Category: Historical

Its Release Week for A Pirate’s Honor by Tricia Owens! (Excerpt)

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A Pirate’s Honor by Tricia Owens
Release Date October 4
Pre-Order  at

 

A Pirate’s Honor Blurb

When Jaime takes to the sea, it’s not for money or for pleasure: it’s for revenge. Leaving his peaceful life on land behind is the only step he can take when his future is brutally destroyed and his heart is shattered.

Captain Gareth West is a feared pirate with a reputation for kidnapping and ransoming men and women. He’s also known for bedding them so well that no one has a reason to complain. However, a terrible incident has left him scarred and reluctant to become involved with anyone ever again…until one day he comes upon a shipwreck.

When Jaime’s ship is attacked by pirates and he is left for dead, Gareth sees an opportunity to banish the ghosts from his head. He decides to take the young man on board and use him as the prostitute that Jaime pretends to be. But Gareth quickly determines that his attractive captive is not a whore despite his apparent eagerness. Though he responds to Gareth as no lover ever has, there’s a fire in him that worries Gareth. Jaime is a dangerous mystery, and Gareth knows it’s essential that he learn his secret.

But he’s caught off guard when Jaime’s secret turns out to be the very nightmare that Gareth is running from.

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A Pirate’s Honor Excerpt

“You’ll sleep like this with me every night,” West told him. “I maintain my word that none of my crew will touch you.”

“I hope you keep that word,” Jaime muttered. He was frustrated by West’s hold of his hand. It kept Jaime trapped against him. He tried lightly tugging. “I sleep better on my back.”

“Is that so? Then we’ll break you of that habit. Let’s begin now.”

To Jaime’s consternation, West released his hand only to roll onto his other side so that he faced Jaime. The pirate grinned playfully. “Hello, sweet. Better this way?”

Jaime scooted back, hating himself for the twitch of his cock now that the other man was near enough for their organs to touch. “No.”

He didn’t like West’s knowing grin. He didn’t like how charismatic the man was. If he attacked Jaime it would make everything so much easier and clearer, but West was content to tease and play with him. Jaime hated it. He hated himself.

“You’re shy. I like that,” West admitted.

“I’m not accustomed to sharing a bed with a notorious pirate captain.”

“You flatter my ego. I like that, too.” But West’s smile wavered a bit, and something haunted and uncertain softened the corners of his eyes. “Been some time since I’ve heard something sweet.”

Jaime wanted to scoff at the obvious lie, but he held his tongue.

“Believe it or not, you’re something special,” the pirate went on. He reached out and with his forefinger, traced a line down the bridge of Jaime’s nose. “You’re my treat.”

“For good behavior?” Jaime couldn’t help the derision that leaked into his voice.

Thankfully West didn’t appear to pick up on it. He tapped Jaime lightly on the tip of his nose. “Aye, you’re my reward. Turns out even loathsome pirates need something nice in their lives every so often.”

Again, a shade of regret, or perhaps self-recrimination, touched West’s face. It softened his angles and humanized him. Jaime wished he could unsee it.

A Pirate’s Honor Info:

M/M Historical Romance
Standalone
High heat level
27k words

Release date October 4th, currently available for pre-order: http://amzn.to/2dabUHU

Tricia Owens Bio

Tricia writes m/m romance, ménage, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance. An avid traveler, she has visited over 80 countries and now makes her home in Las Vegas.

You can contact the author at:

A Caryn Review: Silences of Fallen Stars by Vivian Dean

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

silences-of-the-fallen-starsThis novella was set in Nebraska in the late 1960’s.  Although elsewhere in the country the Stonewall riots were happening, and hippies were experiencing free love, in the heartland things were much less progressive.  It was certainly not a place conducive to romance for gay men.

Jim and Ronnie were friends for most of their lives, and in high school they became lovers, but  secretly, and innocently.  Jim was lucky enough to be able to afford college, so he went to Omaha after graduation, and Ronnie stayed home.  Pride, and shame, led to a falling out, and then Ronnie was sent to Vietnam.  The story actually begins when Ronnie comes back home, wounded, and Jim is back at his grandfather’s farm after falling short of everyone’s expectations.

I love a good hurt/comfort storyline, and this book did it very well.  In the 5 years they were apart, Ronnie and Jim became men, and left the naïve highschool lovers behind.  They were both changed by    loss and heartache, and in Ronnie’s case, physical injury and disability.  Coming back together was not automatically a given, and Ms. Dean did an excellent job of showing the fragility of their new relationship, and how they eventually found their way back to each other.

The historical details were entered unobtrusively, but clearly enough that the impact of the times and the location on the men’s personalities and actions made perfect sense.  I am so thankful that I didn’t see any glaring anachronisms that bother me so much in poorly done historicals!  Overall, a sweet read, fairly low angst, with relatable characters and a realistic HFN.  Definitely recommended.

Cover art is lovely and eye catching.

Sales Links

JMS Books LLC

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Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 69 pages
Published September 3rd 2016 by JMS Books LLC (first published April 19th 2015)
ASIN B01KPNUMEU
Edition Language English

An Alisa Audiobook Review: Sweetwater by Lisa Henry and Dorian Bane (Narrator)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

sweetwater_audiobookWyoming Territory, 1870.

Elijah Carter is afflicted. Most of the townsfolk of South Pass City treat him as a simpleton because he’s deaf, but that’s not his only problem. Something in Elijah runs contrary to nature and to God. Something that Elijah desperately tries to keep hidden.

Harlan Crane, owner of the Empire saloon, knows Elijah for what he is—and for all the ungodly things he wants. But Crane isn’t the only one. Grady Mullins desires Elijah too, but unlike Crane, he refuses to push the kid.

When violence shatters Elijah’s world, he is caught between two very different men and two devastating urges: revenge, and despair. In a boomtown teetering on the edge of a bust, Elijah must face what it means to be a man in control of his own destiny, and choose a course that might end his life . . . or truly begin it for the very first time.

I haven’t read many books set in this time period so I was eager to give this a try.  I felt the setting was done really well and I could totally picture this western town as if I was there.  There were a host of characters all of which were felt realistic and added to the overall world building.  The majority of the story was told by Elijah who was a really different type of character but I struggled with him a bit.  He had a hard life and was very much a victim.  It was totally realistic and believable but as a result I don’t think I ever really warmed to him.  He annoyed me each time he did not stand up for himself.  I felt sorry for him but it was hard for me to find him a believable romance partner.  I didn’t see what Grady saw in him.  Even though parts of the story were told through Grady’s point of view I still didn’t feel the connection.  Elijah felt more like a child who needed a caregiver not a man who needed a romance partner.  So, I liked it as a fiction story but not so much as a romance.  The writing was really well done and this author is generally one of my favorites.  This was just not the book for me.
The book was narrated by Dorian Bane who I had never listened to before.  I thought he did an excellent job on all of the characters.  This was a big cast and I thought he did each of them equally well.  This is an audio that I would definitely recommend.
Cover by L.C. Chase:  I love the cover.  I think it fits the story perfectly.
Sales Links
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Audiobook Details:
Audible Audio, 8 pages, Listening Length: 7 hours and 39 minutes
Published August 5th 2016 by Riptide Publishing (first published September 29th 2014)
ASIN B01JO64IAS
Edition Language English

A Caryn Review: The Eleventh Hour by Elin Gregory

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

the-eleventh-hour-by-elin-gregoryThis book has it all! Action, adventure, romance, spies, car chases, explosives, intrigue, cross-dressing…

Wait. What? Cross-dressing?

Yes indeedy. London, 1928. Ten years after the end of the Great War. An anarchist threat against the British Government foiled by a cross dressing linguistic specialist.

I loved it all. I was immediately drawn into this fast paced adventure where field agent Briers Allerdale teams up with linguistic agent Miles Siward to track down and neutralize the vicious terrorist Andrija. Briers has been stationed in the Balkans for years, and is one of the only men who’s ever seen Andrija’s face, and those of his comrades. He gathered intelligence that Andrija was on his way to London with his henchmen, but no one knows what Andrija has planned, or what his target is. They only know that Andrija’s girlfriend and co-conspirator has taken up a position as a nanny next door to a diplomat with the Foreign Office. With nothing else to go on, the home office decides to station Briers and Miles to do surveillance of Josephine and try to discover the rest of the plot. The catch? They must pose as a married couple in the rooming house across the street.

Although Miles hasn’t been an active field agent, he is a very talented actor, and the home office has used him to impersonate women in the past, though only for very minor and short missions. This mission will require him to be much more convincing on a longer term, as he needs to fool not only the people in the rooming house, but Andrija’s girlfriend as well. While Miles might be unassuming, his alter ego Millie is brash, brave, and intelligent, and more than up to the task. Briers is impressed first with Millie, but over time he recognizes that Miles is braver than he thought, equally clever, and worthy of respect. Affection grows between the two men, but their focus remains on the mission, on bringing down Andreja and saving England.

The book is, therefore, primarily an adventure. The romance is secondary, but I still enjoyed watching as Miles and Brier went from wary colleagues to casual lovers to a true couple. The descriptions of being gay at this time in England were very interesting, especially how men of the lavender persuasion went about finding other like minded men. Miles’ female impersonations, though necessary for national security, opened him up to ridicule and derision, and I loved how the author described his inner conflict of enjoying becoming his alter ego while concurrently being ashamed of enjoying it. Briers had a great deal of sensitivity about it as well, recognizing that Millie is actually an essential part of Miles.

Historical fiction buffs will love this, with the realistic trivia of daily life in interwar London. Action aficionados will love the car chase (high speed was less than 40 mph then!) and the sewer reconnaissance. Readers like me who enjoy character development will appreciate how two quite different men came to know and love each other. Highly recommended!

The cover art is different, murky.  Not sure what to think of it exactly.

Sales Links

Amazon US, Amazon UK and Smashwords

Book Details:

ebook, 248 pages
Published August 1st 2016 by Manifold Press
ISBN139781908312402
Edition LanguageEnglish
URL http://manifoldpress.co.uk

Its Coffee Sip and Book Break Time with Re-Inventing Love by Storm Grant (Excerpt)

Title: Re-Inventing Love
Author: Storm Grant
Genre: Historical M/M Romance
Publisher: MLR Press
-LIMITED TIME $3.99 SALE-
Engineer and assistant inventor Maximilian Grün is in love with his employer, but he daren’t reveal the truth. It’s 1910 and if Canadian authorities learned of his homosexuality, they’d deport him back to Germany where the country of his birth would become the country of his death.

When promising young inventor and mathematician Dr. Jasper Hamilton expresses his own feelings for Max, the young German regretfully declines. He cannot risk their partnership, their reputations—their very lives!

Then a rival inventor sabotages their inventions. Jasper is caught between the physical and the metaphysical, reduced to atoms, and transported to the spirit plane! Max is devastated, deeply regretting his lost chances.

But Jasper manages to communicate across the aether, telling Max he must reverse the machine’s polarity. But without Jasper’s talent for mathematics, the calculations defeat him.

Can the would-be lovers bridge the gap between life and death to finally be together?

He steeled himself against his desire to grab the man and kiss him soundly. Instead, he settled for leaning even further into Max.

Max made no attempt to draw away.

They sat side-by-side. Was Max’s breathing quickening? But Jasper’s own thudding heartbeat and shaky breaths masked all other sounds. He cleared his throat again and pointed to the rough sketch on his desk.

“If we were to reroute the electrical current through an asbestos filter prior to it connecting with the element, we may be able to regulate heat without having to monitor it quite so vigilantly.” Jasper tapped the page.

Max leant forward, his shoulder sliding along Jasper’s own. “Ja. Yes. It could work. Not with the insulated wires you haff drawn here, but with…” He snatched up a pencil, scrawling quick, firm marks on the page.

Jasper relaxed. Tuning out the engineer’s words, he rode the cadence of the accented voice like a wave. He fought his smile, but lost. It was so good to have a partner on whom he could rely.

If only there was a way for them to be more than working partners.
STORM GRANT pens long and short tales. Her work spans genders and genres, offering good guys and bad puns. Her alter ego, Gina X. Grant, writes funny urban fantasy.

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A MelanieM Review: Age Is Just A Number: A Wayward Ink Publishing Anthology

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Age is Just a Number AnthologyThere’s something to be said for life experience, a little gray at the temple…

And then there is the appeal of youth.

When it comes to what the heart wants, Age Is Just A Number.

I love anthologies.  Its a wonderful way to find new authors, pick up and read a quick story or two in a trope you enjoy.  They can be a smorgasbord of finds, and I always find it fascinating on how the editors lay out the stories contained inside.  I don’t always agree with their lineup.  For me, I think you should lead with one of the strongest stories in the group.  Pull the reader into your overall topic with the strength of that particular author’s writing and depth of story, no matter the length.

For me that didn’t happen here and that weak beginning proved somewhat disconnecting for the rest of the collection.

There are some fine stories here, and the editors and Wayward Ink Publishing ended the anthology with a strong finish with one of the best of Age is Just A Number.  Everything in between is a bit of a mixed bag.  Some so so, some  good, some terrific.

I think May/December romances can be an interesting trope to explore.  How do the people involved overcome the age differences involved?  Because a span of age means a big difference in cultural references, generation speak, outlook, ideologies and more.  For an author to get two frames of references across while making those individuals real, their relationship believable and one we want to see happen (instead of one we find squeamish) can be a tough obstacle, let alone in a short story. That some authors succeeded here is wonderful.

TWENTY LIGHT YEARS BETWEEN US by Eric Gober  – 2 stars out of 5

An alien encounter…
An unfortunate misstep…
A lightning fast journey through space…
The laws of physics are about to wreak havoc on Walt and Michael’s May-December love.

I found this to be the least effective story of the collection.  More a group of researched items from the 60’s tied together by a thin plot line then a real tale.  All I noticed was brand names rather than any real feeling or cohesive story of any depth.  This would not have been my choice for lead in story.

ALL ROADS LEAD WITHIN –  3.5 stars out of 5

Layla Dorine

When James spotted Rogue, a young man for whom wandering is like breathing, half-dozing on the hood of his car, he never expected that warning him about the dangers of sleeping out in the open would lead to a weekly visitor at his door.

I rather liked this dusty tale of love and wandering.  It had a real feel for location and people.  James and Rogue came alive on the trail, visit after visit.  This story kept me going in the anthology.

NORTH PASTURE – 3 stars out of 5

Lily Velden

Upon the death of his grandfather, up and coming Fantasy author, Thomas, returns home.
A place he left four years earlier to get over his unrequited love for Sam Fletcher, his older, straight, and very much married neighbor.
Thomas soon discovers, however, that things are much changed with Sam…

I wanted to like this more and I think I would have as a longer story.  It has so many great elements that need enlarging.  Thomas and Sam, Sam’s misconceptions and son.  But it ends too quickly and left me feeling frustrated over what I thought the story could have been. Unfair? Maybe, but there it is.

AMERICAN MASTER BAKER  – 4 stars out of 5

Dale Cameron Lowry

Baking is a way of life for Joey, a young pastry chef vying for first place in the popular reality show American Master Bakers.
But the judges have been showing favoritism to Terence, an aggravatingly attractive older man with more experience under his belt.
When the competition gets hot, so do the two men. Can a relationship that started in hatred end in love?

Loved this story.  The cooking competition, the different pastries, the intensity and the heat of the kitchen?  Wonderful.  And oh, yes, the sex.

ALPHA AND OMEGA: THE CLAIMING – 4 stars out of 5

Eddy LeFey

A young Omega shifter meets a much older Alpha.
Will Elliot let Issac help him be who he is too afraid to be?

A neat take on the Omega/Alpha combination.  Elliot was a lovely new addition to the Omega shifter take and his predicament was unusual enough and his rescue drama and romantic that it made this story.  I wanted more of both of them.  Great job.

STAND AND DELIVER – 3 stars out of 5

Asta Idonea

Necessity has forced former soldier Captain Keen to assume the occupation of gentleman highwayman. His fortunes take a turn, however, the night he stops the Marquis de Beaumont’s coach and gets more than he bargained for when he utters the words “Stand and deliver!”

 Idonea’s has part of a great m/m historic novel here.  The trouble is that I found it only to be the first half.  I got just enough of the Marquis and Keen to pique my interest in both but not enough to believe in a future for them.  I really needed to see beyond that voyage.  3 stars for great details.

LOST AND FOUND – 4 stars out of 5

Louise Lyons

The loss of his best friend leads Phil to find love.

German Shepherd puppies and love.  Actually loss, and new found found again.  That’s the theme here and it works.  Simple and sweet. Well done.

TRAIL TO LOVE – 2.75 stars out of 5

Kassandra Lea

There’s only one thing Kit Conley likes more than horses and that’s Roman Meadery.
But will the elite rider ever notice him?

I’m a horse person so why didn’t I connect?  I think it was the characters.  They just didn’t seem real.  Nor did the dialog.  Nice horses though.

CRUISING WITH LOVE – 3.75 stars out of 5

Carol Pedroso

Gus is under the thumb of a controlling father. Can meeting his mate give him a reason to make a break for freedom?
Nelson is twice Gus’ age, and very protective of what is his.
What will happen when Gus’ father tries to split them up? And what surprises does Nelson have up his sleeve?

Another nice tale of mixed shifters in love.  Gus and Nelson meet on a voyage and discover they are fated mates.  Pedroso convinces us that these two so very different species are, in fact, fated mates and need to be together.  Gus’ dad is a nasty brute and it all works out in the end.  I would have liked it more if the species made more sense to me.  As it was they were so opposite, that this naturalist’s mind just couldn’t  really go there.   Prey/food. Sorry.

NEAR MISS – 5 stars out of 5

Aimee Brissay

A few seconds, that’s all it takes to make a difference between life and death.
Between killing someone and stopping on time.
But is it enough to turn yourself around when you’ve hit bottom?
Or to make you recognize something good when you have it?

Without a doubt the finest story of the collection.  I’m was happy to see that it ended the Anthology here.  A train operator is traumatized by a woman trying to commit suicide in front of his train.  The resulting PTSD almost derails his life until someone and something shows him the way back up.  Its a remarkable story.  This man’s pain feels immediate and real, his flashbacks horrific, and his life spiraling downward authentic and sad.  That we can rejoice in his recovery and love is just as amazing.  This story is worth the anthology alone.

As I said, anthologies are often a mixed bag but they are a wonderful way to get acquainted with new authors or find stories you might not get anywhere else.  Short stories your bag?  Are some of these authors new to you or favorites of yours?  In either case, Age Is Just A Number: A Wayward Ink Publishing Anthology  might just be the collection of stories for you.  Fantasy, contemporary, supernatural…it has something for everyone.  Pick it up and find the story and author for you.

Cover is not a favorite of mine.  Just too hodgepodge with no hint of anything other than contemporary.

Sales Links

Wayward Ink Publishing | ARe |  Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon DE

 

Anthology Details:

ebook, 240 pages
Published September 1st 2016 by Wayward Ink Publishing
ISBN139780994645647
Edition LanguageEnglish

In the Spotlight: Amy Stilgenbauer ‘Sideshow’ (excerpt and giveaway)

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Sideshow by Amy Stilgenbauer
 Release Date: August 25, 2016

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: C.B. Messer

Blurb

Abby Amaro wants to sing at La Scala Opera House, but she’s a good girl, and in 1957 good girls get married. Still, when she receives her first marriage proposal, she freezes, knowing the way her suitor makes her feel bodes trouble. When he won’t take no for an answer, she flees, joining up with a traveling carnival.

Thanks to a burlesque trapeze artist and the world’s saddest clown, Abby bides her time and fits in until she can rejoin the world she knows. She doesn’t expect a sideshow strongwoman named Suprema, who captures her imagination. As the carnival makes its way across the Midwest, Abby learns much more than she had ever imagined—about herself, about her identity, and, most importantly, about love.

 

Pages or Words: 61,000 words
 Categories: Fiction, Historical, Lesbian Romance, Romance

 

Excerpt

Abby couldn’t remember falling asleep. She only remembered the dark night and how, outside the window of Della’s trailer, the rolling slopes of Eastern Ohio slowly flattened into the farmland of the western side of the state and faded into darkness. She didn’t say much during the trip, but her mind was spinning, unable to process what she had done.

Once, when she had been a little girl, barely older than Annette was now, her mother had taken her and Natale to visit their aunt in Chicago for a week. It had been a nice visit. They had embarked on the train with a great deal of ceremony, and Za Teresa had spoiled the pair rotten, loading them up with peach-shaped marzipan and pizzelle until they were both sick. She hadn’t left Cleveland for any extended period of time since. Oh, sure, she’d talked and dreamt about it. Nonna often wistfully mentioned taking a trip back to her girlhood home one more time now that the war was over and taking Abby along to look after her, and then, if her opera career took off as she had once hoped, she would be visiting all the great cities. In her scrapbook, clippings of Palais Garnier, La Scala, and The Met were decorated with carefully drawn hearts and hopeful stars and the scrawled word: someday. Still, she had never imagined that when she departed the Coventry neighborhood again, it would be in a burlesque dancer’s trailer.

Buy the book
Interlude Press | Amazon  | Barnes and Noble  | Smashwords  | All Romance eBooks

Book Depository not yet available | Indiebound

 

 

Meet the Author ~ Amy Stilgenbauer

Amy Stilgenbauer is a writer and aspiring archivist currently based in southeast Michigan. She is the author of the novelette series, Season of the Witch, as well as the Young Adult novel, The Legend of League Park. Her short story, The Fire-Eater’s Daughter, was included in Summer Love, an LGBTQ Young Adult collection published by Duet, an imprint of Interlude Press. When she isn’t writing, Amy enjoys all things bergamot and tries to keep her cats away from her knitting.

Where to find the author:

 


Tour Dates & Stops:

25-Aug: The Novel Approach, Unquietly Me, Velvet Panic, Bayou Book Junkie

26-Aug: Oh My Shelves, Book Lovers 4Ever, Book Reviews and More by Kathy, A.M. Leibowitz

29-Aug: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Love Bytes

30-Aug: Butterfly-O-Meter, Kirsty Loves Books, MM Good Book Reviews

31-Aug: My Fiction Nook, BFD Book Blog

1-Sep: Prism Book Alliance, Open Skye Book Reviews, Happily Ever Chapter

2-Sep: Foxylutely Book Reviews, Bonkers About Books

5-Sep: Divine Magazine, Havan Fellows

6-Sep: Alpha Book Club, Molly Lolly

7-Sep: Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Charley Descoteaux

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