Category: Contemporary fiction

A VVivacious Review: Who I am When I’m with You by Tamryn Eradani

Rating – 3.75 Stars out of 5
Daniel and Ryan are ready to take their arrangement to the next level. For the first time they are meeting up for scenes during weekdays. But when a bad day at work carries over to a scene, Daniel is distraught. Will he be able to keep his work and sex life separate or will this spanner in the works make Daniel re-evaluate what he wants from this relationship?
This time around I liked where this story is heading. This one was definitely better than its predecessor because their was finally some growth in Daniel and Ryan’s relationship. But at the same time it couldn’t quite capture the charm of the first one.
I am excited with the direction this story is headed and it is great to see some development in their relationship. We catch Ryan and Daniel experimenting with scenes during weekdays and it finally feels like their relationship is heading somewhere. But at the same time the slow pace of these stories is getting me a little frustrated.
Personally I think what I loved about this book was Daniel’s perspective. I love his unique personality. It is an absolute treat to see the world through Daniel’s eyes and that realization at the end was very well done. I am very excited to read the next one after reading that ending.
All in all I am enjoying this story but I really wish this story could progress at a faster clip.
Cover Art by Natasha Snow. It is a very well done cover in sync with all the previous covers for this series.

Sales Links

NineStar Press | Amazon

Book Details:
ebook, 51 pages
Published April 3rd 2017 by NineStar Press
ISBN139781945952845
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesDaniel and Ryan #3

An Alisa Review: An Unexpected Shot by Caitlin Ricci & A.J. Marcus

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

Darius has just retired as a police officer and opened his PI business. He expects to help people and continue the exciting life he had while on the force, but most of his cases center around cheating spouses. That is until a young boy comes into his office one afternoon.

 

Parker insists that his parents are missing, and not believing him, Darius calls the people on the boy’s phone to find one who is willing to pick him up. Rick, a family friend, comes to get him. As a thank you for watching over Parker, Rick invites Darius to his house for dinner. Their connection is instant, but their romantic night together becomes complicated when men break into Rick’s house and start shooting.

 

This story was interesting, I liked it but not what I expected.  Darius has been alone a long time and is flattered when Rick invites in to dinner.  Rick’s proposal for their relationship however left me scratching my head and disconcerted.  I’m not a fan of a committed relationship that is also open to them dating others separately.

 

We saw everything from Darius’ point of view, but for the most part Rick completely explained himself and was open about it thoughts and feelings so I could mostly understand him too.  They are both thrown together by circumstances quickly and jump in with both feet.  The story had a good background that was well explained and was quick moving, but I didn’t connect with the characters all that much and felt like I got a lot of explanations and not a lot of action.

 

I love the cover art by Natasha Snow and it is very eye-catching.

 

Sales Links: Nine Star Press | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 39 pages

Published: April 3, 2017 by Nine Star Press

ISBN: 9781945952838

Edition Language: English

 

Love a Thriller Romance? Check Out ‘Saved’ by KL Roman (excerpt and giveaway)

Title:  Saved

Author: Karrie Roman

Publisher:  NineStar Press

Release Date: April 10

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 70000

Genre: Romance, gay, kidnapping, law enforcement, criminals, PTSD, thriller

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Karrie Roman here today.  Karrie has brought along a book  playlist for our readers.  Welcome, Karrie.

✒︎

Book Playlist by Karrie Roman

I have a Jack playlist which is mostly what I call sexy rock. It’s the kind of music I imagine Jack listening to and when I imagine Jack walking around just doing his thing, this is the music I imagine as his soundtrack.  Creedence Clearwater Revival: Born on the Bayou, Fortunate Son, Run through the Jungle.  Bob Seger: Hollywood Nights, Night Moves. A bit of ACDC: Back in Black, Who Made Who, Thunderstruck.

I also have a Will playlist which is more classic, soft rock. Will is more mellow than Jack. He is less overtly sexy but still has a little something going on so these songs are what I imagine to be his soundtrack. Dragon: Are you old enough?, Aprila Sun in Cuba. Van Morrison: Here Come the Night, Brown Eyed Girl, Jack Wilson Said. Don Henley: The End of the Innocence, Boys of Summer, Leather and Lace.

And of course I have the sexy/ romantic playlist. This is the music I imagine Jack and Will listening to together or when they are just being together and it’s playing in the background. Ginuwine: Pony. Van Morrison: Days Like This. Angus & Julia Stone: Get Home.

Synopsis

Detective Jack Mitchell is not a people person. After fourteen years dealing with the monsters of society, he has learned to keep people at arm’s length. Failing is his biggest frustration, and on the case of his career, he is having no luck hunting down a copycat serial killer…or the one man who survived the original case.

Six years ago, Will Blaikie was taken by a monster who changed his life forever. Narrowly surviving, he has become a prisoner in his own home. Friendless and alone, he watches in horror as a new monster emerges who only wants to copy the murderous deeds of Will’s monster…including taking Will.

When these two men are thrown together, and the monster comes for them both, one must learn to feel safe and protected, and the other must learn to feel love and peace.

Excerpt

Saved
Karrie Roman © 2017
All Rights Reserved

Will Blaikie didn’t often watch the news. It wasn’t because he preferred to bury his head in the sand about the world. More often than not, he was just protecting himself. He knew very well what happened out there, and he didn’t often want to be reminded of it. He had one television in his house, a smallish thirty-four-inch flat screen that was mounted over his fireplace. It was rarely on other than for movies or, of course, for The Walking Dead.

Tonight Will needed the background noise though. So he had left the TV on after watching a repeat of last season’s final episode before the new Walking Dead season kicked off in a couple of weeks. He would proudly admit to being a diehard fan if anyone asked. He could hear the news broadcast begin from the kitchen where he was whipping up a quick stir-fry. There was no point in elaborate and complicated meals if you were only ever cooking for one. The breaking news item immediately caught his attention and left him cold.

Hesitantly making his way to the TV, he picked up the remote and rewound, wanting to have misheard. He hit play when the giant red breaking news banner crossed the screen. Will stood listening as a flawlessly presented, heavily made-up woman, who smiled entirely too much throughout her report, confirmed his worst fears.

“Police have yet to confirm the discovery of a second body with the all-too-familiar cross carved into the chest. Having viewed the body found in a semirural field today, I can confirm that a cross was indeed carved into the deceased’s chest. An unnamed police source unofficially confirmed that this was the second body found bearing the cross. Sydney-siders will remember the Beecroft Butcher from six years ago when the city was paralysed with fear during the yearlong killing spree. Twelve men were killed before the killer, Russell Coburn, was finally—”

He only just made it to the bathroom before the entire contents of his stomach came up. Will draped himself over the toilet seat, heaving and sweating as he vomited into the bowl until nothing but bitter bile remained in him. He could still hear the low mumble from the television, but thankfully, no words were clearly audible. He’d heard enough—too much. His entire body shook, and he imagined his mind would look a picture of complete panic and chaos if he could peer inside it right now. He lay on the cool tiles, curling his body around the toilet bowl, unconvinced there would be no more vomiting. He felt a wet nose snuffle against his arm and reached back to give a reassuring pat to Henley. The furry dog took up his position, laying himself practically on top of his master. Protecting him as always, not just from physical harm, but from the mental hurt Will was now threatened with.

An hour and a half later, both Will and Henley were still curled up together on the bathroom floor. Though his body was still wracked with tremors, they were easing as was the chaos in his head. Could this really be happening again?

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Meet the Author

Karrie lives in Australia’s sunshine state with her husband and two sons, though she hates the sun with a passion. She dreams of one day living in the wettest and coldest habitable place she can find. She has been writing stories in her head for years but has finally managed to pull the words out of her head and share them with others. She spends her days trying to type her stories on the computer without disturbing her beloved cat Lu curled up on the keyboard. She probably reads far too much.

Website | Twitter | eMail

Tour Schedule

April 10th – MM Good Book Reviews

April 11th – Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

April 11th – The Novel Approach

April 11th – Oh My Shelves

April 12th – Love Bytes

April 12th – MM Book Escape

April 12th – Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents

April 13th – Urban Smoothie Read

April 13th – Erotica For All

April 14th – Happily Ever Chapter

April 14th – Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews  

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In Our New Release Spotlight: Tyler Buckspan by Jere’ M. Fishback (character introduction, excerpt and giveaway)

Title:  Tyler Buckspan

Author: Jere’ M. Fishback

Publisher:  NineStar Press

Release Date: April 10

Heat Level: 2 – Fade to Black Sex

Pairing: No Romance

Length: 47100

Genre: Literary Fiction, YA, Lit/General Fiction, Historical, Family-drama, Coming of age, non-explicit, gay, bi, cisgender, homophobia, in the closet, psychic/medium, sports

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Jere’ M. Fishback here today.  The author has brought Tyler Buckspan to tell our readers a little bit about himself.  Welcome, Tyler.

Meet Tyler Buckspan

I’m Tyler Buckspan, the title character in Jere’ M. Fishback’s book. I live with my grandmother and mom in the small Florida town of Cassadaga, not far from Daytona Beach. At the beginning of the book I am fifteen years old and I lack self-confidence. Wouldn’t you be if you were skinny and shy?

I’ve known I was gay since I was thirteen, but at fifteen I still have no sexual experience. When my half-brother Devin moves in with us, I become infatuated with him because he’s so handsome and masculine. I know that may sound weird, developing a crush on my half-brother, but it’s true. I can’t get him out of my mind.

Devin’s a great basketball player. He’s an accomplished auto mechanic too. And in the months following his arrival in Cassadaga he teaches me a lot about those things. It helps with my self-confidence at home and at school.

Oh, about my psychic abilities….

I guess I inherited them from my grandmother, who gives palm readings, conducts seances, and tells fortunes. I really have no interest in spirituality, but especially in bed at night I’ll have visions. Sometimes I can read people’s thoughts, which is kind of spooky.

Synopsis

Fifteen-year-old Tyler Buckspan lives with his mom and grandmother in 1960s Cassadaga, a Florida community where spiritual “mediums” ply their trade. The mediums—Tyler’s grandmother among them—read palms and tarot cards, conduct séances and speak with the dead.

Tyler’s a loner, a bookish boy with few interests, until his half-brother Devin, nineteen and a convicted arsonist, comes to live in Tyler’s home. For years, Tyler has ignored his attraction to other boys. But with Devin in the house, Tyler can’t deny his urges any longer. He falls hopelessly in love with his miscreant half-brother, and with the sport of basketball, once Devin teaches Tyler the finer points of the game.

In a time when love between men was forbidden, even criminalized, can Tyler find the love he needs from another boy? And is Devin a person to be trusted? Is he truly clairvoyant, or simply a con artist playing Tyler and others for fools? What does Devin really know about a local murder? And can Tyler trust his own psychic twinges?

Excerpt

Tyler Buckspan
Jere’ M. Fishback © 2017
All Rights Reserved

Spring water beaded on Eric Rupp’s shoulders. The drops looked like gemstones, reflecting sunlight. I stood behind Eric, waist-deep in the spring, my arms wrapped about his chest, my hips pressed to his buttocks. We had just made love on a bedsheet; it lay crumpled on the shore. June’s heat had made our sex a sweaty, sticky affair, but now the spring cooled our flesh.

I listened to water drip, to Eric’s soft breathing. My chin rested against the back of his neck, and I buried the tip of my nose in his damp hair.

Since my first visit to Eric’s home, we had made love any number of places: his house, my grandma’s, the spring, and even the backseat of the Chevrolet one afternoon when a thunderstorm raged. I’d never felt so close to someone; I had touched every part of Eric’s body.

His dad owned a tent and sleeping bags. On weekends, we’d often camp by the spring’s edge. We had constructed a fire pit, girding its walls with chunks of lime rock, and thereafter we always burned pine limbs during our evenings there, listening to sap crackle and hiss, watching sparks rise into the night sky.

“Will it always be like this?” Eric asked me one evening.

We lay side by side on our backs in his tent. The mildewed smell of the canvas made my nose crinkle. Beyond the tent flaps, a campfire smoldered. My gaze was fixed on the canvas overhead.

“I hope so,” I said.

Shifting his weight, Eric asked me, “Are you and I queers?”

I cleared my throat. “I suppose,” I said.

Eric turned toward me; he crooked an elbow and propped his head against his hand. “Does it scare you, being…different?”

“A little. We’ll have to be careful, always.”

After draping his arm across my belly, Eric laid his cheek against my sternum. “I think I’m in love with you, Tyler. Is that okay?”

My windpipe flexed, and then my eyes watered.

Holy crap.

“Of course it is,” I whispered.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Meet the Author

Jere’ M. Fishback is a former journalist and trial lawyer who now writes fiction full time. He lives with his partner Greg on a barrier island on Florida’s Gulf Coast. When he’s not writing, Jere’ enjoys reading, playing his guitar, jogging, swimming laps, fishing, and watching sunsets from his deck overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Tour Schedule

4/10    MM Good Book Reviews

4/11    Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

4/11    Boy Meets Boy Reviews

4/12    The Novel Approach

4/12    Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents

4/13    Happily Ever Chapter

4/14    Love Bytes

4/14    Dean Frech

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A MelanieM Review: At Attention (Out of Uniform #2) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 4.5 stars ouf 5

at-attentionLieutenant Apollo Floros can ace tactical training missions, but being a single dad to his twin daughters is more than he can handle. He needs live-in help, and he’s lucky a friend’s younger brother needs a place to stay. He’s surprised to see Dylan all grown up with a college degree…and a college athlete’s body. Apollo’s widowed heart may still be broken, but Dylan has his blood heating up.

It’s been eight years since the teenage Dylan followed Apollo around like a lovesick puppy, and it’s time he showed Lieutenant Hard-to-Please that he’s all man now—an adult who’s fully capable of choosing responsibility over lust. He can handle Apollo’s muscular sex appeal, but Apollo the caring father? Dylan can’t afford to fall for that guy. He’s determined to hold out for someone who’s able to love him back, not someone who only sees him as a kid brother.

Apollo is shocked by the intensity of his attraction to Dylan. Maybe some no-strings summer fun will bring this former SEAL back to life. But the combination of scorching desire and warm affection is more than he’d expected, and the emotion between them scares him senseless. No fling lasts forever, and Apollo will need to decide what’s more important—his past or his future—if he wants to keep Dylan in his life.

Annabeth Albert has become a  “go to, must read” author for me quickly.  It started with her series #gaymers but Portland Heat and now Out of Uniform is also making her a comfort read as well.  If you haven’t started any of these series, walk-don’t run to your nearest computer and pull them up!  At Attention is the second in her Out of Uniform series and oh my, how I do love this one.  It has characters I met in the first, we’re talking Lt. Apollo Floros.  He’s widowed with twins and just the small amount of time he appeared in the first story, Off Base (Out of Uniform, #1), was enough to know that you needed more of him.  And that he had to have a HEA.

At Attention is his story and romance.  Sigh and swoon.  The author gives us a man who hasn’t yet dealt with his grief over losing his husband.  Apollo has just been going through the motions of adjusting to being an only parent with total responsibility of his twins, a job that’s taken him out of the field and the daily recognition of the hole in his life.  But actual mourning?  No, he hasn’t let himself do that and so he’s  stuck in a way that  not even his family   and friends know how to help him move forward.  I love how Albert makes us feel this man’s pain and loss as well as his love for his daughters and the man he married.  We see how much he needs to move ahead and yet how unable or unready he is to do so.

Then Dylan comes to town for a summer job and his brother, Apollo’s friend and teammate.  Who hasn’t had someone younger crush on them or had a crush on someone older?  We know how it goes and feels.  Albert captures those old feelings perfectly as well as what happened when the crush and crushee meet years later.  Its so hard to let go of those old impressions, especially if you’re the older person.  I love how that factors into this slow moving relationship because its so very realistic.

There are other obstacles here, not just that  past history.  Each is believable and realistic as they come.  And yet those sparks that fly between these characters are hot, hot, hot!!!  The chemistry that the author cooks up between Apollo and Dylan is combustible and I believe in that and them too.

Plus you throw in the girls and their love for Dylan as well and this story just sang for me.

So At Attention is already a favorite of the series and its just book 2.  What will the rest of the series bring?  I can’t wait to find out.  Please hurry up with the next story!

Cover art is lovely and works for the series and tale.

Sales Links

Carina Press

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: April 10th 2017 by Carina Press
Original Title At Attention
ISBN13 9781488022623
Edition Language English

Series Out of Uniform #2

Off Base (Out of Uniform, #1)
At Attention (Out of Uniform, #2)
On Point (Out of Uniform #3)

An Ali Review: Embers (Common Law #2) by Kate Sherwood

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Small town—big problems. Jericho Crewe is back in Mosely, Montana, trying to deal with police corruption, interfering feds, his newly discovered family members, and, of course, Wade Granger.

He doesn’t really need a biker war on top of it all, but as the bodies start to pile up, it becomes pretty clear that’s what he’s got. Not only that, but Wade’s involved somehow, and as soon as Wade is a part of something, things that seemed clear become cloudy.

With the feds breathing down his neck, Jericho has to find his way through Wade’s maze of half truths and manipulations. It would all be so much easier if Jericho could think straight in the other man’s presence. So much easier if their passionate past could be forgotten, and if he could be sure he’s strong enough to resist the temptation of a passionate present.
So good. Jericho! Wade?? Gah……these books can’t come out fast enough for me. This one picks up right after book one ends. Jericho is staying in his home town to help Kayla try to weed out the bad cops from her force and help her rebuild things again.

Jericho is now on the force with her and it’s not long before another major crime happens. This one involving bikers, his step-mother, some federal agencies and perhaps Wade. Probably Wade. Most definitely Wade?? See, I’m not really sure and I love that about this series. It is a romantic suspense and it keeps your guessing throughout. I “think” I know where this is going with Wade but I’m not completely sure. I’ve second guessed myself on more than one scene.

What I do know about Wade is that he and Jericho have mad chemistry between them. It jumps off the pages every time they’re in a room together. Whether they’re verbally sparring or pushing each other up against walls and putting their hands down one another’s pants, it’s scorching. There are some really great scenes between the two of them in this book.

All of the side characters from book one make an appearance (including Jericho’s demon spawn siblings who make me laugh) and we meet a few more of this town’s quirky residents.

It’s fast paced, fun, sexy and entertaining and the ending leaves you dying for more. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next two books in this series. This shouldn’t be read as a standalone. Make sure you read book one, Long Shadows, first.
Cover art by Natasha Snow:  I love the cover on this (as well as all the others in the series).  They’re simple covers but they are well done and the colors and format are very appealing and eye catching.  Some of my favorites this year.
 Sales Links
Riptide Publishing | Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 197 pages
Published February 6th 2017 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleEmbers
ISBN 1626495297 (ISBN13: 9781626495296)
SeriesCommon Law #2

Riptide Tour & Giveaway: For A Good Time, Call… (Bluewater Bay #17) by Anne Tenino and E.J. Russell

For A Good Time, Call… (Bluewater Bay #17)
by Anne Tenino and E.J. Russell
Riptide Publishing

Cover Art by L.C. Chase

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here at Riptide Publishing

 

Welcome to the For a Good Time, Call Blog Tour! We’re delighted to have you stop by, so please, make yourself comfortable. Can we offer you a virtual beverage?

As part of this blog tour, Anne and E.J. are giving away a $50 Riptide Publishing Gift Certificate to one lucky winner! *confetti* To enter the giveaway, please comment on any official tour post with your name and contact info before midnight (EDT), April 15th. Good luck, and enjoy the tour!

About For a Good Time, Call…

Thirty-seven-year-old Nate Albano’s second relationship ever ended three years ago, and since he’s grace—gray asexual—he doesn’t anticipate beating the odds to find a third. Still, he’s got his dog, his hobbies, and his job as a special effects technician on Wolf’s Landing, so he can’t complain—much.

Seth Larson, umpteenth generation Bluewater Bay, is the quintessential good-time guy, content with tending bar and being his grandmother’s handyman. The night they meet, Seth’s looking for some recreational sex to escape family drama. But for Nate, romantic attraction comes before sexual attraction, so while Seth thinks they’re hooking up, Nate just wants to talk . . . genealogy?

Dude. Seriously?

So they declare a “just friends” truce. Then Seth asks for Nate’s help investigating a sinister Larson family secret, and their feelings start edging way beyond platonic. But Nate may want more than Seth can give him, and Seth may not be able to leave his good-time image behind. Unless they can find a way to merge carefree with commitment, they could miss out on true love—the best time of all.

Now available from Riptide Publishing. http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/for-a-good-time-call

About Bluewater Bay

Welcome to Bluewater Bay! This quiet little logging town on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula has been stagnating for decades, on the verge of ghost town status. Until a television crew moves in to film Wolf’s Landing, a soon-to-be cult hit based on the wildly successful shifter novels penned by local author Hunter Easton.

Wolf’s Landing’s success spawns everything from merchandise to movie talks, and Bluewater Bay explodes into a mecca for fans and tourists alike. The locals still aren’t quite sure what to make of all this—the town is rejuvenated, but at what cost? And the Hollywood-based production crew is out of their element in this small, mossy seaside locale. Needless to say, sparks fly.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by eleven award-winning, best-selling LGBTQ romance authors: L.A. Witt, L.B. Gregg, Z.A. Maxfield,  Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz, Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, SE Jakes, G.B. Gordon, Jaime Samms and Ally Blue. Each contemporary novel stands alone, but all are built around the town and the people of Bluewater Bay and the Wolf’s Landingmedia empire. 

Check out Bluewater Bay! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/universe/bluewater-bay

About Anne Tenino

Catalyzed by her discovery of LGBTQ romance, Anne Tenino left the lucrative fields of art history, non-profit fundraising, and domestic engineering to follow her dream of become a starving romance author. For good or ill, her snarky, silly, quasi-British sense of humor came along for the ride.

Anne applies her particular blend of romance, comedy and gay protagonists to contemporary, scifi and paranormal tales. Her works have won awards, she’s been featured in RT Book Reviews, and has achieved bestseller status on Amazon’s gay romance list.

Born and raised in Oregon, Anne lives in Portland with her husband and two kids, who have all taken a sacred oath to never read her books. She can usually be found at her computer, procrastinating.

Connect with Anne:

About E.J. Russell

E.J. Russell holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business-intelligence consultant. After her twin sons left for college and she no longer spent half her waking hours ferrying them to dance class, she returned to her childhood love of writing fiction. Now she wonders why she ever thought an empty nest meant leisure.

E.J. lives in rural Oregon with her curmudgeonly husband, the only man on the planet who cares less about sports than she does. She enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.

Connect with E.J.:

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of For a Good Time, Call…, one lucky winner will receive a $50 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 15, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!