Category: Contemporary fiction

In Our Book Spotlight: Drama Queen ( A Nicky and Noah Mystery) by Joe Cosentino (author interview and giveaway)

Drama Queen Cover

Drama Queen: A Nicky and Noah Mystery by Joe Cosentino
Publisher:  Lethe Press Books
Cover Art: Ben Baldwin

Release Date: June 6, 2015

STRW In The Spotlight Header

Sales Link: Lethe Press Books  – Amazon

Love a mystery?  Need a new m/m romance novel to read?  Why not combine them both with Joe Cosentino’s latest novel, Drama Queen (A Nicky and Noah Mystery) out June 6th?  We have all the information for you below.  Check it out!  Happy Reading.

And now onto my interview with Joe Cosentino!

 

Hello, Joe. Thank you for stopping by to chat with us today.

My pleasure. I love answering your questions!

Great. Here’s the first. When did you start writing?

As a kid I was the star of the plays in my friend’s garage. We forced our poor, unsuspecting parents to watch every one—including the lavish musicals! After college I became a professional actor, working in film, television, and theatre opposite stars like Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Bruce Willis, Charles Keating, Jason Robards, and Holland Taylor. Moving on to playwriting and ultimately writing novels seemed like an obvious next step.

Is Drama Queen your first novel?

I wrote a straight (with gay supporting characters) mystery/romance series about an ex-child star, the Jana Lane mysteries. Paper Doll is out now. Porcelain Doll and Satin Doll should follow soon. I also wrote the well-received An Infatuation, an MM romance novella published by Dreamspinner Press.

How did Lethe Press come to publish Drama Queen?

I noticed Lethe Press publishes many humorous, theatrically-styled gay books, and the company has been successful for fourteen years. After I submitted the manuscript, Steve Berman offered to publish it, saying he had great fun reading it.

Why did you write a gay mystery/comedy/romance series?

Can’t we all use a good laugh, a challenging brain twister, and a bit of romance? Drama Queen is the kind of book I like reading. It is funny, theatrical, sexy, wild, and wacky with a solid mystery full of plot twists and turns at its center.

How do you think up all the clues, red herrings, and surprises in the novel?

I’ve read every Agatha Christie novel and play many times. She is a genius at outlining when and where to give the reader what information. I love the inversion in her books, where she uses sleight of hand to lay out all the information, but not in a straight forward manner. The reader becomes the sleuth to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I tried to do the same in this series.

Since you are a college theatre professor, is the series based on you, your colleagues, and students?

Do you mean if anybody at my college ticks me off, I kill him/her in the series? Hah. To be honest, I like my colleagues and students too much to murder them in my books. Martin Anderson, Nicky and Noah’s department head, is based on me. He’s a loyal, hardworking department head and professor who fully supports his faculty colleagues, office assistant, and the students in his department. Like me, he is also a little bit, well quite a bit, of a gossip. My knowledge of theatre is also very evident in the series. The other characters and the location came from my head. As my mother says, “How do you think up all these crazy things? Well, you always were a bit crazy as a kid.”

Nicky is described as being well endowed. Does that help him solve the murders?

It doesn’t hurt. Hah. Nicky has to flirt his way into some places to get certain information, so his handsome face, muscular body, and huge penis are definitely assets. Even more, however, Nicky and Noah use their theatre skills, including playing other people, to get clues. Most of all, Nicky uses his smarts, always a fine asset in an amateur detective.

Nicky is of Italian-American decent, like you. Is that a coincidence?

Not at all. I come from a very funny Italian family. I use that in a great deal of my writing. In later books, we get to meet Nicky and Noah’s parents, and they are a riot!

How many books have your written so far in this series?

Three: Drama Queen, Drama Muscle, and Drama Cruise. In Drama Queen, Nicky and Noah have to uncover why college theatre professors are dropping like stage curtains. In Drama Muscle, Nicky and Noah have to find out why musclemen are dropping like weights in the Physical Education department while Nicky directs the Student Bodybuilding Competition. In Drama Cruise, Nicky and Noah go on a cruise to Alaska, and discover why college theatre professors are going overboard like lifeboats while Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner theatre show onboard ship.

Is Drama Queen available as an ebook and paperbook?

Yes! I am thrilled about that. This gives the reader an option to read it on a Kindle, Nook, computer, or with book in hand on the beach or in bed.

Will there be an audiobook coming down the line?

I sure hope so. It’s all up to God—and to Steve Berman!

STRW Author BookSynopsis

It could be curtains for college theatre professor Nicky Abbondanza. With dead bodies popping up all over campus, Nicky must use his drama skills to figure out who is playing the role of murderer before it is lights out for Nicky and his colleagues. Complicating matters is Nicky’s huge crush on Noah Oliver, a gorgeous assistant professor in his department, who may or may not be involved with a cocky graduate assistant…and is also the top suspect for the murders! You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat, delightfully entertaining novel. Curtain up!

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

An Excerpt from Drama Queen:

“Thirty-five! Professor, you are well preserved for someone so old.”
“I hope I’m still working at thirty-five.”
To Paul and Ricky, and to all of my students, thirty-five is older than Methuselah.
“The first one back with a piece can feed me,” said Paul with a bad boy grin.
“No food in the theatre.” After laying down the law, SuCho yanked open the theatre doors and the students filed out into the lobby.
Ariella, our Professor of Costuming and the costume designer for the play (with costumes hanging over both arms) carefully made her way off the stage and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Happy birthday, Nicky.”
“So you’ve heard I’m ancient…and incompetent.”
Flicking back her long, black hair, Ariella said in her usual monotone, “Don’t let the kids get to you, Nicky. And don’t let David get to you either. The show is terrific.”
I unleashed a half smile. “Tell David that.”
“I already did. Right after his tirade about the ‘pedestrian and mundane’ costumes. Nicky, David doesn’t like anything, except David.” Are there tears brimming in her dark eyes? “Nobody knows that better than me.”
“Ariella, I hope this isn’t too personal, but with all of your complaints about David, why do you stay married to him?”
She offered a bitter smile. “That my friend is a very good question.”
Ariella went to the Costume Shop adjacent to the stage. I joined the students who were scattered throughout the theatre lobby licking their plastic forks clean of cheesecake while texting each other in dismay over the rising tuition at the college.
Paul, Ricky, Kayla, and Jan sat on the flared stairway leading to the balcony. Kayla, a beautiful dark-skinned African American, and Jan, a gorgeous pale-skinned Albino, were on either side of olive-skinned Ricky as if forming a three-layer cake. Paul faced them and appeared to be presenting some type of proposal. Since they are the officers of the Theatre Club on campus, I assumed they were discussing club business. As I am the club’s faculty advisor I walked over, leaned on a gold marble column, and overheard their conversation.
Jan whispered, “I don’t know if I can um go through with this, guys.”
Paul arched his massive back and slipped his muscular arm around her quivering shoulder, “Sure you can, Jan. Trust me. I’ll take care of everything.”
As Jan melted, Kayla combed her hair and giggled. “It could be like fun.”
With eyes only for Paul, Ricky said, “If you um want me to do it, Paul, I’m in.”
I made my way to the gold staircase railing, and asked if they needed my help.
“No thanks, professor, we’re cool,” said Paul with a contraction and release of his pectoral muscles to the delight of his cohorts.
“Cool cake, professor.” Kayla and Jan giggled as they each fed a piece to Paul.
Ricky added with a smirk, “Paul and I can like drive you home if you are too old to drive, professor.”
I grimaced. “Very funny.”

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

Joe Cosentino is the author of An Infatuation (Dreamspinner Press), Paper Doll the first Jana Lane mystery (Whiskey Creek Press), and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Eldridge Plays and Musicals). He has appeared in principal acting roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Holland Taylor, and Jason Robards. His one-act plays, Infatuation and Neighbor, were performed in New York City. He wrote The Perils of Pauline educational film (Prentice Hall Publishers). Joe is currently Head of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and is happily married. His upcoming novels are Drama Muscle the second Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press), A Shooting Star (Dreamspinner Press novella), A Home for the Holidays (Dreamspinner Press holiday novella), and Porcelain Doll the second Jana Lane mystery.

Contact/follow Joe Cosentino at the following sites:

Web site: http://www.JoeCosentino.weebly.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JoeCosentinoauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeCosen
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4071647.Joe_Cosentino
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00KRPXJP6

STRW Spotlight Contest Header

Giveaway:  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.   Prizes provided by the author.  Enter to win an ebook (any format) of Joe Cosentino’s previous release AN INFATUATION (a Bittersweet Dreams novella published by Dreamspinner Press in February) to whomever you deem posts the best comment about their thoughts on the blurb of DRAMA QUEEN (my current release).

Drama Queen CoverBook Details:

Paperback: 194 pages
Publisher: Lethe Press (June 6, 2015)
Language: English
Cover Design: Ben Baldwin
ISBN-10: 1590214676
ISBN-13: 978-1590214671
Release date: June 6, 2015

YA Books with Kink? James Comins on Writing Kink for YA age Readers and “Fool School” (guest post and contest)

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Title: Fool School by  James Comins
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing

Its a pleasure to have James Comins here today.  The author will be letting us into writing YA stories and its challenges with sex.  On to our guest post by James Comins.

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On Writing Kink for Kids  by James Comins

I think I’ve only read one book in my whole life that features kinksters. It was, oddly, a kids book: Incarceron, by Catherine Fisher. It’s only a small glimpse, and the sequence and the world don’t reflect modern consensual kink in any way. Other than that and a few internet fiskings of that awful Fifty Shades book, I’ve never read any kink-based books.

I remember, as a kid, wanting to. I’d watch and re-watch scenes in Ninja Turtles where someone got captured. I’d thrill to sequences in movies where people got tied up by evil villains. Or books in which the bad guys faced their comeuppance and had to be thrown into cramped prisons forever, and I’d think, how exciting! Why couldn’t that be me? I’d play-act getting captured by Shredder, or Dr. Claw, and my best friend would ask when it would be our turn to get the bad guys.

Never. It was much more fun to be got.

But all of the stories I watched and read as a kid were stories of bad guys capturing the good guy’s girl against her will, then getting punished for it–also against their will. There was never any question of consent; the mere notion that anybody would want to be punished, or want to be held captive, was so crazy that nobody–with the possible exception of Patricia Wrede’s Princess Cimorene, who was quite happy to get captured by a dragon, thank you–ever imagined it. Nowhere could be found stories of trustworthy romantic partners you could trust to make your life more exciting (and scary!), or stories of princesses who sought out evil sorcerers in order to punish them because they’d been bad, or even just two adults who had a slightly peculiar power dynamic (with the exception of innumerable picture books featuring gargantuan women married to feeble little milquetoasts).

But no kink.

And the thing is, kinksters like me are as alienated and different from vanilla straight people as gay people are. I don’t “get” vanilla. It’s a world I don’t fit into at all. Lacking positive role models in movies and books, we wind up pining for a world in which the ethoses (ethi?) of slavery, cults, or God forbid, Goreans are the backdrop to human life. This freedom business is simply alien to us. A lot of kinksters have wound up skulking as inverts in the kink closet out of shame about their identity. Our society just doesn’t have many places for people to be out and kinky.

So I tend to feature kinksters of various sorts in my kids books. I want readers to have role models–both positive ones to aspire to become, and negative counterexamples. In Casey Jones is Still a Virgin  I show the good and bad of a newbie entering a kinky relationship. In My Dad is a Secret Agent, I lay out a world of strict discipline and no choices. In Fool School , the protagonists see various sides of authority in a medieval world where authority may never be questioned. I hope kids get to see what a healthy kink-based corner of society could look like.

This is the world I live in. Power vs learned helplessness, cruelty vs noblesse oblige, bossy girls and demonic kings and sassy slaves and snuggly loving relationships that happen to feature Hello Kitty nipple clamps. Having dwelt in the internet for much of my life, I know I’m not alone. I hope my stories can provide kids with a sense that, as gay kids have rapidly been learning, it does get better. Grownups get a huge advantage in life, which is that we get to surround ourselves with a reality of our own invention, one that bends and distorts through whatever lens we bring to it. My lens happens to be kinky, and those are the stories I most often tend to write about. Kids might have to dwell in consensus vanilla straight cis white male culture, but they can escape through books.

And that’s what books are for. They give you a window into a world slightly different from your own. A new lens, a new garden of possibilities. Sometimes an escape, but always a place to go where the bad things in society can’t follow.

Synopsis

In the year of our Lord 1040, fourteen-year-old aspiring jester Tom is en route to Bath to begin his studies in the art of being a Fool, following in the footsteps of his father, and his father before him.

Along the way he meets Malcolm, a fire-haired boy with eyes green as forest glass. A Scotsman whoís escaped from the ravages of the usurper Macbeth, Malcolm elects to join Tom at school. Though the journey to Bath is hazardous, it pales in comparison to what they face at the austere and vicious Fool School, where all is not as it seems. A court jester must aim to be the lowest rung on the ladder of life, and the headmaster will not abide pride.

As they journey through lifeís hardships together, Tom and Malcolm find they only have each other to depend upon.

Genre: Young Adult, gay romance, historical

Excerpt

Fool School Excerpt 2
by James Comins

It’s strangely gratifying when one of your audience finds joy, actual joy, in the music you make. Reassuring. The ealdorman conducts with his fat fingers, a genuine stupid smile on his lips.
There’s danger, too, in overplaying to the one man in the audience who’s happy with your performance. I overplay to this man.
“Enough,” sighs the ealdorman’s wife before long, and my tune dies away. I feel a pit of danger inside my chest. A warning. I see that the ealdorman himself is not the most powerful person in the room.
“But… eh… darling,” he murmurs, “don’t you think… couldn’t we… he’s but a boy-”
“Enough,” she repeats.
“Madame,” I find myself saying, “how may I entertain you?”
The room fills with a terrifying void, borne from her cold Welsh blood. A mist of icicles forms over the longtable draped by the red tablecloth, and people find their hands halfway to their mouths, food raised but uneaten. I fear for my life. I will be hanged now, taken to a gallowbraid and thrown off the side of the platform by this dark-eyed woman and her timid, complying husband. I will be kept in the wine cellar until dawn, swatting drunken mice, and in that moist-eyed fresh breath of day I will see the whole of creation pass before me as I take fugue steps up from the damp to the sunlight and the dew of summer’s toil, my feet drawn by the woman’s harsh words toward a fate of breathless… and… but here the ealdorman’s wife is speaking to me.
“Play a love song,” she whispers, and this is somehow worse than being executed on the gallows.
I don’t understand love. I say so. She dismisses it.
“Madame,” I repeat, “I’ll play for you, but I know nothing of love.”
“Yes,” her lips say, “that’s what I want to hear again.”
I’m frightened of her passion.
There is an old song, some say it comes from Master Boethius himself, that speaks of the devotion that the constant Penelope felt toward her husband, the warrior errant, Odysseus. It speaks of long years alone, sequestered in a house surrounded by enemy lovers like flies buzzing. They’re trying to convince her that her husband is not coming back, that she is alone, but she is strong, a fire buffeted by the wind, and she maintains, year after solitary year, tending her flame.
I cannot sing it-there’s a thousand thousand verses, well, not really, maybe five, but they’re long. However, the melody is familiar. I can play it on the recorder.
There is a very different world inside your head and in the shape of your mouth, playing a love song.
It begins in the first note.

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Buy Links

Don’t miss the 30% discount of the Mammoth May Sale on Wayward Ink Publishingís website!

Book trailer

Giveaway

Prizes: $20 WIP Gift Card and 1 ebook copy of Fool School.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter  Link and prizes provided by Eyes On Books Promotions and the author.

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About the author

JAMES COMINS is incapable of writing about himself in the third person. His future autobiography will probably be titled, ìThe Man Who Groaned His Way Toward Death.î He writes stories for children and adults.

Born down the street from Stephen King, he now divides his time between Denver and Seattle.

JAMES COMINS can be found at:

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A BJ Review: Rorschach Blots by RoughDraftHero aka R. D. Hero

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

Rorschat Blasts coverSev won’t go back to the swim team. Sev won’t accept his best friend’s girlfriend. He will sit behind the art classroom and smoke his joint.

He definitely won’t analyze why he wants to spank his teacher.

Sev is a rather lackadaisical eighteen year-old high school senior. He’s hiding out in the art room smoking on campus when he happens to see his art teacher, Mr. Duarte (Caleb), spanking himself after hours. The sight really gets to him, sparks an inner dominance inside him, and he becomes fascinated and a bit obsessed with Caleb. Caleb is ten years older than Sev, but Sev doesn’t let that stop him from aggressively pursuing the man, finding out more about him, and trying to meet his needs.

This story of has flaws when it comes to things like typos and grammar mistakes, but I think that sort of adds to its charm in a way. Make it feel as if it really is written by that lazy high school senior, you know! It all felt so real and true to life. And when you look beyond that, the plot is well developed, the pacing just right, and the story deep and complex.

It had me totally engaged, and I found it nearly impossible to put down. I found it only because I was specifically searching for books about an older sub and younger Dom. If it hadn’t been recommended to me, I’d never had picked it up based on the cover and the much less than descriptive blurb. But I was very glad that I did.

Sev had plenty of awkward moments in this, because he’s totally inexperienced and discovering his dominant tendencies at the same time as he is also coming to accept his sexual preference. Even still, he has this certainty about what he wants that I loved. And he totally goes after it.

The way the characters and their relationship developed seemed just right, not rushed or too easy or overly dramatic. The emotions were believable and heartfelt, and the author did a nice job of painting for me the need to submit and/or dominate. The sexual tension was very much there and kept me reading into the night.

Both of these characters had issues, they both made mistakes, said the wrong thing A LOT, and danced around all over the place as they discovered themselves and each other. Sev’s youth caused a nervous awkwardness some of the time, but it was juxtaposed to periods of strength and insight that charmed me. Caleb’s had his neediness, brattiness and his co-dependence with John to worth through. But him and Sev’s back and forth dance around each other was perfect.

When I saw that -fin- after the last chapter, I wanted to scream NO!! It can’t end there. Then came an epilogue that was thoroughly satisfying and had me wanting to do a happy dance. I won’t spoil it, but I thought the ending was just exactly right.

I’ve never read anything quite like this and I’m so glad it was recommended to me. Its available on Smashwords, Kobo, and ARe, but not Amazon. Its free or name you own price, so you have nothing to lose. Give it a try.

The cover is a bit on the plain side, like the blurb. But look past that and read this story. I highly recommend it.

Sales Links:  *Free on Smashwords

Book Details:
Words: 54,380 complete
ebook, 163 pages
Published February 13th 2013 by Smashwords (first published January 1st 2012)
edition languageEnglish

A Mika Review: Northbound (The North Novels #1) by Cara Dee

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

 

A handsome young man in a knitted sweater in dramatic lighting.

Quinn Sawyer didn’t apply for a temporary job at the remote O’Connor Adventure Retreat all the way in Alaska because he wants a change of scenery. He loves his sunny Florida, and he’s only heading north because he needs answers from Declan O’Connor, the man who dated Quinn’s aunt six years ago.

One day, Declan was just gone, and it had been the beginning of hell for Quinn. Most of his family suddenly hated him and still blames him for Declan ending the relationship with Quinn’s aunt, though nobody will tell Quinn why.

He deserves to know how it could’ve possibly been his fault, and he’s not going to let the crush he harbored for Declan stand in the way.

After finally tracking down Declan, Quinn gets on a plane. Or death machine, as he prefers to call it. But in his quest to find out the truth, he discovers there’s a lot more to the Land of the Midnight Sun than seeking answers.

I really liked Northbound (The North Novels #1) by Cara Dee. At first I didn’t know I felt  about seeing the potential for Quinn & Declan because they had a sort of past in each other’s life. They did beat around it in the story, and I don’t know how to feel about it, especially that Quinn would come searching for someone he had not see in a long time. I’m glad he did, because he was so much happier seeing Declan.

I also really enjoyed the setting of Alaska. It was a nice change of place and plans for a story. I now look at Alaska in a different way than I had before. It was so different than the way I live, considering I am apart of the lower 48. Haha. It was my trigger with the age-gap trope. I did enjoy seeing Declan & Quinn together. I thought they meshed together quite well. I would had love to see more of them and less of everything else, but I’m quite happy with the finished product.

Cover Art by Cara Dee: As simple as the cover art is and I do like it. I thought since the theme was children as well, that it would have been nicer with a little girl.

Sales Links:    Amazon    Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published April 28th 2015
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe North Novels #1

In the Book Spotlight: Northland by Cara Dee (excerpt and giveaway)

 

A handsome young man in a knitted sweater in dramatic lighting.

Northland (The North Novels #2) by Cara Dee
Release Date:  May 26, 2015
Publisher & Cover Artist:  Cara Dee

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Sales Link:  Amazon

STRW Author BookSynopsis

About Northland

Two years ago, Logan Ward got the surprise of his life when he discovered he was the father of a two-year-old boy. Professionally and romantically adrift, he devoted all his time and energy to caring for his son. But now he’s searching for something more, and he and Justin head north to Alaska to try out the life his best friend Quinn has been raving about.

Kyle Shaw has been living off the land his whole life, comfortable with nature and the challenges of surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. He enjoys his seasonal work at the O’Connor Adventure Retreat and is looking forward to this year’s stint. He’s not in the market for anything more than hard work, good friends, and reasonably priced milk.

The work brought Logan to Alaska. But a late-night encounter with Kyle opens his mind to the possibilities of a future richer than any paycheck.

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

“Okay, buckle up, boys.” Mitch began bringing the plane down. “We got a bit of a crosswind, so it’ll be a rocky landing. Be glad Quinn ain’t here.”
Kyle brought out his binoculars to check the horizon. It was clear at the moment, but there was definitely a storm brewing. It might even hit earlier.
“Who’s that down there?” Logan asked from behind him.
Kyle directed his binoculars and looked down at the runway they were approaching, and he recognized Quinn’s blue parka. There was a small figure, too. Justin. He looked like a garden gnome in his green snowsuit and pointy winter hat with flaps to cover his ears.
“Quinn and your kid,” he muttered. He saw Quinn pointing toward the plane, and the child jumped and clapped his hands. Kyle’s mouth tugged up a bit, and then he refocused on the perimeters.
He hoped Justin would grow up to be less of a douchebag than his dad.
“How good is Quinn with his gun?” Kyle zoomed in to see better. The Retreat’s little forest was surrounded by a shrubby, snow-blanketed landscape, and Kyle could see nine or ten creatures edging closer to the forest. It wasn’t caribou, and foxes didn’t move in packs. Had to be wolves.
“Decent,” Logan replied. “Why?”
“Decent’s not gonna cut it.” Kyle stowed away his binoculars and reached for the case that held his old M39 rifle. “Mitch, I need you to bring her down for me.”
Mitch knew the area and its dangers, and when someone told him to land, he fucking landed. There was a valid reason, and he didn’t question it.
Logan wasn’t created from the same stock. “Dude, what’s wrong?”
“Pack of wolves moving closer.” Kyle attached the mag and then got out his short-range .22. Just in case. As the plane touched ground, he swiped up his binoculars again and hoped the pack was only lingering in the background. Unlike what Hollywood made the world believe, wolf attacks on humans were extremely rare. But these shits kept advancing, and they were doing it fast.
Not normal.
“Stop the fucking plane!” Logan snapped at Mitch. “That’s my son out there!”
The plane bounced and skidded along the strip, and then Kyle saw both Kiery and Wolf running out of the forest, and it wasn’t long before Declan appeared, too. He must’ve sensed something was up because of how their dogs reacted, and now he was trying to get Quinn’s attention.
“Come on, come on.” Kyle spoke under his breath. Quinn looked back; he must’ve heard Declan, and only a second later, Quinn brought out his pistol and aimed it toward the approaching wolves.
“They’re running in fast,” Mitch said grimly.
They were both thinking the same thing, Kyle was sure.
Rabies.
At fucking last, the plane lost enough speed for Kyle to jump out.
“Back off, Quinn!” Declan yelled, ready with his own rifle. “Kiery, halt!”
Kyle let out a sharp whistle as he ran closer, and Wolf positioned himself in front of Quinn and Justin, baring his teeth and growling furiously.
The wolves were some twenty yards away when Kyle threw himself onto the ground to be able to hold his rifle steady. He peered through the scope and took down the male leading the pack, quickly followed by the second. Declan shot another one as the remaining wolves scattered.
“Fuck,” Kyle swore. He got off the ground and stalked toward the three dying wolves, and Declan did the same. Behind him, he could hear Logan cursing Alaska and fussing over Justin, which only made Kyle wanna punch him. Alaska wasn’t like any other state. Humans and wildlife lived together—end of fucking story.
“This one’s probably infected,” Declan sighed. A kill shot to the neck silenced the wolf permanently.
“Yeah.” Kyle eyed the animal. Foaming at the mouth was actually uncommon, but this one had it. Slackened jaw, too. Then he walked over to another wolf, and that one looked the same. “Not this one, though.” The third didn’t have any outward signs of rabies, though it meant little. Either he’d simply followed his alpha, or he’d been infected later.
“I’ll have Pat bag them and tag them and send them off to Fairbanks.” Declan pulled out his com device to radio his brother. “Were any shot in the head?”
Kyle shook his head no. If a rabid animal was shot in the head, their brains couldn’t be examined at the lab in Fairbanks. Not that Kyle gave a shit. His mind was going in another direction.
“We have the rest of the pack to worry about now,” he told Declan. “I’ll head out in an hour. Tell the others to stay indoors.”
“The blizzard, Kyle,” Declan reminded him.
Kyle just shrugged and started trekking back to the plane where his stuff was. “I’ve been through worse!” He threw a smirk over his shoulder.
Quinn looked a little shocked, but Kyle had to admit he was adjusting to life in Alaska well.
Logan, on the other hand… He was furious.
“You sure you’re okay, baby?” He studied Justin frantically.
“I’m fine,” Justin mumbled, scrunching his nose. “Why do you look mad, Daddy?”
Good question, Kyle thought. This was life up here.
Everyone should respect the power of the nature here and know the dangers that lurked, but blaming an accident on animals that had been here far longer than humans was goddamn ignorant.
“Motherfucker,” Kyle muttered to himself.
He refused to admit his hostility toward Logan was caused by what happened this morning.

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

About Author Cara DeeCara icon

There aren’t many things better than picking up my Kindle and getting completely sucked into a whole new world—where words morph into images and characters’ moods suddenly reflect my own. Aside from good plot and writing, for me, it boils down to relatable characters.

As a writer, I’m not finished until the men and women in my books come to life, until I can see them as real people, until I can connect with them. Which means I write what I want to read: everyday heroes and heroines who have the same struggles we all do. They evolve, have flaws, make mistakes and amends, learn, and find the endings they fight for.

When I’m not writing, researching, or brainstorming, I’m either planning my next trip (never-ending bucket list!), reading, watching hockey, or spending time with family and friends.

Contact/follow Cara Dee at:

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Giveaway:  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Prizes provided by the author.  Enter to win a copy of each North book to two winners.  Leave a comment with your email address where you can be reached if chosen.

The North Books being given away are (one set to 2 winners):

  • Northland (The North Novels, #2) and
  • Northbound (The North Novels, #1):

A handsome young man in a knitted sweater in dramatic lighting.

Northbound Blurb:

Quinn Sawyer didn’t apply for a temporary job at the remote O’Connor Adventure Retreat all the way in Alaska because he wants a change of scenery. He loves his sunny Florida, and he’s only heading north because he needs answers from Declan O’Connor, the man who dated Quinn’s aunt six years ago.

One day, Declan was just gone, and it had been the beginning of hell for Quinn. Most of his family suddenly hated him and still blames him for Declan ending the relationship with Quinn’s aunt, though nobody will tell Quinn why.

He deserves to know how it could’ve possibly been his fault, and he’s not going to let the crush he harbored for Declan stand in the way.

After finally tracking down Declan, Quinn gets on a plane. Or death machine, as he prefers to call it. But in his quest to find out the truth, he discovers there’s a lot more to the Land of the Midnight Sun than seeking answers

Time to Reveal 4 New Covers for the Diversion series by Eden Winters! (excerpt and giveaway)

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Bo and Lucky Have A New Look!

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Collusion (Diversion #2) by Eden Winters
Release Date: Second edition releases June 20, 2015

Goodreads Link:
Publisher: Rocky Ridge Books
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase

Sales Links:  Rocky Ridge Books

Blurb:

Dead men can’t love.

Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter “died” in the line of duty while working off a ten-year sentence in service to the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, only to be reborn as Simon “Lucky” Harrison. The newbie he trained, former Marine Bo Schollenberger, is now his partner on (and maybe off) the job. It’s hard to tell when Lucky doesn’t understand relationships or have a clue what any sane human is doing in his bed. Bo’s nice to have around, sure, but there’s none of that picking-out-china-together crap for Lucky.

While fighting PTSD, memories of a horrid childhood, and a prescription drug addiction, Bo is paying for his mistakes. Using his pharmacy license for the good guys provides the sort of education he never got in school. Undercover with his hard-headed partner, Bo learns that not everything is as it seems in the world of pharmaceuticals.

When a prescription drug shortage jeopardizes the patients at Rosario Children’s Cancer Center, it not only pits Bo and Lucky against predatory opportunists, but also each other. How can they tell who the villains are? The bad guys don’t wear black hats, but they might wear white coats.
Pages or Words: 70,000 words

Categories: Crime Fiction, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Excerpt:

For once the neighbors were fairly quiet. However, if they started their normal shit tonight, Lucky might have to kill them, or whip out the badge he kept carefully hidden in his closet, along with the golf shirt and ball cap emblazoned with the SNB logo.
A few moments later his cell phone chimed with an answer from Bo. “K. Catching cab.” Not an overwhelming response, but Lucky would take it.
He shoved dirty dishes into the dishwasher, scooped clothes off the floor and tossed them into the closet, and put a pot of water on the stove to make Bo a cup of green tea. A knock counterpointed the steady ba-boom, ba-boom starting up from the next apartment. Fucking hell! Why couldn’t the assholes be decent neighbors for one damned night? Lucky opened the door to find Bo slumped against the wall, shirt wrinkled and hair in an every-follicle-for-itself state of disarray.
“You look like warmed over shit.” Lucky held the door open, suspicions about a drug relapse igniting anew.
Bo managed a half-hearted smile. “Yeah, it’s good to see you, too.” He staggered into the apartment and collapsed onto Lucky’s couch. “God, am I ever tired.”
“Tired? What do you do every day? Sit behind a desk and talk on the phone?” Catty, yes, but after days of being ignored, Lucky wasn’t in the mood to play nice.
“I’ve been scrambling since daybreak, tracking down dead-end leads for someone who might supply us with some drugs.”
Lucky put a finger to his lips. “Shh… keep your voice down. You’ll get my crackhead neighbors excited shouting the ‘D’ word.”
Bo pinned Lucky a glassy-eyed glare. “I don’t care who’s living over there, the scary’s on this side of the wall. As I was saying, I’ve been following leads, trying to locate pharmaceuticals for the hospital.” He gave Lucky a “happy now?” face.
“What kind of leads? Any of interest?”
Bo dropped his head back to rest on padded upholstery. “We’ve been approached by seventeen different wholesalers today, not on the list I gave you, who’ve offered us stock at ridiculous prices. The first question they ask is what meds we’re having trouble getting so they can go snatch them up and sell them to us for enormous markups, the bastards. It’s against company policy to tell them anything.
“Graham called another meeting with the department heads for tomorrow. We’re putting in one more plea to let us consider a gray market broker. We’re pretty fucking desperate.”
“Graham?” And we’re?
“Mr. Danvers, the head buyer.”
Lucky had a file on Graham Danvers, such as it was. Squeaky clean with a nauseating disposition toward humanitarian awards. Apparently, he invested a good bit of time and money in local charities. Ava didn’t seem to like him. The highly vocal pharmacy tech just became Lucky’s new best friend. “Bo, remember what I told you about getting personally involved with suspects? You’ve got to remain objective.”
Bo shot to his feet. “Damn it, Lucky! Graham isn’t a suspect! He’s a pharmacy buyer, for crying out loud. Do you have to be suspicious of everybody?”
He had to ask? “Yes, I do. It’s in my job description.”
“Your job description is the same as mine. I read it, I signed it. There’s nothing in there about mandatory trust issues.” Bo added under his breath, “Or about being an asshole.”
“Hey, maybe you got a new revision. Take Keith, for example. ‘Asshole’ was definitely in his.”
Bo pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “Lucky, I work with Graham, and trust me, he’s on the up and up.”
“Oh my God! You haven’t told him why you’re there, have you?” Shoving Bo back toward Atlanta seemed more and more likely.
Arms folded across his chest, Bo glowered, the stance and expression reminding Lucky of himself. “Do you actually believe I’m an idiot?”
Lucky opened his mouth to reply but Bo cut him off. “Don’t answer that. But remember, I graduated head of my class at pharmacy school and served my country in Afghanistan. I’m not a moron and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t treat me like one.”
After a moment Lucky ventured again, “Did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Tell him why you’re there.”
Throwing his hands up in the air, Bo stomped across the living room. “No, you suspicious son of a bitch, I didn’t. But I also believe you’re out of your mind if you consider the man a suspect.” He flopped back down on the couch with a huff.
Lucky remained standing, leaning against the bar separating the poor excuse for a kitchen from the poor excuse for a living room. He studied his partner, cataloguing the telltale signs of burnout. Tired? Check. Moody? Check. Less sociable? Double check. Some folks weren’t cut out for handling the type of shit the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau dealt with, and from day one Lucky had suspected Bo wouldn’t make it. Of course, he’d said the same about Keith and anyone else who’d stayed long enough for Lucky to learn their names.
“Are you hungry?” Lucky asked, though at the moment he didn’t have much in the way of vegetarian cuisine handy, unless he counted the makings for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“No.” Bo stared out the window at the brick wall of the next building.
“Can I fix you some green tea?”
A weak, “That’d be nice,” barely reached Lucky’s ears.
Moseying into the kitchen and going through the motions of tea preparation allowed Lucky time to mull things over. He recognized the listlessness, the lack of greeting when he opened the door. Even to himself, he and Bo appeared to be merely coworkers right now, nothing more. Losing Bo as a lover hurt like hell, for he alone came close to understanding what made Lucky tick. Or, lacking understanding, accepted Lucky’s quirks as part and parcel, never trying to change what made Lucky “Lucky.” Bo only nudged and manipulated for the greater good, like weaning him off caffeine so he slept better. Oh, and the whole, “Tell me about yourself, Lucky” thing. Maybe Bo should have been a shrink instead of a pharmacist.
Plain and simple, the man couldn’t handle the job, though Lucky couldn’t imagine very many people dealing with sick kids and remaining unchanged. Before when the pressure reached critical levels, Bo sought comfort in alprazolam. Had he resorted to self-medicating again?
Watching a man he’d come to care about slowly slide back into the nightmare of addiction, and a possible jail sentence, was more than Lucky could bear. He’d do his damnedest, talk to Bo in a better moment, and only if he couldn’t break through would he fill Walter in.
Not tonight. If Bo allowed him to, tonight Lucky would hold him, love him one last time before doing what he had to do. Because if Lucky’s hunch proved right, Bo might never forgive him.

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About Eden Winters…

Eden Winters was captivated young by storytelling, and her earliest memories include spinning tales for the family’s pets. Her dreams of writing professionally took a sojourn into non-fiction, with a twelve-year stint in technical documentation.

She began reading GLBT novels as a way to better understand the issues faced by a dear friend and fell in love with the M/M romance genre. During a discussion of a favorite book, a fellow aficionado said, “We could do this, you know.”

Good-bye gears, motors, and other authors’ characters; hello plots and sex scenes. This has resulted in such prize-winning stories as Settling the Score, The Angel of Thirteenth Street, Naked Tails, The Wish, Duet, and Diversion.

Somewhat of a nomad, Eden has visited seven countries so far. She currently calls the southern US home, and many of her stories take place in the rural South. Having successfully raised two children, she now balances the day job with hiking, rafting, spoiling her grandchildren, and stalking the wily falafel or elusive tofu pad Thai at her favorite restaurants. Her musical tastes run from Ambient to Zydeco, and she’s a firm believer that life is better with fur kids and Harley Davidsons.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdenWinters
Facebook Author Page
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EdenWinters1

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Tour Dates & Stops: June 9, 2015
Parker Williams, Cate Ashwood, Andrew Q. Gordon, Mikky’s World of Books, Inked Rainbow Reads, Bayou Book Junkie, BFD Book Blog, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Happily Ever Chapter, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Divine Magazine, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Charley Descoteaux, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Love Bytes, MM Good Book Reviews, Dawn’s Reading Nook, The Novel Approach

Giveaway

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotion.

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Rafflecopter Prize: E-book set, 1 each of the four currently published Diversion books: Diversion, Collusion, Corruption, and Manipulation
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A Mika Review: The Bruise-Black Sky (More Heat Than the Sun #5) by John Wiltshire

Rating: 4 star out of 5 stars

The Bruise Black Sky coverBen usually overlooks Nikolas’s occasionally jarring dissonance. Not this time. A deep rift, a terrible lie, separates them. Eleven thousand miles from Nikolas, in New Zealand, it’s bitter winter as Ben films the tragic story of a post-apocalyptic gladiator, a victim of his own personal darkness. But on receiving a death threat, Ben suspects the truth of actor Oliver Whitestone’s suicide. Someone doesn’t want this movie made. It’s fortunate for Ben, therefore, that dissonance is a state of unrest, a longing for completion. As if Nikolas would stay at home in disgrace while Ben Rider-Mikkelsen becomes the target of a crazed stalker…

Talk about secrets! Wow! Everyone is keeping a secret in The Bruise-Black Sky by John Wiltshire. I thought this was one of the funniest books out the series. Nik was hilarious. Nik who obviously doesn’t think he is good with kids is sadly mistaken. This kid Miles astounded me. Miles and Nik was so good together. In my hopeless mind I was picturing Nik with a son. HAH, I have this warm gooey feeling about him doing well. I hope I see Miles in future books. He was adorably cute.

This picks up a year or two later from the last book. As usual something drastic happens for Nik to go back to Aleskey’s Special Forces Nik! Ha, I said it. He went full metal jacket. Ben, who has his memories back, is back to being Ben… kind of.  I felt as though there was something off with him. I get it now reading the book. As usual they have their couple spats, and one does this “wrong” thing, and the other go pouts. This book, they were not playing around with each other. I mean, some indifferences had my heart beating wondering, if this was it.  Could Nik do anything ever so awful that Ben would leave him?

It’s a couple things in this book, that’s awful, but I find myself always forgiving Nik. I’m a complete tosser for Nik! 

Nik and Ben in AMERICA! It was funny from their view point. Nik loves Ben with everything he has, and I think like every other book so far he shows it. He might not have the words, but his actions speak extremely louder than anything else. Of course we got to see Emilia, and her grandmother, as well as a few other familiar faces. I enjoyed them. I liked the plot as well. I really liked when Nik met with the police lady, it was family because they were both being stoic towards each other. Parts of the story felt  slow to me, while other parts intrigued me.

I will continue reading this series because I love them. The shocking revelations in the book had me like WTF. That last 25% was the best ever! I can’t wait until the next book is out.

Cover Art. Now that I’ve had time to read it, I understand the cover. I don’t like it or dislike it really. It’s okay and continues with the type of cover of the previous books.

Sales Links:   MLR Press – All Romance (ARe) – Amazon     Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 282 pages
Published March 20th 2015 by MLR Press (first published March 19th 2015)
edition languageEnglish
seriesMore Heat Than the Sun #5

Books in the Series:

Love is a Stranger (More Heat Than the Sun #1)
Conscious Decisions of the Heart (More Heat Than the Sun #2)
The Bridge of Silver Wings (More Heat Than the Sun, #3)
This Other Country (More Heat Than the Sun, #4)
The Bruise Black Sky (More Heat Than the Sun, #5)

Death’s Ink-Black Shadow (More Heat Than the Sun, #6) coming June 19th from MLR Press

 

In The Spotlight: Drifting Sands by C. J. Baty (excerpt and giveaway)

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Drifting Sands by C. J. Baty
Release Date: June 7, 2015

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Goodreads Link
Publisher: Bottom Drawer Publications
Cover Artist: Mumson Designs

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Sales Links:  Bottom Drawer Publications  – Amazon – All Romance (ARe)

STRW Author BookSynopsis

As he approaches his fortieth birthday, Justin Warfield feels alone, drifting like the sand that blows along the beach near his family’s hotel. He has done exactly as his father wanted. Married the right girl and carried on the family tradition of running the Warfield Hotel. On paper things seem perfect, but happiness hasn’t been a part of his life for a very long time.

Marcus Drummond once spent a summer with his best friend Peter at the Warfield Hotel and fell hard for Peter’s much older brother. Five years later he’s back, and this time hopes that Justin will see him as more than his kid brother’s friend.

Sparks fly when the two meet again, but there are a few things standing in their way. The closet that Justin has himself buried in and someone on a killing spree, dumping bodies on the Warfield beach . . . victims that indicate Justin may be involved in some way.

Pages or Words: 57,000 words

Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, M/M Romance, Mystery, Romance

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

The night air was cool and damp as it blew off the ocean. Ian McAlister toed the sand where he stood, looking out into the darkness surrounding him. A soft glow filled the sky over the Warfield Hotel several hundred yards away. This was a public beach and closed at night, and the only sound was the soft lapping of the water against the shore.

Ian fingered the note in his pocket as he thought of the words he’d read over and over again since he’d received it.

“Ian, I need your help. Please. Come to the Warfield and meet me on the beach at 10 p.m. on Friday evening. There’s a spot on the north end of the beach, just between the public beaches and the private beach of the Warfield. There’s a sign, meet me there. Don’t tell anyone. Please, Ian, I need you.”

Ian had not heard from Justin Warfield since Justin got married. It had been too hard to see each other as only friends. They’d each gone on with their lives. But for Ian, Justin Warfield was a hard man to forget, so when the letter arrived, his decision to come had been easy.

The sound of footsteps treading through the sand caused Ian to turn around. He was surprised to find a gun aimed at him.
“What are you doing?” Ian asked, but there was no answer.

He felt the pressure as the impact of the bullet pushed him back slightly. A searing pain knifed its way into his chest. He didn’t have time to run or even scream out. Darkness took him as he crumbled to the ground.

 

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

C. J. Baty lives in southwest Ohio with her very patient husband and two encouraging children. Her heart however, lives in the mountains of Tennessee where she hopes to retire some day. The mountains have always provided her with inspiration and a soothing balm to the stresses of everyday life.
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The dream of writing her own stories started in high school but was left on the back burner of life until her son introduced her to fan fiction and encouraged her to give it a try. She found that her passion for telling a story was still there and writing them down to share with others was much more thrilling than she had ever expected.

One thing she has learned from life and she is often heard to say is: “You are never too old to follow your dream even if it takes you fifty years!”

Where to find the author:
Facebook Author Page
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbaty
Blog: http://cjbaty.blogspot.com.au/

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Tour Dates & Stops: June 7, 2015
Parker Williams, Cate Ashwood, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Bayou Book Junkie, BFD Book Blog, Happily Ever Chapter, Molly Lolly, Amanda C. Stone, MM Good Book Reviews, Mikky’s World of Books, Havan Fellows, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Inked Rainbow Reads, The Hat Party, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves

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Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotion. Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Drifting Sands’
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