Category: LGBTQ Non Fiction

Review Tour and Giveaway: Toxic (Treacherous Chemistry #2) by Avylinn Winter (author’s note and giveaway)

Buy Links: Pride | Amazon US | Amazon UK


Publisher: Pride Publishing


Length: 79,690 words


Treacherous Chemistry Series


Volatile (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK


Blurb

When true love is a lie and pleasure turns to pain.

Adam Webb spent most of his teenage years in love with his best friend, Gabriel Connor, only to be thrown out of their shared apartment when he finally found the courage to reveal his feelings.

Seven months later, Adam’s effort to save their lost friendship finds him more than he ever asked for. After all, being thrown out has to be better than thrown into a wall. However, Adam isn’t ready to give up. Trapped and isolated in a dangerous relationship, he falls deeper and deeper into Gabriel’s world.

Despite Adam’s attempts to push them away, his friends are determined to help, but the man who fights hardest is Cameron McCain, Adam’s photography teacher—a man who treasures what Gabriel does not.

They say love should conquer all. But when passion breeds fear and love turns toxic, will Adam make the right choice?

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of domestic violence and dubious consent.

 


Toxic is the second novel in the Treacherous Chemistry series, following characters introduced in Volatile. However, it can be read as a stand-alone. It’s a story about love, but also about the dangers of loving what you shouldn’t.

I wrote this story as an attempt to understand why we sometimes fail to recognize what’s bad for us, but most of all I wrote it for Adam, and all the Adams out there across the world. I wanted to give him strength, resilience and hope in a situation far too many has to navigate.

Toxic is by no means a light read, and it would be unfair of me to label it as such. I’ve been known to play with readers’ emotions, and Toxic is no exception. And, although it is a story about love, some will likely say this novel contains elements of general fiction. However, as long as you know what you’re up against, Toxic will hopefully give you something to remember and something to ponder.

You will get to meet Dante and Chris again, but also make a new acquaintance in Cameron. If nothing else, these three will undoubtedly make you smile when you most need it. I promise.

Toxic has been posted on Wattpad as a draft, which is the reason you see ratings before the release date. It collected over a million reads on the site before I took it down for publication, which gave me some confidence that Adam’s story was worth telling despite the toll it took on me.

I hope you’ll let sweet Adam tell you his story because it’s an important one.

Author Bio

Raised in one of the cold corners of the world, Avylinn spends her days either wrapped up in a blanket or basking in the precious sunlight. When she can’t choose herself, she’s holed up in an office working with climate research that has little to do with the worlds and characters she creates in her vivid dreams.

Always the emotional one, she has found her outlet in writing, voicing thoughts, emotions and fears through her characters that feel very much alive to her. And, what began as a hobby soon took more and more time in her life until she realized that she had left her old life behind and entered a new one where her emotions turned into a super power—ready to launch at her poor readers.

She recharges with the help of coffee, cinnamon buns, popcorn and occasionally a healthier alternative.

http://www.avylinnwinter.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/avylinnwinter/
https://twitter.com/AvylinnW
https://www.wattpad.com/user/Avylinn

Giveaway

Looking for New Reviewers to Join Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

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Looking for New Reviewers for

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Do you love to read?  Can’t wait to share your thoughts on the books you just read?  Or maybe the books you just listened to?  Ebook and Audiobooks included!

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is looking for new reviewers to join our family. Get in touch with us at scatteredthoughtsandroguewords@gmail.com if you love books and like to share your thoughts about them with others. Send links to your reviews if you are already reviewing here. YA,New Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy, Sci Fy, you name the genre, and any coupling as long as its LGBTQIA.  Maybe you like LGBTQIA Non fiction or graphic novels.  That would be cool.  Have a busy schedule?  We’ll work with you.  We don’t pressure you to take more books then you want or can handle.

We supply the books, you supply the review. We are flexible with schedules and the amount of books each person needs to review. Let’s talk! Send all inquiries and links to reviews if you have them to scatteredthoughtsandroguewords@gmail.com

Can’t wait to hear from you!

In the Spotlight: Working It (Ringside Romance #1) by Christine d’Abo ( guest post and giveaway)

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Working It (Ringside Romance #1) by Christine d’Abo
Riptide Publishing
Cover art by L.C. Chase

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Christine d’Abo here today to talk about her latest story, Working It.  Welcome, Christine!

📚

Thank you for having me here today. I’m so happy to be able to talk to you about my new book, WORKING IT, which is book one in my new Ringside Romance series. Don’t let the series title fool you, this is low on the boxing and high on sexual tension.

As an avid reader of all things romance, I personally love it when authors take chances and play around with what we consider typical romance tropes. Those situations that for whatever reason, really work for us as lovers of romance. One of my personal favorite tropes is the whole boss-assistant dynamic. There’s something wonderful about the tension that can be created when two people are working together, under pressure and in close quarters, that appeals to me.

I wanted to take this trope and do something a little fun with it. What would happen if both the characters were gay? What if they were so vastly different that under any other circumstance they probably never meet, let alone fall in love? What if they worked day in and day out in an office together?

In WORKING IT, Nolan Carmichael is working through the trauma of a serious car accident. He gets a job as Zack Anderson’s executive assistant, a position that no one at the company wants. Somehow the two of them work through their differences and fall in love.

I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

You can visit Christine at her website www.christinedabo.com, and chat with her on Facebook and Twitter. Want to keep up with Christine’s new releases? Sign up for her newsletter and receive a free book!

About Working It

Nolan Carmichael is getting a fresh start—new career, new company, new life. The only problem is, he liked his old life just fine . . . until an accident robbed him of his health, his job, his self-confidence, and his ability to go out in public without having anxiety attacks.

Zack Anderson has scared away his last four executive assistants. So when he hires Nolan on a whim, he’s not too worried, since Nolan will be gone within the week anyway. Two weeks later, Nolan has made himself indispensable, completely reforming Zack’s schedule, life . . . and libido.

But in a company already torn by internal politics, one wrong step could ruin both their careers. And not only are they working to reopen Ringside Gym, Zack’s retreat when he was a troubled teen, but they also can’t help themselves falling for each other. If only the rest of their lives could go as smoothly as things do when they’re alone together.

Now available from Riptide Publishing. 

This title is part of the Ringside Romance universe.

About Christine d’Abo

A romance novelist and short story writer, Christine has over thirty publications to her name. She loves to exercise and stops writing just long enough to keep her body in motion too. When she’s not pretending to be a ninja in her basement, she’s most likely spending time with her family and two dogs.

Connect with Christine:

workingit_tourbanner

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Working It, one lucky winner will receive a $25 Riptide Publishing credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 11, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

An Ali Review: Cops and Robby by Carol Lynne

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

 

Cops and RobbyCops, Cole and Morgan Caldwell, have always had to hide their love for each other from the outside world. They are content with each other until the night they rescued Robby. Beaten and left in an alley by a john, Robby has never known true kindness and soon falls for both men, but Robby’s got a problem. His pimp, Vince, isn’t ready to let him go.

 

Can two cops love a prostitute or will Robby’s baggage be too much for them to carry?

 

Cole found Robby in an alley in pain on his way home one night.  Morgan is wary of the stranger and doesn’t want anyone to come between him and Cole.  As they give Robby time to heal they learn some new things about each other.

 

Cole and Morgan already have a taboo relationship, but it is based on their deep love for each other.  They don’t hide their relationship from Robby and welcome him to their lives.

 

My heart broke for Robby with how bad his life has been so far and how he believes that Cole and Morgan are just too good to be true.  Cole loves having someone to take care of, while Morgan has someone else to protect.  This was a shorter story that held a lot of emotions, it was wonderful to see the three of them get their HEA.

 

The cover art is nice, but needs to be zoomed in a bit to see the details.

 

Sales Link: Wilde City Press | Amazon

 

Book Details:

ebook, 21,992 words
Published: 2nd Edition, April 13, 2016 by Wilde City Press
ISBN: 9781925313925
Edition Language: English

A Lila Review: Where Loyalties Lie by Logan Taylor‏

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Where Loyalties LIeWhen his homeland is conquered by invading barbarians, Nessir winds up not dead, but instead serving the new kings much as he once served his own. Though at first he is terrified of what they will do, across the palace and through the kingdom Abaidas and Ophion swiftly begin to make improvements their predecessor neglected. And though a married man should be off limits, Nessir finds himself falling for Abaidas anyway—and astonished when the interest proves to be mutual, and to learn that Ophion has no objections to Abaidas taking a lover.

But just as Nessir is settling into his strange, new life, he stumbles across an assassination plot—a plot he can speak of for fear of his sister’s life, unless he can convey it in a way that will not get him caught. In an act of desperation, he throws himself at Ophion, and under guise of being lovers the two work to protect the man they both love. And all the while Nessir tries to ignore the growing wish that Ophion’s affections were not merely a ruse…

 The opening scene brought us directly into the story’s setting and provided us with our first introduction to Nessir’s job, place in society, and relationship with King Amun. By the time the barbarians arrived, we have had the opportunity to learn more about Nessir and his sister.

 Abaibas’s and Ophion’s arrival changes Nessir’s future, but he decided to serve the King and his Consort without much pressure. Perhaps because both men gave him the opportunity to make his own decisions. He takes his role as the Majesties’ body servant as easy as he had done with the previous King.

 Leaving the war camp behind, the three men return to the conquered city. As the time pass, they get comfortable with each other, and Abaidas requests his husband approval to start a relationship, which he receives. Shortly after, Nessir learned about the conspiracy against the new King and staged an affair with Ophion to find a way to save the man they both love.

 Ophion protects Nessir’s sister as they tried to get more information about the attempt against Abaidas and planned to stop it. Their pretend relationship starts turning into more, but both, Nessir and Ophion, kept it to themselves.

 A combination of characters and events influenced the men’s lives, relationships, and positions. We get to witness the attempt against Abaidas, how it’s handled, at the repercussions, not only for their lives but to their separate relationships. By the end of the novella, we have the starts of a HEA with a promising future.

 Where Loyalties Lie has a good sense of location, era, and characterization since the very beginning. An accomplishment that’s sometimes difficult to grasp in a novella. The world build seems to take precedent leaving the plot points a little bare without resting relevance to the overall outcome.

 This is one of those stories that would benefit from another handful of pages. It’s a great start for a longer re-write, or perhaps, a series in the same world, even if it is with other main characters. There were some unanswered questions that can be addressed in further volumes.

 One thing I’d like to read more about is Abaibas’s and Ophion’s relationship. We know they were childhood friends, but I’d love to see their relationship unveiling. Especially, how their love story turned into an open relationship.

 The triad started as separated relationship, morphing later on into it. Even so, there’s a separation between the married couple and their third created by the inequality of the social status. In the end, it works well for them, and we get a glimpse of how hard they would work to stay together.

 Overall, I enjoyed this story. I just wanted a little more plot to join the beginnings of a great story.

 The cover is lovely and goes well with the time period and events in the story. The only drawback is the off-centered silhouettes that seemed too modern for it.

Sale Links: Less Than Three Press | Amazon (unavailable) | ARe

 Book Details:

 ebook, 89 pages
Published: March 9, 2016, by Less Than Three Press
ISBN: 9781620047293
Edition Language: English