An Alisa Review: Honey Trap by Fyn Alexander

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

When Scarlett and Ronin, two very beautiful individuals, approach Julian May, he cannot believe his luck. Having albinism and being somewhat shy, he doesn’t usually get attractive people approaching him. Being gay, he falls in love with Ronin, only to find out that Ronin and Scarlett are the same person and that they made a play for him as part of a honey trap.

All hell breaks loose as an angry and betrayed Julian refuses to have anything more with Ronin/Scarlett. Meanwhile Julian needs to rescue an old lover who is stuck in a prison in Afghanistan and the only person willing or able to help him is Ronin. Despite Ronin’s jealously when he sees Julian and his former boyfriend together, he does not give up on trying to win Julian’s heart. Little does he know, he already has it.

This was an intriguing story that kept moving. MI-6 has been using Ronin as Scarlett as part of honey traps, but he lets his emotions get in the way when he is told to get to know Julian. Julian is content with his life, hiding who he really is from his family and acquaintances, but starts to see a reason for something more when he is with Ronin.

Julian is confused by his reaction to Scarlett; he has never been attracted to a woman before. He becomes a bit confused when he meets Ronin’s family and they are very similar to how Scarlett described her family. Ronin isn’t willing to let Julian go after he finds out and puts himself in danger to keep Julian safe.

Julian is so sweet and really innocent it’s hard not to love him and know how he feels. When he finally feels as if he has found what he always wanted his reality comes crashing down around him. Ronin knows the real Julian and you can feel his determination that he can break through the wall Julian puts up after he is hurt. We could clearly see how hard being Scarlett and Ronin for Julian was and how conflicted he was with his job. I love how supportive Ronin’s family is of his gender fluidity, but didn’t really like Julian’s attitude toward it; granted he had been hurt, but he doesn’t seem like he even tries to understand.

Cover art by Natasha Snow is wonderful gives great visuals of the main characters.

Sales Links: Loose Id | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 220 pages

Published: October 4, 2016 by Loose Id

ISBN: 9781682521984

Edition Language: English

A Lila Review: Interlude: First Noel (The Executive Office #1.5) by Tal Bauer

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Before Ethan returns to DC…

Before he becomes Jack’s first gentleman…
Jack and Ethan share their first Christmas together. Step back to Jack and Ethan’s first Christmas season and the tentative early months of their relationship under the world’s spotlight. Three months into Ethan’s transfer-in-exile in Des Moines, Iowa, the pressures of dating Jack, the president of the United States, start to wear Ethan down. His weeks are measured by the days he works in Iowa, chasing counterfeiters and financial crimes, and the weekends he manages to steal with Jack back in DC. The media stalks his every move, he’s isolated by his coworkers, and loneliness hammers at his heart.

In DC, Jack tries to piece together a global alliance to take down the Caliphate, while the world seems focused on tearing apart his personal life. Hostility surrounds him from all corners of the globe, but a surprise offer from President Sergey Puchkov may pave the way for a tentative alliance…and perhaps the beginning of a friendship.

As Ethan finds himself in the middle of an investigation that rubs too deeply against his soul and Jack tries to balance leading the free world and keeping his and Ethan’s relationship going, the two men must face what their love has become…and where they are heading together.

Interlude: First Noel is more than a Christmas short; it’s three stories in one. We get Ethan’s story in Des Moines. How his life as a Secret Service agent changed and the case he’s taking part of, even when no one wants him around. Then, we have Jack’s first Christmas in the White House. The impact of his job and the coalition he’s trying to form. And lastly, we see how those two stories intertwined with Ethan’s and Jack’s romance. Plus, how they deal with their long distance relationship.

More than a novella, this is a full length story. Just like the previous books in this series, the author gives the reader every detail necessary to experience this holiday short as much. We get a lot of characters back, and how they related to book one and book two. And we see important friendships starting to form for Ethan and Jack.

The way both main characters are treated by those they work with is similar even when they are in two different places and have two different job descriptions. How they managed to deal with this, plays an important part in the story. The book is as much about self-discovery as solving Ethan’s case, and Jack’s political issues. As bonus, we get to see Sergey in all his glory.

If you haven’t read Enemy of my Enemy, yet, I’d recommend you read this novella first. Not because it would make a difference in your enjoyment, but it would help you follow the timeline when the book mentions events from when Ethan was in Iowa. As always, my only complaint is the amount of details and additional information we get with each book, but that’s just me. And the best part, everything is wrapped on Christmas spirit.

At first glance, the cover by Natasha Snow seems gloomy. But, it fits the longing atmosphere of the story and the roughness of Ethan’s and Jack’s separation.

Sale Links: NineStar | Amazon | NOOK

Book Details:

ebook, 125 pages
Published: December 19, 2016, by NineStar Press
ISBN: 9781945952302
Edition Language: English

Series: The Executive Office
Book #1: Enemies of the State
Book #1.5: Interlude: First Noel
Book #2: Enemy of My Enemy

Release Day Blitz for A Collision with Reality by Storm Duffy (excerpt and giveaway)

Title: A Collision with Reality

Series: In Like Flynn

Author: Storm Duffy

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: January 2nd

Heat Level: 5 – Erotica

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 7100

Genre: Erotica, contemporary, UK, D/s, kink, businessmen, online chat, workplace relationship, erotica

Add to Goodreads

Synopsis

Flynn’s new boss is so hot he can’t wait to get home to tell the chatroom how much he wants Dom’s cock down his throat. By Friday, he’s shared quite a few thoughts on what he’d like his boss to do to him. But he’s not as anonymous as he thinks, and Dom’s intent on disciplining him for breaching company policy on social networking. Dom gives him a choice of put up or shut up: he can play out the fantasy in real life, or he can walk out of the office without a word to HR as long as he never talks that way about Dom again. Flynn chooses “put up”—but he’s forgotten about one of the things he said he wouldn’t mind doing.

Excerpt

The new manager was really something: tall, dark, and handsome, with a superb arse that looked great in a suit. Flynn wouldn’t mind seeing what it looked like out of the suit. Unfortunately the suit was respectably cut at the front, making it impossible to tell without staring whether the guy dressed to the left or the right, let alone how big his cock was.

Not the sort of thing one ought to be thinking about while listening to the big boss introduce the new manager. He barely caught the guy’s name—Dominic.

“Pleasure to meet you all,” Dominic said. “I look forward to getting to know you better over the next few weeks.”

Flynn looked forward to it as well. He particularly looked forward to getting to know him better in the gents, at least well enough to idly glance down and check out the cock. A pity he wasn’t likely to get to know Dominic in the gents any better than that, not in real life; but it was his own business what he did in the privacy of his own head.

And in the privacy of his favourite board online that evening. No wallet names, no ID. Not even your location listed unless you wanted it out there in the hope of hooking up with someone for a night’s fuck. A safe place to talk about just how much he fancied the new boss.

[New boss arrived today. Absolutely bloody gorgeous, if you like older men. Wouldn’t mind having him discipline me for poor performance.]

[Better if he disciplines you for good performance] an anon said.

[Oh, I think I could perform well for him.]

Flynn could think of a number of ways he could perform, starting with:

[Down on my knees with my mouth open.]

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords

Meet the Author

Storm Duffy has a number of erotica shorts published under that and other names in a variety of venues, including “The Mammoth Book of Quick and Dirty Erotica”. As Jules Jones, she has written several erotic romance novellas and novels, including the first M/M romance published by Loose Id.

Amongst the 2500 or so books on shelves in her house, there is room for rather a lot of cross-stitch thread and entirely too many balls of wool. There are also more bits of computer kit than is quite reasonable for someone who doesn’t do that for a living. The two microscopes, on the other hand, are entirely in keeping with a career in science.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | eMail | Smashwords | Livejournal

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A MelanieM Release Day Review: The Virgin Manny (The Mannies #1) by Amy Lane

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Growing up and falling in love…

Sometimes family is a blessing and a curse. When Tino Robbins is roped into helping his sister deliver premade dinners when he should be studying for finals, he’s pretty sure it’s the latter! But one delivery might change everything.

Channing Lowell’s charmed life changes when his sister dies and leaves him her seven-year-old son. He’s committed to doing what’s best for Sammy… but he’s going to need a lot of help. When Tino lands on his porch, Channing is determined to recruit him to Team Sammy.

Tino plans to make his education count—even if that means avoiding a relationship—but as he falls harder and harder for his boss, he starts to wonder: Does he have to leave his newly forged family behind in order live his promising tomorrow?

The Virgin Manny is full of those wonderful things I like to think of as Amy Lane layers. One, its those friends and families she memorably creates that orbit one or both of our main characters. We always want to get to know them more too. They are often as interesting, adorable, irascible (fill in the verb) and believable as our leading men. We often come to love them so much that it does them a disservice to call them secondary or support characters. Tino’s sister, his best friend, his mom, his dad….ala familia? Yes indeed turning into ours as well. Two, its not just one storyline. Yes, there’s a main one. But Lane weaves a tapestry of entertaining and emotional threads for the reader and characters to follow. It keeps both our hearts and minds involved as we wonder how Tino and Channing are going to handle a grief stricken child and their own evolving feelings for each other. Its a tricky situation, especially as its only supposed to be temporary. The possibilities for hurt are huge and the frailties of the child are acknowledged.

Tino also has his own issues and insecurities that he needs to work through. Channing too. How they maneuver through their maze of emotions, questions about the future of any relationship, status issues and still make their connection to each other seem real and sexy? True Amy Lane!

Do I heart this story? Yes, I do. And I loved Sammy, poor Sammy, lost, angry and grieving who has to learn to adjust and become a part of a new family. Well, I adored him.

There’s some suspense but its the love and family at the heart of this wonderful story that sings. I can’t recommend it enough. Plus its the start of a new series! Can’t wait for the next to appear. Pick it up if you haven’t already and be prepared to fall in love.

Cover art by Paul Richmond. Honestly? Not my idea of Tino. Its just ok.

Sales Links

Book Details:

ebook, 228 pages
Expected publication: January 1st 2017 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634776801 (ISBN13: 9781634776806)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Mannies #1

Out with 2016 and Hello 2017 and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Out with 2016 and Hello 2017!

Yes, its that time again. First day of the new year. Time to shut the door on the old year and prepare to welcome in the new. Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words turned 5 and got a whole new look! We added reviewers and content hoping to provide more reviews as well as author and narrator interviews, giveaways and much more for all our readers. I hope we’ve succeeded.

2016 held such promise. LGBTQIA rights moved forward in the courts with marriage equality, transgender equality gaining ground in many states as laws were passed to protect peoples rights to live and love as they saw fit. And so many of our stories reflected that hope and societal change. It was wonderful and uplifting. I loved reading about couples getting engaged and married while remembering stories reflected a reality not that long ago where that was not a possiblity.

Then came the elections. Shock, disbelief, numbness,and so much more. Now we face an uncertain 2017 with a very different minded administration. What will 2017 bring for the LGBTQIA community and the rest of us? And how quickly will we see that uncertainty and wide ranging emotions translated into our stories? Will it be in our contemporary stories, science fiction, alternate universe or everything the authors can imagine and pour into their tales? I can’t wait to read what 2017 will bring us with novels and short stories.

2016 saw the rapid rise of the audiobook as we mentioned during our month long series where we interviewed audiobook narrators, authors and listeners. This format is still rising in popularity and our reviews (and number of them) certainly reflect that. We hope to be interviewing more narrators and talking more about this format in the coming year. Do you have a favorite narrator? Let us know and we’ll see if we can get them in for an interview!

We left off our Book Format series with the publishers view of ebook publishing – how far its come, how its changed and where they think its going. We hope to get back to that in 2017.

As we announced yesterday, several publishers are closing their houses. All Romance is closed as of yesterday. Torquere Press is closing but getting information about that is harder as all most people have is a message from the owners. If you have more information, please let us know so we can update our information to all our readers. It would be greatly appreciated.

On the positive front, Samhain Publishing which once thought it would be closing, is staying open. Great news for all. Don’t forget to check them out as they now have over 2500 titles available to choose from.

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words also started our Flash Fiction Writing Month. That will continue in 2017, although not in contest form. Look to see it again towards the end of the year as it was this time.

So many thoughts swirling and scattered about in my head….not unusual this first day of the year. It will take more than a day to process it all. Look for my ramblings to continue each Sunday this month as we reflect back and forward on 2016 and 2017. STRW will also be taking a look at our favorite stories and covers, reviewer by reviewer. Today we start off with Barb the Zany Old Lady’s favorite covers and stories of 2016. How do they match up with yours? Have you missed some? Start your TBRandMissed List now!

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2016

From Our Reviewers!

Barb the Zany Old Lady’s Top Ten of 2016 (in no particular order)

Top 5 Covers:

Empty Net by Avon Gale– cover by Aaron Anderson
Wolfsong by T.J. Kllune – cover by Reese Dante
A Second Harvest by Eli Easton – cover by Bree Archer
Enjoy the Dance by Heidi Cullinan – cover by Kanaxa
Clickbait by E.J. Russell – cover by L.C. Chase

*****

Top Books & Audiobooks released in 2016:

Wolfsong by TJ Klune audiobook narrated by Kirt Graves

Absolution by Sloane Kennedy audiobook narrated by Joel Leslie

Dinner at Fiorelli’s by Rick R. Reed audiobook narrated by Joel Leslie

How to be a Normal Person by TJ Klune audiobook narrated by Derrick McClain

A Second Harvest by Eli Easton

Blank Spaces by Cass Lennox

Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews

Enjoy the Dance by Heidi Cullinan

Tied Up in Knots by Mary Calmes

Empty Net by Avon Gale

If you’re adding to your TBR pile, keep going with some of the books we’ve reviewed this week. From Amy Lane’s The Virgin Manny to Tara Lain’s Death Dancer to Tal Bauer’s Interlude: First Noel in his outstanding series, The Executive Office, to Falling Down by Eli Easton, there’s something for everyone this week. Have a happy New Year’s Day everyone!

This Week in 2017 at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, January 1, 2017 🎉 Happy New Years!:

Out with 2016 and Hello 2017 and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Release Blitz Tour – Amelia Faulkner’s Lord of Ravens (giveaway)
A Free Dreamer Review:O/s by Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow
A MelanieM Release Day Review: The Virgin Manny (The Mannies #1) by Amy Lane

Monday, January 2:

Release Day Blitz for A Collision with Reality by Storm Duffy
Tour: From the Ashes by Xen Sanders (excerpt and giveaway)
Release Day Blitz for Oops Caught by Alli Reshi
A Jeri Review: Wolf in League by AF Henley
A Lila Review: Interlude: First Noel by Tal Bauer
A PaulB Review: Interlude: First Noel by Tal Bauer
An Alisa Review: Honey Trap by Fyn Alexander

Tuesday, January 3:

Release Blitz & Review Tour – Suki Fleet’s Light Up The Dark
DSP GUEST POST Avon Gale on “Whiskey Business“
A Jeri Review: Death Dancer (Dangerous Dancers #2) by Tara Lain
A MelanieM Review: The Next Competitor by Keira Andrews
A Paul B Review: Warrior Wolf and His Little Lamb (Pariah Pack #3) by Susan Laine
An Ali Review: A Collision with Reality by Storm Duffy

Wednesday, January 4:

Release Blitz Tour – Clare London’s Chase The Ace (London Lads #1)
A Free Dreamer Review: Crush by Caitlin Ricci
RIPTIDE TOUR: Assassins: Nemesis by Erica Cameron
A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Saving Silas by S.J. Himes and Derrick McClain (Narrator)
A Jeri Review: Heart’s Gamble By S.J. Frost
A Lila Release Day Review: I Love You More Than Pierogi (World of Love) by K.A. Merikan
A Stella Review: Falling Down by Eli Easton
An Alisa Release Day Review: A Coal Miner’s Son by TA Chase

Thursday, January 5:

DSP GUEST POST C.L. Etta
DSP GUEST POST F.E. Feeley Jr on “The Haunting of Timber Manor“
A Lila Review: Tartan Candy by KC Burn
A Paul B Review: Henning Box Set by Hayden Thorne
A Stella Review: Idlewild by Jude Sierra
An Alisa Review: Under the Mistletoe by Shawn Bailey

Friday, January 6:

Cover Reveal for Fireballs by Tara Lain
AE VIA BLOG SPOT on Nothing Special
DSP GUEST POST Taylor V. Donovan on “Six Degrees of Lust“
A Caryn Review: Alpha Barman by Sue Brown
A Lila Review: Nothing Special V by AE Via
An Ali Release Day Review: Block & Strike by Kelly Jensen
An Alisa Review: Defrosting Jack by Susan Laine

Saturday, January 7:

Release Blitz for Kayleigh Sky’s Doll Baby
DSP GUEST POST Thianna Durston on “Vespar“
An Ali Audiobook Review: Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles by Eli Easton

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Champagne Kisses by Lynda Aicher and Audiobook narrated by Tobias Silversmith

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

It’s easy to summarize this story—short, sweet, sexy! And the bonus to listening to the audiobook is that Tobias Silversmith narrated it beautifully.

This audiobook is only two hours long, but nearly every minute is packed full of character building, drama, romance, and hot, hot sex. It’s much better than receiving a Christmas stocking full of chocolates. Positively yummy and delicious!

Evan Cleary is a struggling wedding planner who’s spent the last four weeks putting together the perfect wedding for Nate Patterson and his soon-to-be-husband. Unfortunately, on Christmas Eve, their wedding day, Nate finds out his fiancé has been very naughty—banging one of the hotel staff. Major drama ensues, including Nate hurling a vase across the banquet room, leaving his fiancé bleeding with a head wound and on the way to the hospital for stitches. He doesn’t really care though, storming out of the room and promising never to return.

Evan is stunned, but he’d sunk everything he had into making this perfect so the wealthy Mrs Patterson would recommend him to friends and fellow socialites. He needs that business so sets about turning the former reception into a gala Christmas party. Watching from the wings while all this is going on is Nate’s brother, Richard Patterson. Though out and proud, few people know it, and certainly not Evan, but Richard is determined to make good use of Evan’s time later that night, convincing him that the day isn’t a total waste, and neither is the night.

There’s some major steamy hot sex in this story, and of course, it involves champagne and lots of kisses—in all sorts of places. But will the couple move beyond one night? Richard’s made it known he doesn’t do femme and there are few less femme than Evan around. This one is worth picking up to hear what happens. Stick it in your stocking. Stick it in a friend’s stocking and listen to your heart’s content. Is it original? Not so much. It’s holiday trope, but it’s very well done and left me feeling happy, so what more could I ask for? Certainly not chocolates.

Cover art by L.C. Chase shows two hot men, one taking his shirt off, the other loosening his tie. Both ready for a round of Champagne Kisses.

Sales Links

Riptide Publishing

Audible, Amazon, iTunes

Audiobook Details:

unavailable

A Lila Release Day Review: More Things in Heaven and Earth By Paul Comeau

Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5

When young Danny Crawford’s father and a priest conspire to subject him to conversion therapy, Danny only sees one way out. But little does Danny know he’ll soon have a sentinel watching from the darkness, a guardian angel in the most unlikely form imaginable.

Damien, a vampire, is inexplicably moved by Danny’s plight. He takes it upon himself to make sure Danny’s father and the priest can never hurt him again, giving Danny a chance at a normal life. As Danny grows up, Damien struggles to keep the boy—and later the young man—from harm. He does not dare go any further, no matter how much he wants to. To do so would ruin everything he’s tried to do for Danny. He doesn’t realize that as Danny embarks on a successful modeling career and begins dating, Danny feels empty, longing for something—or someone—just beyond his reach: a shadow, a presence he despairingly believes forever lost to him.

When brutality and violence threaten Danny again, Damien must make a decision—risk revealing himself to Danny, or leave Danny to his fate.

More Things in Heaven and Earth is not what I expected after reading the blurb. At the same time, it’s more, and less. To better explain, I think these are two books trying to become one—a literary fiction story that collided with a romance novel. I would have preferred to get a HFN or a tutor & apprentice kind of ending in this story. And then, round up the romance and the rest of their future on a separate book.

Some of the scenes were too descriptive and the things Danny and Damien endured too brutal to be compensated by their flourishing relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I know life’s not easy, and many men & women had these same experiences, but it’s hard to balance them in order to enjoy the author’s main purpose.

Damien was lovely. The way his feelings for Danny developed and how he lived his life were interesting. I like that he was not a conventional vampire, and even made fun of Hollywood’s stereotypes. His protective instinct and his friendship with Danny saved the story for me. They were great together.

Danny is an interesting character; perhaps a little naïve. The story arc with his family works as part of his book, but was a bit over-the-top. I did enjoy how his relationship with his mother and sister ended.

The story is well written and I do like the author’s style. I simply had some trouble getting over some facts that seemed unnecessary at times. The ten POV changes were unnecessary as well. Some of those paragraph could have been re-written from one of the MCs’ POV. The background chapters for Danny’s parents were too much. We could had inferred the information from their actions instead of reading their narrations.

I had some questions by the end of the story, and skimmed over certain areas, but overall I like it. It took me some time to decide on a rate for it, but in the end, the parts that deserved one-star benefited from the story as a whole.

The cover by Catt Ford goes very well with the book; showing the main characters and their home.

Sale Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon |

Book Details:

ebook, 284 pages
Published: December 30, 2016, Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781635331363
Edition Language: English

Two Important Closure Announcements -Torquere Press and All Romance

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is sharing the closures of two well known publishing houses. If you have books you need to download or are a writer with rights at either establishment, please take note.

From All Romance:

“It is with a great sadness that we announce the closing of All Romance eBooks, LLC. For the first year since opening in 2006, we will be posting a loss. Despite efforts to maintain and grow our market share, sales and profits have declined. The financial forecast for 2017 isn’t hopeful. We’ve accepted that there is not a viable path forward.

All Romance has always been a labor of love. Over the years we’ve developed wonderful relationships with the vendors we’ve worked with, the publishers whose content it’s been our pleasure to sell, the authors who supported us, and the customers who it’s been our honor to serve. On midnight, December 31 our sites will go dark. Between now and then, we encourage consumers finalize any transactions, download purchases, and back up libraries.

If you directly publish content for sale through our platform or All Romance has acted as your publisher via our Publishing in Partnership program, you should be in receipt of an email from us with additional information. If not, please contact us at info@allromanceebooks.com.”

Torquere Press

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

Troubled publisher Torquere Press is closing. Owners Kristi Boulware and Joanna Talbot announced their decision yesterday in an email :
We have thought long and hard about where things are with Torquere and made the very hard decision that we need to begin the process of closing this chapter of our lives….We have done everything we could to turn things around but with the saturation in the industry, the financial hardships we are in, my health in constant decline along with the negativity we have had hurdled our way. We feel like we are currently fighting an uphill battle.

A Lila Audiobook Review: Fish Out of Water by Amy Lane and Narrated by Greg Tremblay

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

PI Jackson Rivers grew up on the mean streets of Del Paso Heights—and he doesn’t trust cops, even though he was one. When the man he thinks of as his brother is accused of killing a police officer in an obviously doctored crime, Jackson will move heaven and earth to keep Kaden and his family safe.

Defense attorney Ellery Cramer grew up with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, but that hasn’t stopped him from crushing on street-smart, swaggering Jackson Rivers for the past six years. But when Jackson asks for his help defending Kaden Cameron, Ellery is out of his depth—and not just with guarded, prickly Jackson. Kaden wasn’t just framed, he was framed by crooked cops, and the conspiracy goes higher than Ellery dares reach—and deep into Jackson’s troubled past.

Both men are soon enmeshed in the mystery of who killed the cop in the minimart, and engaged in a race against time to clear Kaden’s name. But when the mystery is solved and the bullets stop flying, they’ll have to deal with their personal complications… and an attraction that’s spiraled out of control.

Fish Out of Water is a departure read for this author. There’s no comparison to Amy Lane’s ability to make a character miserable, and this book is no exception. At least, no animals died in the making of this story. It has all the traditional elements of her stories, but it’s more than a romance. The mystery aspect was well intertwined with the rest of the plot lines.

Ellery is my favorite character in the story. Perhaps because he evolves the most as he works on Kaden’s case. I like the way he gives his all to the cases even when he knows his clients aren’t innocent. But he gets even better when he’s doing his best for his deserving clients.

Jackson has an edge that takes a moment to get used to, but after a couple of pages, the reader sees it as a defense mechanism. I give kudos to the author for showing the character’s bisexuality, not just tell us about it. Some may not like this approach, but it works well with the characters.

The story starts slow and it’s over nine hours long. It’s full of action, drama, sex scenes, and all the extras that make a story great. It was hard to follow in parts, but overall, it’s an interesting take on a mystery story arc.

Greg Tremblay did an excellent job, as always. One of the things I like the most about his narrations is his ability to voice male and female characters with the same intensity. By the end of the story, all the characters have individual characteristics that are easy to follow.

The cover by Reese Dante is simple and quite literal. At the same time, the lines are clean and go perfectly with the story. It’s not the normal MM Romance cover, but it goes with the unconventional story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner | Audible | iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Narrator: Greg Tremblay
Length: 9 hours and 20 minutes

Published: October 10, 2016 (Audio Edition) by Dreamspinner Press
ASIN: B01LZQ0MBK
Edition Language: English

A Paul B Advent Calendar Day Review: Analog to Digital (2016 Advent Calendar – Bah Humbug) by Posy Roberts

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Ethan is the owner and creative director of a fashion house in California. As the holidays approach, he is trying to finish some projects before the end of the year and pursue new ventures for the new one to come. The last thing he needs is to attend his sister’s wedding vow renewal back home in Minnesota. However, his long term lover Toby has other ideas. Toby buys plane tickets for the both of them and insists that they have to go. Ethan complains that he has too much work to do but the fact that his sister just got married less than a year ago is another reason. Why should she basically get two weddings in a year when he cannot get his partner to marry him?

The root of the problem is that both Ethan and Toby have both stated that neither of them wan a wedding of their own from the beginning. But several years on, Ethan would like nothing more than to formally tie himself to Toby through matrimony. He fears that if he pushes too far then he might lose Toby forever. When they arrive in Minnesota, Ethan’s anxiety escalates as he is left alone to work on his fashions while Toby, Ethan’s parents and sister all work on last minute details for the vow renewal. Ethan barely sees his family all day and at night Toby seems distant. Ethan convinces himself that by the time the return to California or shortly thereafter, his relationship with Toby will come to an end. He now longer feels that Minnesota is his home but will he have a home with Toby in the long run? This is turning out to be a Bah Humbug of a Christmas for him.

Posy Roberts once again pens a tale that draws you in. Ethan‘s paranoia about his relationship with Toby is almost palpable. As I was reading, I knew that Ethan was probably blowing the situation out of proportion but isn’t that what most people who misinterpret a situation do? Ethan almost reaches the point where he sabotages his relationship all by himself. But of course this is a Christmas story so Ethan finally receives the gift he has been secretly wanting all along. The trip home to California won’t be as lonely as he thought it would be earlier in the week.

The cover art is by the author and has a man’s rear end covered in jeans with his hand behind him with his fingers crossed. I’m not sure how it relates to the story.

Sales Links

Book Details

EBook, 39 pages

Edition Language: English

Published December 2016 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN: 978-1-63533-191-2

Series: Dreamspinner Advent Calendar 2016—Bah Humbug

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Out with 2016 and Hello 2017!

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2016

From Our Reviewers!

Top 5 Covers:

This Week in 2017 at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, January 1, 2017 🎉 Happy New Years!:

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is sharing the closures of two well known publishing houses. If you have books you need to download or are a writer with rights at either establishment, please take note.

From All Romance:

Torquere Press

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