Category: Contemporary fiction

In Our New Release Spotlight: Afraid to Fly (Anchor Point #2) by L.A. Witt (excerpt and giveaway)

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Afraid to Fly (Anchor Point #2) by L.A. Witt
Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist L.C. Chase

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here At Riptide Publishing

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to be hosting L.A. Witt today on her Afraid to Fly tour.  Welcome, L.A.!

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Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/L. A. Witt blog tour for Afraid to Fly, the second book in the Anchor Point series!

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding Afraid to Fly) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 22nd, and winners will be announced on January 23rd.  Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

Excerpt

(Clint)

Thanks to skipping lunch, I was able to slip out of the office around four thirty. Travis was held up for a while because he had a meeting with the CO, but about ten minutes before I got home, he texted me to let me know he was on his way.

While I waited for him, I couldn’t sit still. I’d showered and changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and now all there was to do was wait. And wait. And try to keep myself calm and cool.

Why isn’t he here yet? He should’ve been here five minutes ago.

Did he remember how to get here? Wait, I’d given him my address, and his car had GPS. He’d find the place. Right? Did I need to text him with my apartment number?

What the hell is wrong with me?

And then . . .

Footsteps on the walkway.

The distinct sound of boots.

Fuck yes.

I opened the door right as he stepped onto the porch. Neither of us said a word. He hooked his fingers in my waistband and pulled me in close, and we were back in each other’s arms. We kissed. Stumbled. Somehow made it off the porch and into the apartment without falling on our asses, and I was so tangled up in him, I couldn’t even remember for sure if we’d closed the door.

I opened my eyes briefly. Glanced past him.

Yep. Door was closed.

Where were we?

I cradled the back of his head and kissed him even harder.

“Sorry I took so long,” he panted against my lips. “Fucking traffic through the gate.”

“’S’okay. You made it.”

“Finally.”

“Mm-hmm.”

His hands slid across my bare skin, emphasizing how dressed he still was. That wouldn’t do. This uniform needed to be on the floor right now.

He must’ve had the same idea, because we both started fumbling with buttons. One by one, they gave. I pushed the blouse off his shoulders.

“By the way,” I said as I ran my hands up the front of his snug T-shirt, “one more hour at work, and I would’ve run out of military bearing.”

“You and me both,” he said between kisses, and slid his hands down over my ass. “Today was killing me. Even before you showed up in my office.”

“Tell me about it.” I started kissing my way down his neck. “You didn’t have to stand up in front of a class and try not to get a hard-on.”

He laughed, tilting his head to the side as I inched toward his collarbone. “Maybe I should’ve teased you a bit more.”

“That wouldn’t have been a good idea.” I bit his shoulder through his clothes, and he responded with the most delicious groan.

“Not a good idea?” He pressed against my dick. “Why not? What would’ve happened?”

“All kinds of . . . court-martial-worthy . . . offenses.” I groaned softly. “On government property.”

“More than what we already did?”

“So much more.”

“Hmm. Scandalous.” He dipped his head and kissed my neck. “Might have to step up my game at work. See what happens when you lose all your—”

“Don’t you dare,” I growled.

“Or what?”

“I’ll tell the CO.” I curved my hands over his ass. “Tell her you seduced me in my office.” I kissed beneath his jaw and murmured, “Tell her I was . . . helpless to resist . . . your charm.”

We both broke out laughing.

“Go ahead and tell her,” he said. “I won’t deny it.”

“Shameless bastard.”

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About Afraid to Fly

Once a fearless fighter pilot, Commander Travis Wilson is now confined to a desk. It’s been eight years since the near-fatal crash that grounded him, and it still rules his life thanks to relentless back pain.

Lieutenant Commander Clint Fraser almost drowned in a bottle after a highly classified catastrophe while piloting a drone. His downward spiral cost him his marriage and kids, but he’s sober now and getting his life back on track. He’s traded drones for a desk, and he’s determined to reconcile with his kids and navigate the choppy waters of PTSD.

Clint has been on Travis’s radar ever since he transferred to Anchor Point. When Clint comes out to his colleagues, it’s a disaster, but there’s a silver lining: now that Travis knows Clint is into men, the chemistry between them explodes.

It’s all fun and games until emotions get involved. Clint’s never been in love with a man before. Travis has, and a decade later, that tragic ending still haunts him. Clint needs to coax him past his fear of crashing and burning again, or their love will be grounded before takeoff.

Afraid to Fly is available January 16th from Riptide Publishing.

This title is #2 of the Anchor Point series.

About L.A. Witt

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

Website: http://www.gallagherwitt.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GallagherWitt

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Afraid to Fly, one lucky winner will receive $10 in Riptide Publishing credit and two books of choice from L.A. Witt’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 21, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

An Alisa Review: Hanukkah Gifts by Jacob Cheyenne

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

7c869-hanukkah_gifts_400x600Twenty-five-year-old TV producer Jared Greenfield loves his big city life — job, friends, and shopping — but even with all the fun of big city life, he feels a longing for something, or someone, more. Then, on the very first night of Hanukkah, he spots a handsome, sweaty basketball player at the Jewish Community Center.

 

Tall, dark, and Orthodox, the young and athletic Shai Goodhart strikes up an easy friendship with Jared, only to discover Jared has very little appreciation for his own Jewish heritage and religion. Determined to enlighten this “Bad Jew,” Shai invites him over for a family Hanukkah celebration.

 

Then Jared discovers Shai’s deepest secret and the biggest threat to his future. Over the eight days of Hanukkah, deep emotions pull them closer and closer together. Can they ever reach across the divide of their shared culture and fall in love?

 

This was a nice short story.  Jared has always identified as Jewish, but doesn’t necessarily follow the religious laws as many more observant Jews do.  When Shai invites Jared to his family’s Hanukkah celebration he gets a better glimpse of his heritage and is intrigued by not only his religion but also of Shai.

 

Jared can’t seem to help but fall in love with the innocent Shai, however their interactions don’t always leave him feeling so wonderful with Shai’s wavering.  I understood Shai’s reluctance to leave his family’s grasp as it is all that he is know, but I could just see and feel how Jared’s heart broke every time things were looking up for them and Shai would just retreat back.  The only thing I didn’t like is that Shai never really made the decision for himself to completely be with Jared, but only after his family kicked him out did he suddenly decide that he could be out and proud with his love.  I enjoyed the story, but it didn’t quite have the warm and fuzzy feeling I was hoping for in the end.

 

The cover art gives a nice visual of Jared and the traditional Jewish dreidel.

 

Sales Links: JMS Books | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 87 pages

Published: December 24, 2016 by JMS Books

ISBN: 9781634862967

Edition Language: English

Blog Tour – Max, Brad, and Maisie Mystery Series by L.G. Fabbo-Gonnella (guest post, excerpt and giveaway)

Max, Brad, and Maisie Mystery Series by L.G. Fabbo-Gonnella Banner

Do I Really Write the Books by L.G. Fabbo-Gonnella

I want to express a hugely sincere thanks to the host of this blog site for asking me to do a guest post for the readers today. I’m touched and honored by this gift to me. I am on record as saying blogs like this are critical to authors. To be asked to contribute…truly gobsmacked.

So hello all, my name is L.G. Fabbo-Gonnella. I am the author of Max, Brad & Maisie mystery series. In case you did not notice THAT was a shameless personal plug * wink*.

My post today is about my weird idea that, on some level, I merely transcribe what my characters tell me to put down on the computer screen.

Let me begin this post by emphasizing that this is my personal view of myself as an author. I’m sure every writer had his or her own thoughts in this area. All are equally justifiable. Okay that should short-circuit dissenters ☺. So onwards we go.

I have said to many friends that I do not write my two mystery series {Mark Julian Vampire PI being the other one} but rather, “just take good notes when they start talking”.  I know this personal concept may be the subject for a psychiatrist’s couch but for now it’s a guest posting.

Let me attempt to explain:

When I write a mystery book, I visualize the inhabitants in each story as fully formed people. I mentally create the scenes they are in, their interactions between each other and the dialogues that occur between them. My focus is so intense a semi-reality takes hold in my brain. They come alive in that brief flicking time frame. So I write … taking notes as I refer to it. As I type, I don’t truly observe the computer screen or what I’m pounding out on the keyboard. I’m mentally fixated on getting down their unfolding drama.

I will freely admit that there are times the plot goes off in directions I never initial contemplated. Yet, somehow, in those mental  “writing zones”, the characters seem to inform me that such a literary detour is both natural and critical to the case I am writing or, let me employ the word transcribing in keeping with my post’s theme.

As I end this post let me quickly assure you I never confuse my reality with the ones found in my books. My point here is that, for me, in order to write what I hope is a fun book; I mentally create a fictional reality in my head. After that occurs, on some level in this author process, I’m not thinking per se but just typing away as these awesome character creations have at it. In the end I believe the end product is a rattling good yarn. Don’t believe me? Well get one of my mystery books and personally check it out but, be careful. You might become so engrossed in reading them that you find that you too are dragged into their reality. If it happens, please take detailed notes on what is going on there and quickly send your scribbling to me. It may very well make the next book. OR, simply drop me a hello. I love emails and reply, honest.

My email is l.g.fabbo-gonnella@gmail.com

My Facebook page is @ ““The Mystery Writings of L.G. Fabbo-Gonnella”

 

Max, Brad, and Maisie is a gay mystery series by author L.G. Fabbo-Gonnela. Read on to discover the three books in the series and find out more about the author! There’s also a giveaway and you are all encouraged to enter!

Murder In The String of G

Max, Brad, and Maisie Mystery Series, Book One

Maisie was an irrepressible burlesque queen of the fifties who was a star in the Cassandra Theater. She was killed in what was initially ruled to be an accidental trip and fall down a spiral staircase. In fact, she knows it was a murder but, why was she killed and why the later cover-up? Unfortunately, however, what can a ghost to do about it? And so, her shade haunts the theater hoping to find someone to help her.

It turns out to be a long wait. In two thousand and six two young wanta-be actors arrive at the newly restored Cassandra Theater to audition for a play. One is Max, who is gay, and the other is his roommate Brad, who is straight. For reasons unknown at first, Maisie finds she can connect with them both and seeks their help in proving she was murdered and who did it. After initial hesitations, the boys agree to help her solve her killing. The book follows the pair as they stumble towards finding answers while dodging a hired gun, a serial killer of young men and, for Brad, Maisie’s tendency to “fondle his rump” at inopportune times.

Excerpt

Murder in the String of G

The Cassandra Theater, New York City circa 1959:

The tall statuesque blonde stood in front of the grimy scratched mirror. “Geez you think they put in some decent bulbs in the lamps,” she groused as she squinted to see herself in the theater’s poorly lit dressing room. She gazed about the dingy enclosure with its washed out wallpaper and grimy ceiling. “Better days huh,” she muttered in disgust as she returned her eyes at her reflected image.

“Okay Maisie” she sharply said as she took in her naked form. “So tomorrow you are thirty-eight so what does it matter.” She let her blue eyes focus on her two large breasts that somehow, in defiance of gravity and the laws of physics, still thrust straight out from her full figured five foot ten inch frame. “Well at least you two haven’t sagged yet,” she said with a throaty laugh as she touched her breasts. “I think I’ve still a good three to four years left in burlesque.” She pivoted slightly to take in her firm tight rump. “Yep the old chaise still has a few miles to go on the meter too.”

She faced the mirror, gave her image a knowing wink, and then quickly began to dress shivering in the chilly air of the unheated and dingy room. As Maisie slipped into her undergarments she took in her shabby surroundings with its dirt encrusted small windows and cracked wall coverings.

“Well you’ve come a long way huh girl and all of it down,” she said before sighing as she noticed a large wet stain on the ceiling. The sight of the well-used furniture and generally run down fixtures of her dressing room always depressed her. This was a far cry from the lavish places where she had worked in the past.

Murder In The String of G

Buy links:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7SOOKM/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A7SOOKM/

Murder in the Squared Circle

Max, Brad, and Maisie Mystery Series, Book Two

Maisie’s favorite young pro-wrestler, Stan DaMann, is arrested for allegedly murdering his hated rival. Maisie is convinced of Stan’s innocence. Determined to find the real killer she convinces the hapless Max and Brad into posing as a new wrestling tag team. Out of their depth, they find themselves involved a murky world of underground sex bouts while facing off against two brothers who think vice may be nice but incest is best. As Max and Brad’s wrestling début approaches our trio is eager to find the killer before the killer finds them. Max has another problem in the form of a good-looking Australian wrestler named Liam. Could Max be falling for a guy who might turn out to be that killer?

Murder in the Squared Circle

Buy Links

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EC0ZY0A/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EC0ZY0A/

Murder in Noir

Max, Brad, and Maisie Mystery Series, Book Three

It seems as if Max and Brad’s dreams of a career in acting have finally arrived. The duo have been cast in the Broadway revival of that forties noir classic “Blood Fell onto my Window Pane”. Even more exciting, the production has movie stars Barrett Conover and his Italian wife Europa making their Broadway début. Max has had a huge crush on the husband ever since he saw the actor in the classic gay film “Going Tops for a Bottom”. As for Brad, he has been a fan of Europa ever since he saw her in the French classic comedy “Buxom Babes for Balzac.”

The play also has a rather lurid past. During its first run in 1948, two members of the company were victims in an unsolved murder. Maisie soon convinces the boys it would be fun to try and solve the decades old crime. What starts as a lark however, suddenly takes a unexpected turn as evidence of a blackmail scheme is revealed. Events soon turn deadly when the trio seeks to uncover who is being blackmailed and, critically, who is behind it. Hidden scandals, an attempted rape and murders both old and new are now part of the script for a, “Murder in Noir”

Murder in Noir

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUSMEKM/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EUSMEKM/

Giveaway

Prizes: 1 bundle of Murder in the String of G + Murder in the Squared Circle, and 1 copy of Murder in the String of G

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About the author

L.G.Fabbo-Gonnella is a resident of NYC. He has often said Manhattan is the underlying unspoken character in many of his books. “I guess its a love affair that I have with her,” he once said. “I could live here forever and yet still find magical things about her that I never knew existed.

When not seeking out interesting new locales for his books he can be found dinning with friends and enjoying all the city he adores has to offer.

Though he has not yet met the supernatural denizens of NYC, he does hope too one day. And yes, there is a “letter Lounge” albeit under a different name.

He can be reached at L.G.Fabbo.Gonnella@gmail.co
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Mystery-writings-of-LG-Fabbo-Gonnella
Website: http://fabbo-gonnella.blogspot.com

Release Day Blitz: Delayed Gratification by Tamryn Eradani (excerpt and giveaway)

 

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Title:  Delayed Gratification

Series: Daniel & Ryan, Book 1

Author: Tamryn Eradani

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: January 16th

Heat Level: 5 – Erotica

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 11300

Genre: Erotica, BDSM; Businessmen; Friends to Lovers

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Synopsis

Daniel Brown is a man of routine. You might even call him a control freak. So when the new Director of Marketing, Ryan Cole, starts shaking up Daniel’s routine, Daniel doesn’t know how to react. He finds Ryan intriguing, infuriating and oh so attractive, but he doesn’t mix business with pleasure. As their games start to grow kinkier, dare Daniel give in to his desire to let Ryan top him?

Excerpt

Tamryn Eradani © 2017
All Rights Reserved

There’s another donut on his desk the next morning.

There isn’t even the slightest bit of temptation this time as Daniel picks it up and deposits it on Tracy’s desk. She ate yesterday’s donut, and he doesn’t doubt she’ll eat this one too. Personally, he would never eat something a stranger left on his desk, but he explained the mysteriously appearing donut and she chose to eat it anyway.

He sets the donut down on Tracy’s desk and notices a light on, on the other side of the room, across three rows of cubicles. One of the driving forces behind Daniel’s desire to get promoted was the thought of having an office of his own, of not being hemmed in by cubicle walls or surrounded by people who don’t know how to focus even though that’s what they’re paid to do.

Daniel’s usually the first person in every day and one of the last to leave, and he’s curious who else is here this morning.

He winds through cubicles until he can get a good look at the occupied office.

Ah, Ryan Cole.

He’s the new Director of Marketing, hired a month or maybe two months ago. Daniel had stopped by the welcoming party in between calls. His first call had been an average sale. The second ended in one of Daniel’s best sales this quarter. He’s hoping to get a mention at the next all-company meeting.

Daniel doesn’t remember anything about the welcoming party except a vague sense of distrust, because the man has two first names. One of them, ostensibly, is a last name, and Daniel knows you don’t have control over your last name, but it’s something that bothers him. He likes neat rows of boxes and everything to fit in its box.

A person should have a clear first name and a clear last name.

Ryan’s at his desk, dark head of hair the only thing visible as he fiddles with something at his desk.

With a Krispy Kreme bag.

Coincidence, Daniel tells himself, even though there was a donut on his desk this morning, and there’s only one other person in the office here right now, and that person happens to have a bag from a donut shop.

Bribe, maybe, he thinks next. Sales and marketing have always had a tumultuous relationship at best, and maybe the new guy is trying to fix that. Daniel should tell him bribery isn’t the way to go.

Ryan looks up from what he’s doing, and he catches Daniel staring.

Ryan smirks and holds Daniel’s gaze as he pulls a glazed donut out of the bag. Daniel doesn’t know where to look. The donut is dangerous, because his self-control is stretched thin after two days of denying himself something he wants. The man is even more dangerous.

There’s a knowing look in Ryan’s brown eyes, something that suggests this isn’t a bribe either. It’s something else, something deeper, and Daniel shuts that train of thought down right away. It’s not that. He wouldn’t suggest—he couldn’t know—he…

No, Daniel tells himself firmly.

“Good morning,” he tells Ryan, as if that had been the purpose of his cross-office trip, and then he promptly returns to his own office.

He pulls the blinds to the interoffice windows and sits down in front of his laptop.

It takes him 2.4 minutes to put Ryan out of his mind.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Meet the Author

Tamryn studied English and Creative Writing in school but has been writing since she could first hold a pencil. Recently, she’s turned her focus towards writing erotica. She enjoys writing stories where sex comes first, then feelings, because doing things out of order can be fun.

Tamryn has spent the past few months writing the Daniel and Ryan series with a lovely view of mountains out her window, and she’s now searching for a new mountain range to serve as her backdrop as she begins her next project.

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A VVivacious Review: Delayed Gratification (Daniel and Ryan #1) by Tamryn Eradani

Rating – 5 Stars out of 5
 
delayed-gratificationDaniel Brown is being tempted every day with a glazed donut on his desk. When he realises that the new Director of Marketing, the one with the two first names, Ryan Cole is the guy putting the donuts on his desk, he realises what the donuts actually stand for. The only question remaining is if, Daniel is ready to take Ryan up on his not so innocent offer?
 
Daniel Brown is a man of routine. Indeed. Daniel is incredibly prim and proper, his body is in shape; he eats super healthy and denies himself all temptations all week long only to reward himself at the end of the week. He is quirky, borderline-OCD but Oh My God! He was just so prim and proper, I wanted to mess him up! But some of his quirks had me empathizing so much, like the fact that he only went around the left side of his secretary’s desk because that way it was two seconds faster and the way he liked being the first one in his office so that he could soak up the quiet. I mean I was in the story the moment we got to meet Daniel.
 
This book is very well written, like amazingly so. I loved the precise sentences that just cut away all the frills and get to the point. This book is all from Daniel’s point of view but I loved how the author despite being limited by Daniel’s worldview still manages to give us a such a holistic view of Ryan because Oh My God! Ryan.
 
I was amazed my Ryan he is like so relaxed and calm and not exactly laid-back but kind of like at peace with himself and personally I was wondering how that would translate to his Dominant side but my! Oh My! I was not at all disappointed. It was the most amazing transformation because it wasn’t one means I was finding it hard to reconcile these two aspects of Ryan’s character but the author had it spot on. He was not only a relaxed, calm, at peace with himself kind of guy he was also a Dom, it was just that simple.
 
The actual scene actually took my breath away because it was so simple and in a way it was all in Daniel’s head. But somehow that entire scene just put everything into perspective.
 
I honest to God screamed when this book ended because it is really short, like a short-story short but despite being so short it has this wealth of words that impart so much meaning and I am going to ignore the fact that this got over so soon because I know there is a sequel and I just can’t wait to get my greedy hands on it.
 
Cover Art by Natasha Snow. It is an amazing cover! I loved the dark colours and their dark overtones, it looks amazing and perfectly fits the story.
Sales Links
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Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 43 pages
Expected publication: January 16th 2017 by NineStar Press
ASINB01MS1XD9D
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesDaniel and Ryan #1