Category: LGBTQ Book Reviews

New Release Tour for Savor Me (Kitchen Gods #3) by Beth Bolden (excerpt and giveaway)

Savor Me Tour Banner 

SAVOR ME

KITCHEN GODS, BOOK 3

BETH BOLDEN

M/M ROMANCE

RELEASE DATE: 10.02.18

Savor Me Cover 

COVER DESIGN: AngstyG 

BLURB

When Chef Xander Bridges leaves the warmth and safety of his car on a cold, stormy night and approaches a stranger, the last thing he expects to find is a future. He’s wanted to leave his job for a while, but with no good opportunities on the horizon, he’s been stuck in a long, painful rut. But when he befriends the stranger viciously tearing up his own vineyard, Xander discovers something inexplicable. Maybe he’s not the bitter, sarcastic man that everyone, including himself, has endured for years.

Maybe, with someone like Damon in his life, he could be something more. Something better.

Damon Hess doesn’t just want more, he demands it. With his alcoholic past, there are no gray areas for him. Only black and white. In love or not. Sober or drunk. But the chance meeting with Xander opens Damon’s eyes, and gives him a vision full of something he hasn’t experienced in years: hope.

Hope that he can expect companionship and affection, hope that he doesn’t have to grapple with his family’s questionable Napa legacy any longer, and most importantly, hope that there’s a future worth believing in. But the longer he and Xander spend cultivating that future, the more Damon realizes that the key is so much simpler than he ever imagined–it’s Xander.

Savor Me is an 80,000 word contemporary m/m romance starring an irascible man with a soft, gooey marshmallow center and another who knows he likes men, but has never been with one before. It is third in the Kitchen Gods series, but can be read as a standalone.   

Universal link:  mybook.to/kgsavorme

best of series

good luck

perfectly imperfectly 

EXCERPT

Hands down, it was one of the best meals Damon had ever eaten. Even though he’d watched Xander prep it with his own two hands, it was a marvel that he’d done it with only those hands. It was a far better meal than any he’d ever had at Terroir, and that was prepared by an entire staff and countless pieces of expensive equipment.

Xander had come to his house with a bag of groceries and a knife, borrowed a pan and a pizza cutter, and had made an astoundingly delicious meal. It was talent and drive, all wrapped up in one package.

A cute package.

Damon had been telling himself not to notice—or if he was going to notice, then he should just ignore the attraction. But sitting across from Xander, staring at him in the candlelight, it was much harder than he’d imagined. Especially when he looked relaxed and much more at peace than he had that night a year ago.

At first he’d been too worked up himself to notice the anxiousness that Xander wore like a cloak. Or a very difficult-to-scale wall complete with archers equipped with fiery arrows and soldiers pouring boiling oil.

But tonight his guard had fallen a little, and despite everything, Damon wanted desperately to believe it was more than just quitting a job he’d really hated.

Damon wanted to believe the smile on Xander’s face had something to do with him.

“Thank you,” Damon said. “If that was an audition, you nailed it.”

“I know.” He was a little smug, and it was more than a little adorable. The way his nose scrunched up, the eye crinkles, the expressive look in his dark brown eyes.

Damon had imagined he might be in danger, hanging around Xander all the time, especially considering the impression he’d made on him in such a short time, but this was Trouble with a capital t.

“You’d better watch yourself. Not sure your head’s gonna fit back through the back door,” Damon teased.

“You wanted a chef,” Xander said, spreading his arms. “You got one.”

“They’re sort of thick on the ground in Napa,” Damon softly insisted, “but it turns out I’m particular.”

“Imagine that, a Hess particular.” The sarcasm in Xander’s voice cut through the dreamy romantic quality of the candlelight and let in a little of the real world. Specifically his family.

He couldn’t exactly tell Xander he didn’t ever want to talk about his family. After all, this land was their legacy, and his trust fund was making the restaurant a reality. Truth was, he really didn’t want to talk about them, and it felt like Xander brought them up as some sort of defense mechanism. Damon still didn’t understand why, and this was definitely not the first time it had happened.

“What’s your deal with the Hesses?” Damon asked. Might as well be honest, at least before Xander walked back in the house and signed the contract that would tie them together for the near future. Of course, that also meant the question had barely made it out of his mouth.

Something ugly churned deep in his stomach, exactly the opposite reaction he should have had after that incredible meal.

What if he changes his mind?

“Nothing,” Xander said, but his chin was jutting out again, and his fingers were drumming anxiously against the wood tabletop. It sure didn’t look like nothing.

There was a definite voice in his head, begging him to leave it, to make sure he didn’t drive Xander away with his insistent questioning. After all, Xander wasn’t signing with Hess Vineyards, he was signing with Damon, who stayed as far away from his family as possible.

But Damon’s last name was still Hess, and it wasn’t going to change.

“Really?” Damon asked.

Xander sighed. “I said it was nothing, and it is. It’s stupid.”

“I don’t want it to interfere,” Damon offered. “Not with what we’re about to build.”

“It won’t. I promise. I know you’re not your family. And to be honest, that’s what it is. I’ve had a few run-ins with Hess employees. But you’re not like them.”

The thing Damon had discovered before coming back to Napa, and definitely after returning to the Valley, was that he could run as far and as hard as he could, but his family was still his family. Time and distance couldn’t alter his blood, no matter how much he wished otherwise.

Beth Bolden Logo 2

Beth Bolden lives in Portland, Oregon with her supportive husband. She wholly believes in Keeping Portland Weird, but wishes she didn’t have to make the yearly pilgrimage up to Seattle to watch her Boston Red Sox play baseball. She’s a fan of fandoms, and spends too much of her free time on tumblr.

Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published eight novels and two novellas, with Catch Me, the next novel in the Kitchen Gods series, releasing in May 2018.

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/beth_bolden

Website: www.bethbolden.com

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Release Blitz for Orc Haven by Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus (excerpt)

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Orc Haven

Author: Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus

Publisher: Self-Published

Cover Artist: Anna Tiferet Sikorska | tiferetdesign.com

Genre/s: Fantasy FF Romance

Heat Rating:  1 flame out of five (A romantic relationship between the couple but no intimate scenes or sexual situations are described in the book. The book fades-to-black before any love scene.)

Length: 73 000 words /225 pages

It is a standalone story.

Release Date: October 13, 2018

Goodreads Link

 

Buy Links

Amazon US 

Amazon UK

 

 

Blurb

The great war is over. The Dark Queen has fallen, slain by a dwarven champion as the prophecies foretold.

Still struggling with her transition from farmer’s daughter to Hero of the Free Races, Irma barters her newfound fame for the power to change things for the betterment of all – including her former enemies.

With the Dark Queen’s death, her subjugated orcs either succumbed to madness or were slain in battle. Only few orcs remain, and Irma has sworn to protect them, to help them find their place among the Free Races. One of them is Vash, a breeding mother from the pits, searching for a new home among the ruins of her old world with a tiny horde of orc children in tow.

When they meet, they discover that despite their differences in size, upbringing and race, they share the same hopes for the future. And while the odds they face seem overwhelming, the feelings growing between them may be strong enough to overcome them all.

From Rainbow-Award-winning authors Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus comes a sweet, happy f/f romantasy that begins where other epic fantasy novels end, a stand-alone novel about courage, hope, and the importance of family.

 

Excerpt

Vash sniffed the pale blue berry. It didn’t smell of much, but that might have been due to the fact that her fingers smelled so much stronger, sour with sweat. Cautiously, she bit into it and nearly spit it out when its sharp taste exploded on her tongue, tangy enough to prick like needles. She had to force herself to keep her mouth closed and wait. It didn’t burn, so that was good. Her only way of telling whether it was poisonous was to trust her instincts, and so far, they had proven surprisingly accurate.

Like those roots she had found her maggots chewing on once. She had told them to keep away, but ‘no’, they just had to. A few hours later, they had been whimpering about their belly aches. They had been lucky nothing worse had happened. They could have died. Or they could have been back in the pits, where they would have been thrashed – first for disobeying and then for whining.

With a shudder, Vash forced that thought away. They were all lucky to have gotten out.

She swallowed the bit of berry and waited for that queasy feeling she got whenever she tried something inedible. Surprisingly few things out here were. The orcs‘  fabled constitution apparently also applied to being able to eat almost anything. Until their escape from the pits, she had never eaten anything but the slop cooked in their huge, grimy kettles. All the food delivered to them from outside went into those pots and was cooked until it didn’t taste of much at all. Even when their guardians had been set on slim rations, they had still received plenty. Vash were more important to the war effort than some stupid grunt that could easily be replaced. Vash were who made those replacements. They were the rarest kind of orc – those who could breed.

Her stomach grumbled angrily, but it was a pang of hunger, not nausea. Vash smiled. The berries were good and there were several bushes of them. A single one didn’t bear many fruits, but all together, they would feed the maggots tonight. And, if she managed to reign them in, they might even have some for tomorrow. She popped the other half into her mouth, and this time, she welcomed the taste. She started picking the bushes clean, gathering the berries into the makeshift bundle she had made of a tattered cloak.

Her own clothes were a ragged mix, the simple, coarse shift she had been wearing in the pits and whatever she had picked up since – a pair of sturdy leather pants that were a little too short, and a thick, padded tunic which she wore over the shift. Her lower arms and her feet were wrapped in rags both for warmth and protection. She’d even found a pair of fitting boots on a corpse a few days ago.

 

 

About the Authors

Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus are a couple currently living their happily ever after in the very heart of Germany, under the stern but loving surveillance of their cat.

Both of them are voracious but picky readers, they love telling stories and drinking tea, good food and the occasional violent movie. Together, they write novels of adventure and romance, hoping to share a little of their happiness with their readers.

An artist by heart, Beryll was writing stories even before she knew what letters were. As easily inspired as she is frustrated, her own work is never good enough (in her eyes). A perfectionist in the best and worst sense of the word at the same time and the driving creative force of the duo.

An entertainer and craftsman in his approach to writing, Osiris is the down-to-earth, practical part of our duo. Broadly interested in almost every subject and skill, with a sunny mood and caring personality, he strives to bring the human nature into focus of each of his stories.

 

Author Links

Blog/Website 

Facebook

Twitter: @brackhaus  

Goodreads

 

RELEASE BLITZ SCHEDULE

 

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Neve Wilder on Cracker Jacks and her new release Centre Of Gravity (Nook Island #1) by Neve Wilder (excerpt and giveaway)

 

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Neve Wilder here  today talking about her latest novel Center of Gravity and  Cracker Jacks! Welcome, Neve!
♡

Thank you so much for having me today! So Cracker Jack—yes, the caramel popcorn stuff with the prize—is a thing in the beginning of this book, and I’m going to talk about how it ended up becoming this oddly appropriate symbol for their unfolding relationship in Center of Gravity.To be honest, the whole Cracker Jack idea just popped out when I was writing. I saw Rob, my grumpy accountant, standing at the window, and when I thought about what he was seeing outside, I saw Alex with a box of Cracker Jack in his hand, tossing bits in the air and catching them in his mouth. It was weirdly specific, so I ran with it, liking how the sight threw Rob off and cast him back into his own memories of baseball games and bleachers.

There’s a part in the book where they argue/flirt over the merits or lack thereof of Cracker Jack, with Rob dismissing the treat altogether as too sweet and the prize disappointing, and Alex disagreeing, saying that it’s all about the anticipation and that the prize doesn’t matter either way. It’s a really telling moment of their character—Rob’s grumbly pessimism to Alex’s persistent optimism.

Rob starts to pick up boxes of Cracker Jack to give to Alex, and this thoughtful gesture on his part signals that he’s more into Alex than he’ll admit. As their relationship progresses, Rob begins to realize that Alex might be right: it’s all about the journey. Though the prize in this case—their hard-won happily ever after—ain’t too shabby, either!

 
Excerpt from Center of Gravity. In this bit, Rob and Alex discuss the merits—or lack thereof—of Cracker Jack while Rob tries to rein in his attraction to Alex.
*****

Alex looked up at me again. I thought he might say more about my dad, but instead he tossed a Cracker Jack in my direction, calling out “Catch!”

I had to veer hard to the right to catch it, but I did. The caramel melted on contact and stuck to my teeth. He gave me one of those gleaming, sun-bright smiles. “By the skin of your teeth.”

I leaned over, snatching the box and shaking a few in my hand so I could return the favor. He caught it easily.

“The best part of this stuff was always the prize. They’re not really that good.”

“You’re wrong.” Alex tossed another kernel up in the air for me to catch. I threw up my hand and caught it midair. “The prize is always disappointing. But it’s all about the anticipation, that maybe someday the prize will be really good. Cracker Jack itself is decent.”

“How is that any different than what I just said?”

Alex shrugged. “It just is.” Then, fishing through the box, he pulled out the wrapped prize and tossed it in my direction. “Do the honors.”

I peeled the paper back to reveal a smiley face with a disembodied hand giving a giant thumbs up.

Alex laughed. “See, terrible. But admit that for a second you thought maybe it’d be something good.”

“Not even for a millisecond.” I smirked.

“So jaded.”

I slid the sticker from the backing and held it up on my finger. “It’s all yours, color whiz.” I leaned forward on my knees to stick it in the center of his T-shirt, fist bracing my weight to one side of Alex’s leg as I pushed the sticker into cotton. His chin angled down as he examined my handiwork, and then his eyes met mine, his grin fading. He licked his lips and I had to force a casual smile. Don’t mind me as I try to inhale you.

“Rob?”

First I was just relieved he didn’t call me Mr. Macomb, then came a strange mashup of anxiety and awareness that I was still hovering in his space. It was too damn tempting to stay in that pocket of air scented with his soap, his hair, his deodorant, the Cracker Jack-tinged sweetness of his breath.

“Yeah?” I forced myself back onto my own patch of carpet that smelled of dogs and age.

“Thanks for giving me this job. Seriously.”

I cut a dismissive wave at the liquid green-gold sincerity of his eyes. “Break my heart, why don’t ya.”

His sober expression gave way to another grin, this one mischievous. He was good at layering his expressions with nuance and, as with the paint chips, I was becoming more adept at discerning the undertones.

His brows bounced. “Give me a chance to.”

I tossed the empty box of Cracker Jack at him and stood. I needed him out of the house before I decided I needed him to stay.

“Go home,” I said, not unkindly.

Winslow grunted and huffed air, stretching out long against Alex’s leg and nuzzling his head against Alex’s thigh.

“And take this damn traitor dog with you.”

“Seriously?” he said, his hand sweeping over Winslow’s belly before he stood.

“No. He hasn’t made me miserable enough. Yet.”

 

Buy Links:Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2DTNP55

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2Rln8sB

Length: 98,000 words approx.
Cover Design:Jay Aheer
Blurb

When life comes apart at the seams, love is the only thread that can repair it.


Accountant Rob Macomb has a stable job that he’s good at and… that’s about it. A year of nothing but heartache leaves him seeking refuge from loneliness and grief behind spreadsheets, punishing daily runs, and the occasional anonymous tryst. He wants only to bury the past and focus on his career, but he has one last task to complete: pack up his parent’s quaint beachside house and put it on the market.Alex Andrews is a budding artist with a penchant for Converse, Cracker Jack, and piercings. Family turmoil sidelines his dreams of finishing art school and building a career in three-dimensional design, and now he’s doing whatever he can to keep everyone afloat.When Alex shows up as a part of the moving crew hired to help Rob clean out the house, what should be a simple move becomes far more complex. Because it’s not the first time they’ve met, and their last encounter was memorable for all the wrong reasons.The attraction between them is undeniable and intense, but Rob’s hell-bent on pushing everyone away, and Alex is on the verge of spinning out of control. Can a grumpy accountant and a bootstrapping artist find their center of gravity together, or are they on a collision course to heartbreak?*An emotionally-charged, slow burn m/m romance featuring an age gap, hurt/comfort themes, and a hard-won happily ever after. This is the standalone first in the Nook Island, Georgia series.*

 

Read Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 5 star review here.

Neve Wilder lives in the dirty South, where the summers are hot and the winters are…sometimes cold. She is a mom to three rambunctious weebeasts who have joined forces in a mission to carpet the family home with toys and small items that really suck to step on at six in the morning.


She reads promiscuously, across multiple genres, but her favorite stories always contain an element of romance. Incidentally, this is also what she likes to write. Slow-burners with delicious tension? Yes. Whiplash-inducing page-turners, also yes. Down and dirty scorchers? Yes. And every flavor in between.


She believes David Bowie was the sexiest musician to ever live, and she’s always game to nerd out on anything from music to writing.


And finally, she believes that love conquers all. Except the heat index in July. Nothing can conquer that bastard.

Newsletter: You can keep up with Neve’s future projects by joining her newsletter, where you can instantly download the free Watch Me, Extracurricular Activities #1 short story. The series continues exclusively for newsletter subscribers. Subscribe here: readerlinks.com/l/320361

Author Page: readerlinks.com/l/320362
Facebook Readers’ Group: readerlinks.com/l/320364
Website: https://www.nevewilder.com
Goodreads: readerlinks.com/l/320363
Amazon Author Page: readerlinks.com/l/320389

Giveaway

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A MelanieM Review: Center Of Gravity (Nook Island #1) by Neve Wilder

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

When life comes apart at the seams, love is the only thread that can mend it…

Accountant Rob Macomb has a stable job that he’s good at and… that’s about it. A year of nothing but heartache leaves him seeking refuge from loneliness and grief behind spreadsheets, punishing daily runs, and the occasional anonymous tryst. He wants only to bury the past and focus on his career, but he has one last task to complete: pack up his parent’s quaint beachside house and put it on the marketCenter Of Gravity (Nook Island #1) by Neve Wilder

Alex Andrews is a budding artist with a penchant for Converse, Cracker Jack, and piercings. Family turmoil sidelines his dreams of finishing art school and building a career in three-dimensional design, and now he’s doing whatever he can to keep everyone afloat.

When Alex shows up as a part of the moving crew hired to help Rob clean out the house, what should be a simple move becomes far more complex. Because it’s not the first time they’ve met, and their last encounter was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

The attraction between them is undeniable and intense, but Rob’s hell-bent on pushing everyone away, and Alex is on the verge of spinning out of control. Can a grumpy accountant and a bootstrapping artist find their center of gravity together, or are they on a collision course to heartbreak?

Center Of Gravity (Nook Island #1) by Neve Wilder is just what I hope for and rarely find when reading a new author and new contemporary romance.  It’s that marvelous, heartwarming story full of just about every  element that grabs at you and compels you to read it!  That once started makes you want to keep going, find out what happens to these men, and dog, and even a house,  and a family on a place called Nook Island.

You get hooked in ever so slowly too.  It’s bit by bit because, trust me, this is a sloooow burn romance.  Not slow as in the slow to jump into bed slow. Nope not that.  But slow to admit the connections that are forming, or have formed between the mixed use artist  and the CPA.  Each has such a heavy emotional set of baggage that is revealed to the other haltingly in steps, some the reader already is aware of as the story is told in alternating points of view.  Such confused and endearing men, totally different and yet, so alike in other fundamental ways.  Of course, it’s a lack of communication and a truly awful beginning that builds a barrier that both need to build a bridge over.  A Jack Russell terror (not a misspelling) paves the way as does emptying and working on Rob’s parents house.

Of course, there’s so much more there.  I could actually write pages about this book.  Wilder’s amazing creation and  use of Alex’s family and father, Rob’s sister Summer, the memories of Rob’s own parents, and, yes, the developing detail that I suspect will become the next story in the series Alex’s  friend in the moving business.

The relationships here are rich, layered, and believable.  People hurt, grow in depth, cry tears that will flow over into your own heart, and when it happen, their happiness becomes yours as well.

Yes, there was one part where the author almost lost me. Whew! Didn’t happen.  Nice save.

I adored this story.  I will be waiting impatiently for the next in the series.  And yes I’m so happy to have found a new author to read.  Win, win, and win.

Totally recommended this one.

 

Cover art: Jay Aheer.  Nice beach scene.  But I wish for a little more elements from the novel.  Just a little too generic.

Sales Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2DTNP55

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2Rln8sB

Book Details:

ebook
Published October 4th 2018 (first published October 2nd 2018)

A MelanieM Review: Love’s Trials (Revolutionary Heart #2) by Janice Jarrell

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

 

Colin and Joshua faced the most harrowing ordeal of their lives with strength and courage. Believing they’d survived their trial, they looked forward to a future filled with happiness only to discover that the worst was yet to come. Sometimes surviving is the toughest trial of all.

After half a lifetime spent in short-term liaisons that allowed no intimacy, charismatic Irish police officer, Colin Campbell, found the love of his life. Dark-eyed, steady Joshua Abrams burned through Colin’s emotional barriers and taught him to look at life through new eyes, eyes that made room for the love and closeness he had always denied himself. Deeply in love and completely happy, their life together remains idyllic and their fiery passion for each other seems limitless.

They survive the Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ riots, though not without scars. But later that month Colin’s position with the campus police force places him in charge of an informant program designed to crack a dangerous drug ring. Fully aware of the risks, he swears to Joshua that he will oversee the program without becoming directly involved. But Colin’s promise shatters when he becomes the only thing standing between a young Nigerian exchange student and a deadly drug lord.

Love’s Trials (Revolutionary Heart #2) by Janice Jarrell is another one of those stories whose rating I dithered over.  Well written with a compelling story I need to keep asking myself why the disconnect with it?  Because for me there was one.

It wasn’t totally with the  location and  storyline.  That “ripped right from the headlines” plot about the “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville is close enough to me that it was more of a local news story here and I have very close ties to UVA.  No, that felt about right, along with all it’s accompanying issues.  Even Colin’s handling and emotions towards a drug enforcement operation on campus, it’s use of students, and the administration’s official view felt realistic.  Although the clumsy  foreshadowing only needed organ music to make it feel completely obvious what was about to happen.

Jarrell does provide all her characters with the use of therapy they need whether it’s physical or emotional, whether its a support system they use immediately or take some time to realize its importance in their recovery (from whatever it is, and whoever they are…its more than one character here).  I did appreciate that element in her storyline.  That she doesn’t traumatize her characters and them have them miraculously jump back to their “old” selves.    But….here’s the  thing….there is a lot repetition here.  Not in what is needed.  But in the actual verbiage.  The characters say much of the same things to each other and themselves over and over again.  Got old.

And that brings me to my final  realization.  Why the disconnect.  It’s because I wasn’t “there” emotionally with these characters.  Had I been in the moment with them all the way maybe their interactions with each other not  felt repetitious  (no, they still would), but at least I would have sympathized with them.  Instead I felt removed from the  action and their relationship.  More of a “huh, that’s too bad” sort of thing than a sniffling heart wrenching  that a great connection brings.  That belonged to a couple from a book I just put down.  Their story?  Totally captivated me from beginning to end while this one felt more like a exercise in how a romance survives a hardship 101.  Someone is talking to you, telling you things the whole time…it never stops.   It feels like an endless voiceover in some sections. “And now he learned his lesson.  He learned (fill in words we’ve heard many times) and will never do it again.”.  I don’t know.  It never left the reader time to become part of the action because we were always being talked to.  That’s my take anyway.

The story ends on a very happy note and the autor lets the readers and her fans know that a third story is in the works that carries Colin and Joshua, along with their friends  Nate and David, into a new novel soon.       Yes, Nate and David are a huge part of this story as well in  case you needed to know.

Love’s Trials (Revolutionary Heart #2) by Janice Jarrell is a contemporary romance full of current new topics and well handled health issues that I appreciated.  I thought it was well written although I had trouble engaging with the characters lives.  I think most readers will enjoy this. It’s part of a series and for the full background on all the   couples and what they have gone through to get to this stage in their lives and relationships, it needs to be read in the order the stories were written.

Cover art: Janice Jarrell.  As the   cover artist is the author, yes that’s an accurate representation of the characters themselves.

Sales Links:

Amazon US 

Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 286 pages
Published September 12th 2018 by Amazon
ASINB07H9H8STS
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesRevolutionary Heart #2

An Alisa Review: Rez Dogs and Scooter Trash by Deirdre O’Dare

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

 

Mike Dufrane fled a traumatic youth, hard years haunted by an abusive biker father, poverty and degradation, by escaping into the military. There he found only more savage violence. Then a chance encounter with an animal rescue group showed him another way. On an Indian reservation in the southwest, he finds a place to make a difference. Rez Dogs Rescue Shelter will be his route to build a positive life. Then a handsome Native American rides up on a Harley and throws Mike’s plans for a loop.

 

Adam was not there when his kid brother needed guidance and a firm hand. Back from two tours with Special Forces, he starts a youth center on the Rez to try to atone for his error but he cannot give up his Harley or his image as one bad ass biker. When an outsider starts a shelter for abused and neglected dogs, Adam initially finds it ludicrous but then recognizes a purpose similar to his own. However, the stranger seems to fear or hate bikers and is reluctant to begin a friendship. When crime and danger threaten both their projects, they have to join forces to prevail and suppressed attraction bursts into flame.

 

This was an interesting story of two people from different backgrounds coming together as their different missions come together.  Adam is trying to make up for being gone when his brother dies while Adam is just trying to do what is right with the mission he feels is best.

 

There is no real connection with the characters but it was a nice quick read.  We see them work on their missions and admire each other from afar until danger comes.  I liked that these two had such different backgrounds but such similarities in them too, I think it helped to bring them together more.

 

The cover art by Written Ink Designs is cute and has the “awe” factor.

 

Sales Links: JMS Books | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 57 pages

Published: September 8, 2018 by JMS Books

ISBN: 9781634867092

Edition Language: English

Review Tour and Giveaway for Center Of Gravity (Nook Island #1) by Neve Wilder (excerpt)

 

Buy Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2DTNP55

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2Rln8sB

 
Length: 98,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Jay Aheer
 
Blurb

When life comes apart at the seams, love is the only thread that can repair it.


Accountant Rob Macomb has a stable job that he’s good at and… that’s about it. A year of nothing but heartache leaves him seeking refuge from loneliness and grief behind spreadsheets, punishing daily runs, and the occasional anonymous tryst. He wants only to bury the past and focus on his career, but he has one last task to complete: pack up his parent’s quaint beachside house and put it on the market.Alex Andrews is a budding artist with a penchant for Converse, Cracker Jack, and piercings. Family turmoil sidelines his dreams of finishing art school and building a career in three-dimensional design, and now he’s doing whatever he can to keep everyone afloat.When Alex shows up as a part of the moving crew hired to help Rob clean out the house, what should be a simple move becomes far more complex. Because it’s not the first time they’ve met, and their last encounter was memorable for all the wrong reasons.The attraction between them is undeniable and intense, but Rob’s hell-bent on pushing everyone away, and Alex is on the verge of spinning out of control. Can a grumpy accountant and a bootstrapping artist find their center of gravity together, or are they on a collision course to heartbreak?*An emotionally-charged, slow burn m/m romance featuring an age gap, hurt/comfort themes, and a hard-won happily ever after. This is the standalone first in the Nook Island, Georgia series.*

October 4 – Bike Book Reviews, OMG Reads, October 5 – Love Bytes Reviews, October 6 – Amy’s MM Romance Reviews, October 8 – Sexy Erotic Xciting, October 9 – Mirrigold – Mutterings & Musings, October 10 – Megan’s Media Melange, October 11 – Jessie G Books, October 12 – The Novel Approach, Lillian Francis, Bayou Book Junkie, October 13 – Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, October 16 – Joyfully Jay

Read Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 5 star review here.
Excerpt
In this excerpt, Rob is on the phone arguing with his sister, who oh-so-helpfully set up the impending move with a company called College Buffs Hauling Stuff. Rob is not pleased to begin with. As the truck arrives and the two movers get out, Rob has a moment of awkward realization:

Another door slammed and a guy with short, dark hair ambled around the front of the truck. Cracker Jack opened the door and leaned back inside, soon emerging with a silver clipboard in one hand that he checked before saying something to his coworker. In contrast to the stupid caricature on the side of the truck, Cracker Jack met all the qualifications of college buff from what I could see of his profile. He was an endless summer kind of golden blond, and lean, a bit of leftover sunburn on his cheeks laying over the warm, cabana boy tan beneath. He looked as if he should be holding the handle of a pool net rather than the dolly he deposited at the front gate. “Two Men and a Truck would have worked just fine. Or 1-800-Junk,” I argued.

“The Buffs get five stars on Yelp. Don’t be a stick in the mud,” she replied, knowing it’d get me right in the accountant’s tender spot.

Cracker Jack glanced up at the front door of the house and for the first time I saw his face in full, the dangerously carved cheekbones, the sensually bowed mouth, a bit of silver—incongruous against the golden backdrop of his face—ringed through his lower lip. I froze, first trying to place him, then in frazzled denial. But it was too late: my gut already knew and had twisted up like a pretzel. The memory came in saturated fragments that exploded behind my eyelids.

I narrowly missed being speared by the coat hook as my shoulder slammed shut the faux wood door of the stall. I fumbled the lock with one hand, pulled him to me with the other, fingers spanning and raking the damp sheen of sweat gathered low on his back. A hot wash of breath across my throat, his lips dragging over the curve of my jaw, the tickle of his lip ring against my stubble. He smiled against my teeth and murmured, “A guy who knows what he wants. I like it.”

I felt the color fleeing my face in humiliating mutiny as Cracker Jack stared at the door. I took a backward step. Summer droned on about how she’d just been picking the best option and it was hard to do from far away, that she’d not wanted to interrupt me with something so insignificant during tax season and on and on and on, but it hardly registered.

A rush of cool air over my cock—how had he gotten my zipper undone so fast?—and then the warmth of his touch. The brush of his thumb over my crown. “Fuck, you’re already slick,” he groaned, biting his lip. His forehead bumped my cheek as he looked down at his hand, watching as he stroked me. He paused long enough to spit on his palm then stroked faster, the noise obscene cutting through the piped in music of the club, but the feel of him on me was pure velvet bliss. When I reached for his waistband, he brushed my hand away. “Not yet. I like to concentrate. I’ll get mine in a minute.” He licked at the side of my neck where my pulse was hammering, then tightened his fingers around my shaft, pulling a moan from me. I just wanted him to shut up. Just wanted him to shut up and get me off.

Except he never got his.

And I couldn’t remember his name.

Neve Wilder lives in the dirty South, where the summers are hot and the winters are…sometimes cold. She is a mom to three rambunctious weebeasts who have joined forces in a mission to carpet the family home with toys and small items that really suck to step on at six in the morning.


She reads promiscuously, across multiple genres, but her favorite stories always contain an element of romance. Incidentally, this is also what she likes to write. Slow-burners with delicious tension? Yes. Whiplash-inducing page-turners, also yes. Down and dirty scorchers? Yes. And every flavor in between.


She believes David Bowie was the sexiest musician to ever live, and she’s always game to nerd out on anything from music to writing.


And finally, she believes that love conquers all. Except the heat index in July. Nothing can conquer that bastard.

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Release Blitz – Love’s Trials (Revolutionary Heart #2) by Janice Jarrell (excerpt and giveaway)

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Love’s Trials (Revolutionary Heart, Book 2)

Author:  Janice Jarrell

Publisher: Janice Jarrell 

Release Date: October 12, 2018

Length: 78,333 words/224 pages

Genre/s: Contemporary Gay Romance

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Blurb

After half a lifetime spent in short-term liaisons that allowed no intimacy, charismatic Irish police officer, Colin Campbell, found the love of his life. Dark-eyed, steady Joshua Abrams burned through Colin’s emotional barriers and taught him to look at life through new eyes, eyes that made room for the love and closeness he had always denied himself. Deeply in love and completely happy, their life together remains idyllic and their fiery passion for each other seems limitless.

They survive the Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ riots, though not without scars. But later that month Colin’s position with the campus police force places him in charge of an informant program designed to crack a dangerous drug ring. Fully aware of the risks, he swears to Joshua that he will oversee the program without becoming directly involved. But Colin’s promise begins to crumble when he becomes the only one who can save a young Nigerian exchange student from a deadly drug lord.

Excerpt

Colin drew in a breath. He released Joshua, then took his hand and drew him toward the couch. “Sit with me a minute. I need to tell you something.”

Joshua shook his head as he fell onto the couch beside Colin. “You’re going to do it,” he said. “You’re going to be part of the drug investigation.”

Colin’s eyes widened. “Lenny! That jackass called you?”

Joshua chuckled and shook his head. “No,” he said. “C’mon! Lenny would never do that. No. I was expecting it.” His fingers tightening on Colin’s. “I knew you couldn’t say ‘no’ to them. Once they started waving the students in front of you it was a done deal.”

“You mad at me?”

“Oh, hell no! Are you serious? Why would I be?”

“I know this whole operation worries you.”

Joshua looked past Colin to the windows of their house, past which the Rivanna river flowed. “You can’t base the way you do your job on what might or might not make me nervous,” he said. “You have to do what you think is right.” He turned back to Colin. “And I know you always will.”

Colin leaned in and kissed him. “I didn’t tell you the best part! David’s going to partner with me. They want us to develop a set of prerequisites for the students’ participation. It’s…,” he shrugged and wrinkled his nose, “it’s paperwork. It’s grunt work. It’s no big deal.”

“I see,” Joshua said. “So there’s absolutely no chance that you’ll end up involved on a deeper level. Zero. None. Nada.”

Colin lifted Joshua’s hand to his lips. “Josh…,” he began, then stopped. It no longer surprised him when Joshua seemed to read his thoughts and often even his fears, and since he couldn’t bring himself to lie, Colin was now left with little choice. He sighed and looked somewhat sheepishly into Joshua’s dark eyes. “Well…,” he began.

“Yeah,” Joshua interrupted. “That’s what I figured.”

“I promise you this,” Colin said, pulling him closer. “I swear to you that I will resist any attempt to get me into the field. I will absolutely handcuff myself to my desk.”

Joshua’s face twisted with doubt, as he returned Colin’s gaze, then he shook his head in resignation. “Colin, I believe you. And I truly believe you’ll hold to that—”

Colin nodded.

“—right up to the moment when one of them says the words ‘student in danger’.”

Colin’s eyes fell.

“And thirty seconds after that,” Joshua said, “there’ll be a white streak where Colin used to be.”

“Josh—”

“Don’t bother denying it,” Joshua said. He leaned in to press his lips to Colin’s then sat back, his eyes locking, once again, with the honey-green eyes of his lover. “You’re the Man of La Mancha, Colin. You hear the call of glory and off you go. You don’t even think about consequences to yourself. You never have. You only care about doing what’s right.” As he spoke this last his dark brown eyes closed and his head dropped.

“Josh, please..,”

“You are who you are, Colin,” Joshua continued. “That’s why you’re the man I love.”

Colin touched his cheek.

“And no matter how this thing turns out,” Joshua continued, “I would never, ever want that man to change.”

About the Author

My name is Janice Jarrell. I am a retired grandmother who lives in Seattle, WA. I have two children and three grandsons. I’ve been writing gay romance since I was twelve years old, only back then it wasn’t called ‘gay romance’. In fact, it had no name at all. It was the fifties, and it was worth your life to admit to being gay, let alone confess to being a girl who constantly fantasized about relationships between gay men. Hell, I didn’t even know what a homosexual was. I lived on a farm out in the sticks in a tiny Michigan village and I’d never, to my knowledge, even heard the word. I just knew I loved the thought of boy on boy romance. I just knew that there was something hot going on between Tom Corbett and his Space Cadets and all those guys on ‘Combat’.

I wrote slash fanfiction for 30 years, writing over 337 stories, some as short as 100 words (a drabble) some as long as a series which was over 119,012 words. I enjoy writing my stories. I enjoyed the feedback I received from my readers. It was a creative release I’d been searching for my entire life and I blessed the Internet for leading me to this artistic oasis for my spirit.

Love’s Magic was my very first step into writing my own characters. I will always be grateful the slash fanfiction community for nurturing the budding author until she was ready to blossom into a fully realized novelist. It’s been an amazing thing to watch the gay community’s growth over these past twenty years. My own journey has echoed theirs in many ways, and I’m grateful to all those gay activists who fought to give the gay community the rights and privileges they always deserved.

I’m also grateful to the gay romance community, readers, authors, publishers and promoters, who are making these, my retirement years, the most creative ones of my life. When I’m not writing, I’m traveling, walking, hiking, knitting, crocheting, and weaving.

I’m very excited about the upcoming release of my second contemporary gay romance novel, Love’s Trials. Those of you who fell in love with Joshua and Colin in Love’s Magic are in for a treat because they are the STARS of Love’s Trials, though they may not thank me for it given the very difficult ‘trials’ they are about to face.

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