriptions and analogies scattered throughout:

“Diego rattled his pinkie finger like the Titanic hit an iceberg and it was up to him to inform all the ships at sea.  He always did that. It was his tell”

“longing rose in his belly like the smoke of an abandoned cooking fire”

“post-SCI sex turned out to be almost like every other kind of sex he’d had.  It was embarrassing and funny and silly and gruesome.”  Gruesome?  first time I’ve heard that adjective used for sex in a romance novel…

“his hair slithered over Diego’s shoulders like he was some hipster saint, come to perform a miracle”

I almost gave this book only one star, but I was pleased that at least the author did some research about spinal cord injuries and adaptive equipment (that led to awkward conversations about self-catheterization to urinate that really should have been left out), and Healey showed amazing understanding and forgiveness for his mentally ill ex-boyfriend when it would have been easier for her to demonize bipolar disorder as a lot of people in society do.  So there was that.  But overall, don’t waste your time…

Cover art by L.C. Chase didn’t do much for me, and I don’t think adds anything to the story.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 329 pages
Published July 8th 2017 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleAll Wheel Drive
ASINB073TLS5TR
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesBluewater Bay #18

 

Release Blitz and Giveaway – RJ Scott’s Gabriel (Legacy #2)

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | KOBO | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | iTunes
 
Length: 55,000 approx
 
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
 
Legacy Series
 
Kyle (The First Legacy) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Blurb

 

Trapped in darkness, can an escort find a man to help him into the light?


Gabriel Reyes never gave in. He fought and was hurt, was abused but escaped with his life. He made his way in the world using the one thing he was good at: sex. He earned a place with a man who controls everything but Gabriel is safe; he’s made it.


Cameron Stafford hires Gabriel for a night, needing nothing more than a pretend boyfriend to get his dysfunctional family off his back. With the money he has in the bank and his own hotel, why won’t they just leave him alone? It doesn’t matter that a degenerative disease has stolen his vision, or that his last boyfriend was a bastard who tried to steal from him; for now he has purpose.


When Gabriel and Cam fall for each other, can they find real happiness and, maybe, a forever that will save them both?


A new story set in the world of Jack and Riley Campbell-Hayes and the Double D Ranch, Texas.


Please be aware: emotional and physical abuse are depicted on the page in this book


Excerpt

“You got another letter,” Stefan snapped, and threw it at Gabriel, where it bounced against his naked belly and fell to the floor. He didn’t make a move to pick it up, not until Stefan had left. Fucking letters and the ache they caused. Stefan had opened it, the tear jagged, and Gabriel could imagine the temper that Stefan must have felt when he ripped it open. He didn’t blame Stefan; who wanted Gabriel’s past to intrude into what they had now?

He finally picked up the envelope and slipped quietly into his room, closing the door. He didn’t lock it—last time he’d done that, Stefan had broken the door, told him a story about a time when he hadn’t been able to get into a room and that it scared him. That he was thinking about Gabriel.

The letter wasn’t long. They never were.

Legacy Ranch appeared at the top of the paper, in strong, determined capitals. Whoever this Kyle guy was, he had neat, considered handwriting. Gabriel scanned the letter and closed his eyes, waiting for the door to open.

And just like clockwork, Stefan pushed into the room, salve in one hand and a sandwich on a plate in the other, coffee perched precariously on the side.

“I made you some food,” Stefan said, and sat on the bed, causing Gabriel to shift toward him. Gabriel didn’t move away—he didn’t want to upset Stefan.

“Thank you,” Gabriel murmured.

“What did the letter say?”

That was normal. As if it was a test, even though Stefan had already read it. The first time Gabriel had said something wrong, Stefan had looked so damn disappointed. All he’d said was that he loved Gabriel but he didn’t like a liar. He hadn’t needed to say anything else, but the bruises had taken a long time to heal when he’d finished being disappointed with Gabriel.

“They have this horse, Mistry. Apparently it’s still not been claimed.”

“Anything else, Angel?”

Stefan’s use of that nickname was a switch inside Gabriel that made him tense.

“The usual things—that they want to help me and when I’m ready they’ll be there.”

Stefan reached out, and Gabriel schooled his features so he didn’t wince. Stefan cradled Gabriel’s face, and his grip was firm.

“You know what will happen if you go back to that kind of life, my sweet, innocent Angel. You know they’ll hurt you. You don’t need help. You have me. I look after you.”

“I know.” Gabriel knew the right answers to give now. He’d once hoped that the world this Kyle guy wrote about would have a place for him, but that wasn’t an option for someone like Gabriel.

“I look after you, Angel,” Stefan said, and pressed the softest of kisses to Gabriel’s lips. “Now get some sleep. I canceled your two appointments for tomorrow. You need to eat your food, get your chocolate and sleep.”

“Okay.”

Stefan helped Gabriel get settled in the soft nest of pillows, and brushed Gabriel’s short hair.

“This will grow back,” he said.

Gabriel placed a hand on Stefan’s arm. “They held my head, Stefan.” He wanted to say more about what they’d done, but he didn’t have to—Stefan wouldn’t want to hear the details.

“It will grow back,” Stefan repeated, then patted Gabriel’s head. “’Night.”

.î

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.

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

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

Giveaway

A Stella Review: After the Sunset by Lilah Suzanne

RATING 2,75 out of 5 stars

Caleb Harris and Ty Smith-Santos are struggling actors who have never crossed paths until their lives take a turn for the bizarre when they learn that a farm in Sunset Hollow, Washington has been bequeathed to both of them. Intent on selling the property, Caleb and Ty clear out the cluttered farmhouse, but soon find themselves falling for the charming farm nestled between two misty-topped mountains, the lonely man who left it to them, and each other. When a real estate developer offers them a hefty payout, will they take the money and run or keep the farm and their budding relationship?

After the Sunset was my first book by Lilah Suzanne, I was very curious about this author, I know her Spotlight series is well loved. So I jumped at the chance at reading this new novella and I was so ready for something amazing that the letdown I instead received was more delusional.

After the Sunset wasn’t a winner at all, it din’t satisfy me, on the contrary I found myself at the end of the book to be still interested in the characters lives because the author didn’t give me enough of them. I picked the book because I found the blurb interesting and although I loved the premises and the plot,  the sweetness and the setting,  IMO the development wasn’t okay.

First of all I didn’t like how the book was written, the present tense didn’t work really well in this case, it made the reading hard to follow to me, but this is just a preference of mine that led me to not enjoy it completely. The story was strangely developed, some scenes were well represented and explained, others were rushed and puzzling. Like the ending, so unexpected, too rushed, I was actually left speechless and not in a good way. That’s the reason I couldn’t give the book not even the three stars.

I have to be honest, at one point I didn’t even understand anymore what really happened to Ty and Caleb, were they together? Still living at the farm? Was there ever a HEA? I don’t know and I can’t even blame the length of the story because one hundred pages are plenty to create a believable and well done novella.

And then I wanted to know more about Ezra and Hugh and what I got wasn’t enough. Nonethless, they stole the scenes, simply because Ty and Caleb weren’t able to catch my attention.

After the Sunset stops at 2,5 stars to me, but I’m still interested in this author works. I put her books on my to-be-read shelf and I’ll give them a chance again.

The cover art is cute and well done, I love it.

Sales Links:  Interlude Press |  Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

Kindle Edition, 94 pages

Published July 6th 2017 by Interlude Press

ASIN B0725QYGHQ

Edition Language English