Category: Contemporary fiction

Celebrate the Release of Loud and Clear blog tour with Aidan Wayne (giveaway)

Loud and Clear

Loud and Clear by Aidan Wayne
Riptide Publishing
Cover art by L.C. Chase

Read an Excerpt/Buy it Here

About Loud and Clear

Jaxon is getting by fine, severe dyslexia or not. Being a cab driver means he doesn’t need to read much, and the job has its perks. The pay isn’t bad, the people can be interesting, and having memorized the city streets keeps him from feeling too stupid.

When he picks up Caleb, a quiet fare in a nice suit, Jaxon doesn’t think anything of it. Then he ends up driving Caleb home the next week too, and the next, and the next. Eventually Caleb tries to communicate—by writing things down. Turns out that Caleb has such a bad stutter he spends most of his time mute.

If only Jaxon had an easier time reading what Caleb had to say. But he’s interested in trying, and Caleb seems interested back. They discover that, with a little bit of effort, it isn’t so hard to make themselves understood. Especially when what’s growing between them is definitely worth talking about.

About Aidan Wayne

Aidan Wayne is a big believer in character-driven stories with happy endings. This is not to say that stories can’t contain a little (or a lot) of grief, just that at the end of it all expect there to be bandages and hugs. They particularly like to write about minority characters because damn it, they deserve happy endings too.

When not writing, Aidan enjoys practicing aerial, martial arts, and ASL, and watching reality cooking shows. They are probably in the middle of twelve projects as you read this.

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Loud and Clear, Aidan is giving away $15 in Riptide credit. Leave a comment to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 28, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

An Ali Audiobook Review: There’s Something About Ari by L.B. Gregg, Nick. J. Russo Narrator

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 There's Something About ARi audioBuck Ellis’s future seems pretty damn bright. With a full college scholarship in hand, he’s going to ditch Bluewater Bay and pave the way for his kid brother Charlie to do the same. The only fly in Buck’s ointment is his ten-year addiction to his best friend since second grade, his true love, and his Achilles heel: Ari Valentine, Mr. Least Likely to Succeed.

 

But then Buck’s mother dies, changing everything, and five years later, his future is still on hold. It’s a struggle to keep food on the table, a roof over their heads, and Charlie on the straight and narrow. Buck can’t afford any temptation, especially in the form of the newly returned, super hot, super confident, super successful television star Ari Valentine.

 

ADHD poster-child Ari Valentine left for Hollywood and lost everything, including his bad reputation. Then the breakthrough role of his skyrocketing career lands him back in Bluewater Bay, to the stunned disbelief of, well, everyone. But there’s only one person Ari longs to impress—the only person who ever really mattered to him, the person he left behind: Buck Ellis.

 

Nothing has gone right for Buck in years; his mother died, his best friend left and he was left alone to take care of his younger brother.  He has pretty much spent the last five years in standstill, still working at the coffee shop and just surviving and suddenly his best friend decides to come back to town and move in next door upsetting everything.  Ari is not willing to give up on Buck and is determined to keep pushing till he gets what he wants.

 

This was a nice story, if a bit short.  Most of the book was spent with Buck determined to stay away from Ari and keep everything the same.  There isn’t much of a conclusion to their problems, just Buck deciding not to fight it anymore.  I wish there had been a bit more to the story and that I had been able to see them actually work through their problems a bit more.

 

Nick Russo once again did a wonderful job narrating this story.  I could connect with the characters through the voices and emotions he portrayed.

Cover art by LC Chase is nice and follows the pattern for the series.

Sales Links:  Riptide | Audible | Amazon | iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook, 2 hrs 41 min
Published: May 9, 2016 (ebook first published November 10, 2014)
Edition Language: English

Series: Bluewater Bay #2

A Stella Review: What Remains by Garrett Leigh

RATING  4 out of 5 stars

What RemainsWeb designer Jodi Peters is a solitary creature. Lunch twice a week with his ex-girlfriend-turned-BFF and the occasional messy venture to a dodgy gay bar is all the company he needs, right? 

Then one night he stumbles across newly divorced firefighter Rupert O’Neil. Rupert is lost and lonely, but just about the sweetest bloke Jodi has ever known. Add in the heady current between them, and Jodi can’t help falling hard in love. He offers Rupert a home within the walls of his cosy Tottenham flat—a sanctuary to nurture their own brand of family—and for four blissful years, life is never sweeter. 

Until a cruel twist of fate snatches it all away. A moment of distraction leaves Jodi fighting for a life he can’t remember and shatters Rupert’s heart. Jodi doesn’t know him—or want to. With little left of the man he adores, Rupert must cling to what remains of his shaky faith and pray that Jodi can learn to love him again.

Jody and Rupert met on a December night four years ago. Since then they shared a flat and the love for the little Indie, Rupert’s daughter. Everything changed in their lives when a car hit Jody as he was crossing the road and sent him in hospital with a damaged brain and a new life to rebuild cause he can’t remember his whole time with Rupert.

Yep the plot could be summarized in these few words but there is so much going on into the book. I very  much liked this story cause it gave me a lot of emotions and made me feel the characters emotions, all of them, fear, love, happiness, despair and braveness. While waiting for Jody to wake up from the coma he is in for weeks, the author brought me through a painful journey of the discovery of the MCs’ story, how they met, how they fell in love.  And following them when Jody finally wakes up and needs to relearn who he is and who are the people who wants to take care of him. Although in general I’m not a fan of flashbacks or switching from present to past in the writing, the author had the ability to never bore me, on the contrary the writing style in this case worked perfectly for me.

I particularly loved Rupert, I never doubted  his courage and spirit, always so patient and caring, hoping for his lover to learn how to love Rupert again isn’t easy at all, but I cheered him on in his determination to get Jody back. Both of them never giving up on what could be called their second chance at love and exactly that had me glued to the book till the end.

Garrett Leigh never disappointed me in the past, What Remains was another winner, engaging and powerful, well written and developed, with some interesting second characters too. It was emotional and real. I feel to simply recommend it.

I found the cover art by Garrett Leigh perfect for the story, fitting and amazingly done.

Sales Link: Pre order at Riptide Publishing | other links to come closer to release date

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 278 pages
Expected publication: July 4th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626493979 (ISBN13: 9781626493971)
Edition Language English

A Jeri Review: On Higher Ground (On Solid Ground #2) by Melissa Collins

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

On Higher GroundWhen there’s no peace after war…
When there’s no solace after death…
When there’s only pain and suffering…
Anxiety and loss…
All you can hope to find is something more…
Something that makes you whole and complete
Something that puts you
On Higher Ground

Let me start by saying you MUST read the first book, On Solid Ground.  Besides it being an excellent story, On Higher Ground is a continuation of it.

We met Dax, a military veteran and Beck, a tattoo artist in the first book. And although that book ended with a presumed happily ever after, their story continues on. Which is one of the reasons I loved this book. I like seeing a couple after the HEA. Dealing with regular life and all that it entails. And their regular life has quite a few obstacles.

Dax is still dealing with pretty bad PTSD but he is hiding it from Beck. Although engaged, Dax is avoiding it and Beck doesn’t want to upset Dax. They also have a little girl, Beck’s niece, who they are raising as their own. And then a letter from Beck’s long absent father shows up.

Much of the book is spent with Dax and Beck tip toeing around each other, not wanting to upset the other. But really it is a giant lack of communication.  And even through all of the struggles, they never give up on each other. They never give up.

I loved the dedication to each other and to their daughter. Accepting each other for who they are and not trying to change anything. Beck jumps to conclusions at times, but he is always steadfast in his complete love for Dax.

If you are looking for a sweet romance, this is not it. There is a lot of angst, a lot of sex and yes, a lot of love. The epilogue was a perfect ending to their story.

Sales Links:  Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 229 pages
Published May 17th 2016 by M. Collins Author, LLC
ASINB01FTEBDDE
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesOn Solid Ground #2