Category: M/M Book Reviews

In the Spotlight: Back to You by Chris Scully (Riptide Publishing Tour and Giveaway)

Back to You by Chris Scully
Riptide Publishing

Cover by: L.C. Chase

Available for Purchase at Riptide Publishing

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Chris Scully here today on her Back to You Tour.  Welcome, Chris!

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Hello! I’m Chris Scully. I’m thrilled to welcome you to my blog tour for Back to You, my new romantic suspense novel. Join me at various tour stops, where I’ll be sharing some background on the novel and the characters, my thoughts on writing, and more. Comment on each stop to be entered in a drawing for a $20 Riptide gift certificate. Thanks for joining me on the tour!

About Back to You

Journalist Alex Buchanan has come home to the remote British Columbia town he grew up in, but only because his estranged father is dying. For Alex, the homecoming holds a mix of memories, mostly bad. The only bright spot is reconnecting with Benji Morning, the childhood friend he never truly forgot. As boys, the strength of their bond had frightened Alex. But now that he’s confident in his bisexuality, he’s drawn back to quiet, soft-spoken Ben.

Ben isn’t the same boy Alex left behind, though. His life has been overshadowed by the disappearance of his sister two decades earlier, and now a new break in the case threatens to undo the peace he’s worked so hard to attain.

As Alex struggles to repair the relationship with his father before it’s too late, he finds himself caught up in a twenty-year-old mystery, a story he never expected, and a shocking truth that could affect his and Ben’s future together.

Available now from Riptide Publishing. 

About Chris Scully

Chris Scully lives in Toronto, Canada. She grew up spinning romantic stories in her head and always dreamed of one day being a writer even though life had other plans. Her characters have accompanied her through career turns as a librarian and an IT professional, until finally, to escape the tedium of a corporate day job, she took a chance and began putting her daydreams down on paper.

Tired of the same old boy-meets-girl stories, she found a home in M/M romance and strives to give her characters the happy endings they deserve. She divides her time between a mundane 9-5 cubicle job and a much more interesting fantasy life. When she’s not working or writing (which isn’t often these days) she loves puttering in the garden and traveling. She is an avid reader and tries to bring pieces of other genres and styles to her stories. While her head is crammed full of all the things she’d like to try writing, her focus is always on the characters first. She describes her characters as authentic, ordinary people—the kind of guy you might meet on the street, or the one who might be your best friend.

Although keeping up with social media is still a struggle given her schedule, she does love to hear from readers.

Connect with Chris:

● Website: chrisscullyblog.wordpress.com

● Facebook: facebook.com/chris.scully.author

● Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/6152322.Chris_Scully

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Back to You, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on June 17, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A Kai Review: Boys Don’t Cry by J.K. Hogan

 

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Mackenzie Pratt is having the worst luck of his life. His apartment building is being torn down, and since he’s jobless and just weeks away from graduating college, he can’t find anywhere else he can afford to live that isn’t a critter-infested dump. As he’s lamenting the very real possibility of job hunting while couch-surfing, he gets an offer from the coworker of his best friend. An in-demand mobile app developer and heir to his parents’ fortune, Laurent Beaudry is literally an eccentric billionaire. Even though Mackenzie realizes he’s basically living the plot of a cheesy romance novel, he takes the proffered room in Laurent’s Baltimore mansion. He finds his new housemate to be grumpy, brooding, and, at times, incredibly kind and endearing. Raised by his brother after their father’s death, Mackenzie spent his formative years plowing headlong through school, focusing on little else beyond earning his teaching certification. He’s never taken the time to explore love and relationships, much less sexuality, so when he finds himself being courted by another man, he has no idea what to do. And when he realizes he might actually return those feelings, his life takes a whole new direction.

Wow… Reading this was just a pleasure to me!

I loved almost everything about this book: The writing, the characters, the plot, the low angst, the HOT parts… It was just so good!

I loved Laurie so much! He was really weird and grumpy sometimes and to everybody who didn’t actually know him, he was just a cold bastard. But how a cold person can be the one who offers to a practically stranger (Mackenzie) a place to live,  just because the guy would be ejected from his place? Can you relate it to a cold person? No, he wasn’t cold. And soon enough Mackenzie learned that.

Laurie was an orphan who didn’t have a normal childhood and was left by everybody that he loved. So he had put a cold mask on to the world. But thankfully he couldn’t keep his disguise with Mackenzie for so long.

And we had Mackenzie.

Ah, Mackenzie, I wanted to strangle you sometimes, so you would admit for yourself what I already knew about you. Urgh! But I love you too.

Mackenzie was a guy who had lived so focused on making everybody happy his entire life, that he had never taken the time to be in a relationship. At the age of 23 years old, he had never explored his sexuality. So when he realized he was attracted to Laurie he struggled a little. He didn’t want to admit it even to himself. Good thing that Laurent was persistent and didn’t let Mack freak out.

Mackenzie doubts and fears felt real and even with a lot of concerns and denial he didn’t break apart from Laurent and I really loved him for that. He just took more time to notice that his feelings for Laurie were unquestionable and real.

Laurent and Mackenzie together were so amazing. They were hot, yeah yeah! They were also sweet and felt like a real couple. I can say I absolutely connected with them.

I also loved the other characters; Tayler in special. And even though River was a little of an ass with Laurent at first, I liked him too. So here is a think about these two characters (Tayler and River): I think there were something between them. Did you pick up the sexual tension as I did? I mean, they just snapped at each other but was clear for me that they needed a bed. Seriously, it was just me seeing it?

Anyway, this story was delightful. It was well written with Mackenzie point of view and I really loved how it worked.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was:

I’m curious about Laurent’s uncle and I wanted to see the jerk going to hell. In the book, he appears briefly and I really wanted to know what happened to him and what he really did to Laurent in the past. Also, I wanted to see Henry (Laurent’s ex) going to hell too… Yes, I think I’m a little revengeful in the moment. Lol

Well, I was just looking for updates about this author, since this is my first book by her. And just found out that will be published another as a book sequel to this one. Yay! *Happy dance* So, yeah, I’m happy.

If you didn’t read this book yet, go get it now and read. I recommend!

The cover art by KHD Graphics is nice and sexy.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Ebook: 234 pages

Published May 25th, 2017 by Euphoria Press

Release Blitz for RJ Scott’s Kingdom Series vol 1

 

Buy Links: Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2srlI6P

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2t0Oto0

 
Cover: Meredith Russell
 
Length: 81,000 words
 
Blurb
 

The Vampire Contract


A vampire guilty of murder on the run from justice to prove his innocence. A werewolf sent to retrieve him with one thought ~ that only the guilty run.


Vampire Micah Jamieson is found guilty of killing his human husband. He runs from the execution he is facing to get home. He just has to pray he’ll reach home before supernatural law enforcement, in the shape of a Glitnir Court Retriever close in on him.


Wolf shifter and Retriever, Connor Strand easily captures Micah and he’s fully prepared to take the runaway in. But his wolf has other ideas.


Something about Micah challenges Connor and his long held beliefs. What if Micah is actually innocent? Will Connor put to one side his own prejudices, and then risk both his life and career to keep Micah safe?


The Guilty Werewolf


Declan Finlay is the best Retriever that Glitnir has.


Well, he is now that Connor Strand has gone rogue.


He is sent to find Connor – the guilty werewolf. But he doubts that his best friend could ever be guilty and he resolves to track him down and find out why he ran with the renegade vampire.


When the Fae Alliance, reporting to Glitnir, demand that he not go alone he is forced to accept the Incubus, Levi Tiernan, an assassin, as his companion on the journey. If Declan doesn’t kill Connor, then Levi will.


What happens when old lust and love dictate action and suddenly Declan is questioning everything he loves.


The Warlock’s Secret


In a world where magic is rare, Joseph Jamieson is one of the most powerful holders of power. Orophin Tiwele, or Phin to his friends, is the son of the Elf King and has magic of his own. The rules say two supernatural beings with magic cannot be together and Joseph and Phin have lived by that rule despite their attraction to each other.


The resistance is growing larger each day, but traitors threaten everything Joseph has built. He wants peace, but soon comes to realize the way to peace, is through war.


When the only thing that will save lives is Joseph and Phin working together, it becomes impossible to see where magic and passion end and where love could begin.

 



Author Bio


RJ Scott is the bestselling romance author of over 100 romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men and women who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.


The last time she had a weekís break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldnít defeat.


mailto:rj@rjscott.co.uk
www.rjscott.co.uk/
www.facebook.com/author.rjscott?ref=ts&fref=ts
www.goodreads.com/author/show/3432558.R_J_Scott
twitter.com/Rjscott_author
www.librarything.com/author/scottrj

Giveaway

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A MelanieM Review: The Lure of Port Stephen by Sydney Blackburn

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Robbie Wales is young and starting a new job in a new town, on his own. Coming from a split family, he was raised by his mother and maternal grandparents and came out as a teen without a lot of fuss, but his father, whom he only saw infrequently, has never known. As an adult, he’s found he’s got a lot in common with his father, and they’re finally getting to know each other. He fears coming out to his father may jeopardize that.

Then he meets Raj Williams, the attractive man in the trailer next to his father’s in a seasonal RV park. Raj is handsome, sophisticated, yet loves to fish and watch silly Disney movies.

Raj finds Robbie equally interesting. But Robbie’s still in the closet, at least in Port Stephen, and Raj’s ex used that as an excuse to treat him as nothing more than a friend with benefits. He’s not interested in a repeat experience.

Robbie finally finds the courage to come out to his father, but was it all just for a summer fling?

The Lure of Port Stephen by Sydney Blackburn is in many ways like spending the day out on or by the water.  It’s a hot summer day read, sexy, sweet,  and a little steamy.  Its got fish.   Men that like to fish.  And have lots of sex.  Plus there’s a sweet coming out story and falling in love.  In other words, there’s a lot to like here.

Blackburn does a lovely job in the characterization of Raj and Robbie and their respective families.  Robbie, a machinist, is trying to reconnect with his Dad who lives in a trailer with his stepmother by the water.  He’s out to his mom and everyone else but not his Dad, and he’s still trying to figure out their relationship.  Robbie is young but still has a maturity about him that’s wonderful here.  He’s not ashamed to be gay, he’s just not sure of his place yet in his father’s life.  Then he meets the handsome, gay man who has the trailer lot next door to his dad’s for the summer, Raj Williams.  Down from Toronto, Raj has a work job that allows him to move around so he can enjoy his summer at Port Stephens.  Raj never figured on meeting Robbie.  A gay fling that turns into friendship and then more.

I found I started to engage in this romance more when they decided to become more serious about each other.  Up until then, while I enjoyed the characters, I wasn’t terribly invested in the romance.  After several events, especially (my favorites) the ones with Robbie’s dad, the story grew wings for me.  In fact, the scenes that resonated the most with me?  All the coming out ones, and the ones that followed. It includes those between Raj and Robbie’s dad, so funny and poignant.

I thought the ending was sweet if a little abrupt.  Maybe an epilogue wouldn’t have hurt here. but definitely more was needed.  Still I would recommend The Lure of Port Stephen by Sydney Blackburn as a sweet contemporary romance.

Cover art by Natasha Snow is beautiful and perfect for the story.

Sales Links

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Book Details:

ebook
Published May 22nd 2017 by NineStar Press
ISBN139781947139121

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Summer Heat by Jay Northcote

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

I generally enjoy a good friends-to-lovers story and this was no exception. Except that it was better than many and took place between two BFFs on a well-deserved holiday vacation at a gay resort in Spain—a beautiful setting for a story with plenty of buildup and a sweet conclusion.

Adam had been living with his older lover, Drew, for five years, but when he’s suddenly too mature to suit his twink-loving man, he’s unceremoniously dumped for someone else and finds himself out in the cold with no place to go except to his BFF’s place. Finn, of course, accepts him with open arms, having loved Adam as more than a friend for many years. Finn is definitely not attached to anyone else so it’s a win-win situation for both of them.

When Adam recalls that he’d booked a week’s vacation at a gay resort for himself and Drew, he asks Finn to go with him instead, thus setting the scene for the evolution of the friends-to-lovers theme.

Though each has the hots for the other, it’s not until a cute guy named Niall invites Finn for a threesome with Adam that Finn reluctantly accepts. And it’s not that he doesn’t want sex with Adam—it’s just that he’s worried their friendship will fall apart. What follows is super-hot—readers had better get out their personal fans for this one—and it’s something both men decide to continue for their week away. Little do they realize they won’t be able to stop and won’t want to either.

I loved this story. The romance was just perfect. The sexy times weren’t too shabby either. I always enjoy Jay Northcote’s work and it just keeps getting better. This would be a great book to take on vacation and let your imagination run wild with the guys as they share their own vacation adventure with readers. Highly recommended!

The gorgeous color photo cover of a very hot guy was designed by Garrett Leigh and is perfect for this story.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 205 pages
Published June 9th 2017 by Jaybird Press
Original TitleSummer Heat
Edition LanguageEnglish