Category: M/M Book Reviews

Dive Into the Holiday Season with Christmas Stories from RJ Scott (giveaway)

Dive Into the Holiday Season with Christmas Stories from RJ Scott

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” and I LOVE it! There’s something special about Christmas stories and as you can see, I also love writing them 🙂

In no particular order here they are:

The

Christmas

Throwaway

The Christmas Throwaway, was my first Christmas themed book.
Written as a short story for someone who was poorly in J2
fan fiction, I extended it from two thousand short words to
over forty and so Ben and Zach were created.

The book, a story of a young man thrown out of his house at
Christmas for being gay, did really surprisingly well. It
was All Romance’s best selling book of 2010 and also spent a
lot of time in the top 300 of all romance novels on Amazon.
It’s now available in Audio and has been translated into
Spanish, Italian,  French and now German. I love this little book
that could so much.

 

The Road To Frosty Hollow

I love the concept of a road trip, particularly when you fall in love on that journey. Add in two men who have known each other a very long time and this is a story written with Meredith Russell that ticks all the boxes for a Christmas Romance.

Jesse’s

Christmas

This was my second Christmas themed book and spent some
time with an old publisher before I was lucky enough
to get it back.  As soon as I got it back I doubled
it in size!
The story of someone who doesn’t really like Christmas
landing in a town that won an award for best Christmas
Town made me smile the entire time I was writing it.I couldn’t fail to love Gabriel who showed Jesse what
Christmas could be about and how it is possibleto love again.

 

Snow & Secrets

One of my favourite storylines in a romance book at Christmas is the idea of a snowy cabin, enforced isolation, and two men falling in love.
Snow, secrets, some danger, one hot tub, Christmas decorations, and family.

New

York Christmas

Awwww, my boys in New York.  I loved writing this book.
It started life as a J2 fanfiction twelve days of Christmas
type short story.
When I rewrote it I wanted to keep that idea of the days
before Christmas, although of course the book starts just
before Thanksgiving and ends in the New Year.
There is also
a free short story following on, available at Amber Kell’s
blog here

 

 

Snow In Montana 

My newest Christmas book, the fourth story in the Montana series is a look at Justin and Adam, alongside a whole new romance between a B list actor and a Sheriff.
I love Christmas movies, and this novel is set against the March backdrop for filming *Snow In Montana* starring The King Of Christmas (TM) Jordan Darby. Meeting Ryan Carter, the local sheriff, is way too tempting for Jordan. How long can he stay in the closet?

Angel

In A Book Shop

The
story of an angel and a man set in a book shop. I mean, how
could I not enjoy writing this, it had a bookshop, a man
with wings, and an angsty sad hero. Win/Win.
It was based loosely on a short I wrote for Dreamspinner way
back in 2010 (a bit, not much really, it was supposed to but
it kind of grew like topsy and became something else).
The short story I had written was my first ever accepted
work for publishing and it HAD to be extended and become
something else.

Texas Christmas

Writing the Texas series was a labour of love, and I had to put in a Christmas story for Jack, Riley, and their extended family.

There is of course drama with the Campbell-Hayes, including a terrifying car trip home with the Christmas Tree. Add in the boy’s new family and this ends up being a very interesting Christmas for them all.

The

Case Of The Sinful Santa

End Street Detective Agency Book 4, written with Amber
Kell

How could we not explore the idea of a Klaus family in this
series of books featuring vampires, demons, angels, dragons
and one kind of human, along with a cast of many other
paranormals?

In this book we explored what it must be like born into the
Klaus family but not wanting to be a Santa… And and of
course, we introduced our very own Angel just to shake
things up.

Christmas

in the Sun

The Sapphire Cay series comes to an end with book 6.

I have loved writing this series with my very close friend
Meredith Russell and we had to give the boys a Christmas
book in 2013.

We bought back a wedding planner with OCD decorating
tendencies and his sexy Marine, Lucas and Dylan and a stray
dog, and gave all of our boys a Christmas Day they wouldn’t
forget.

The

Journal Of Sanctuary One

(Sanctuary book 6)

Jake and Sean, with their love/hate relationship stuck in a
cabin in the middle of nowhere for Christmas. Of course the
Bullen storyline features but mostly this is me ticking ALL
of my Christmas boxes.

Two men, a cabin, stranded, anger, hate, love, sex and
gratuitous use of a running machine. Sighs. I loved writing
this book.

Deefur

and the Mistletoe Incident

A free short story Christmas gift

This was part of a huge Christmas Anthology that I pulled
together in 2013 featuring some 25 new authors. It is the sequel to Deefur The Dog, featuring a Manny, a widower, a sweet child, and of course a Great Dane called Deefur.

This year it is being published with it’s own cover and wont
cost you a penny!

Texas

Winter (Texas #2)

The book that was never supposed to be written…  Did
you know The Heart Of Texas was supposed to be a stand alone?
ROFL… I couldn’t leave it though and so Texas winter was
born.

Snow doesn’t fall a lot in Texas but this story centers
around a freak one-day snowfall. Add in a daughter Riley
didn’t know he had and the Campbell-Hayes have their first
real Christmas.

The

Party – A blog story from six authors

Written in 2012… Henry and Jack had thought
nothing could ever drive them apart. They were wrong. Three
months have passed since Jack had walked out of the home
they shared, and Henry had been too stupid to take back the
hurtful things he’d said.

Both assured by their respective parents that the other
would not be present at Henry’s mother’s annual Christmas
gathering, they attend. Finding they have been duped into
seeing each other, Henry realizes that this may be his only
chance to try and make things right. But will he be able to
convince Jack to come home?

 

Author Bio:

RJ Scott is the bestselling gay romance author of over ninety MM romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men 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.

RJ also writes MF romance under the name Rozenn Scott.

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

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: Elemental Ride by Mell Eight

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

elemental-rideRawley isn’t the type to crush hard and fast on anyone, but he’s somehow helpless when it comes to the new mailman. Even his bikes and his job as enforcer for a local motorcycle gang, the center of his world, don’t compare to his interest in Reign. Unfortunately, Reign doesn’t seem to be as interested—but secrets and magic have a way of turning everything upside down.

Elemental Ride is a short story by Mell Eight in the Roughhouse Riders series (written by different authors) by LT3 Press. Many of the things I liked about it can’t really be discussed here as they fall into spoiler territory and take away the aha moments the author has in store for the readers.

Lets just say its a  neat idea and I can’t say that I’ve seen it in another story before, at least handled in this manner.  Its both a strength of Elemental Ride and one place where the story falls a little short.  Short as in length.   For such a complicated aspect to this plot line (and trust me, this is Mell Eight’s typical weird, twisted little world), this story needed to be far longer than 65 pages.

I liked Rawley. I got a real sense of the man, his place but not his gang.  Since motorcycles clubs, it is their series after all, are his family, they should play a huge part of this, and I never got that really.  I needed more background here.  Perhaps there’s another book I’m missing.

There is romance but it is not the focus but the mysteries that the author is  playing with that are the key here.  So when the romance/love does occur, the connection you have with it isn’t as strong as it might have been, at least in my opinion.  Again, had this story been enlarged to the degree that all the elements had the layers they deserve and the time for the author to enrich them with dimension, more scenes, and way more dialog, then I believe this would be not only a superb story but one that showcases this author’s amazing imagination just as it deserves to be.

I enjoyed Elemental Ride, but I was always aware that it could have been so much more.

Cover art by Natasha Snow is hot and works for the story.  Loved it.

Sales Links

Less Than Three Press

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Book Details:

ebook, 65 pages
Published November 8th 2016 by Less Than Three Press
ISBN139781620048863
Edition LanguageEnglish

Charlie Cochrane on Writing Historicals and her holiday release ‘Wild Bells’ (guest blog)

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Wild Bells by Charlie Cochrane

Purchase at  7104e-waxcreative-amazon-kindle

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Charlie Cochrane. one of our favorite authors, here today to share with our readers about writing historicals and her latest release, Wild Bells. Welcome, Charlie.

~

Why does “blizzard” make Charlie twitch?

The word “blizzard” makes me shudder. Not because I’ve ever been stuck out in one (although we did once have the most horrendous snow affected car journey) but because I used it in speech in the first edition of my Regency, “The Shade on a Fine Day”.  Now, it sounds a nice old word, doesn’t it? You can imagine King Lear blethering on about blizzards on the blasted heath. It isn’t. It’s late Victorian and comes from North America so my nice, gay Regency curate couldn’t have used it, unless he actually coined the word and it then somehow crossed the Atlantic.  Having the book come out in a revised edition has allowed me to correct my error!

I have to admit that no readers have ever taken me to task for this mistake, because it’s not an obvious blooper, but I know, which is quite sufficient. Sometimes authors are their own hardest critics. I hate getting anything wrong in my historicals, although things do slip through and my wonderful editors usually catch those, but the odd bit of stuff creeps into the final text, usually because something sounds old and isn’t.

Writing historicals can be a tricky business. To start with, that a lot of the challenge lies in the conscientious author’s head. If we didn’t care about getting things right, we could just plough on, putting the sound of Big Ben’s chimes into a Regency or letting our Victorian hero eat Jelly Babies, not checking dates and times and brands and all the other things which keep authors awake at night. We have to remember to get our men to raise their hats to a lady, to dress for dinner and to use the right words.

There is also a cadence and a rhythm to language, which makes some historicals (be they novels, films or tv programmes) sound out of kilter. I’d say to any aspirant historical writer to read things from the era they’re looking at. Novels, newspapers, plays, anything to get a feel for the words and the way they were used.

Now, there’s always the argument that says that the past isn’t so different from now. People haven’t changed, not matter what people say about the (surely imaginary) “good old days”, when everyone was decent and honest. I’m sure Ham, Shem and Japhet probably cheated at Ludo to get one over on Noah. I was recently reading about two Irish forwards dumping a Welsh rugby player into the crowd during the game, leaving him with nasty injuries including a couple of fractured ribs. Back in 1999? No. Back in 1899.

Human nature remains recognisable, even if the experiences and social conditions which play such a part in moulding people are different according to the time and place where they were raised. So getting it right in the story isn’t just a matter of language or customs, it’s about attitudes and expectations. I recently heard a keynote speech (at the Queer Company event) which illustrated the huge differences between the Regency era – the sort of period in which both the Wild Bells stories are set) and the Victorian age, and how that transformation had come about due to a number of factors such as movement into cities and economic changes. Fascinating stuff, all of which was new to me, even if I knew about the consequences.

The past has a wonderful capacity to surprise us; and sometimes it catches us out.

Wild Bells – Two stories by Charlie Cochrane

The Shade on a Fine Day:
Curate William Church may set the hearts of the parish’s young ladies aflame, but he doesn’t want their affection or presents, no matter how much they want to give them to him. He has his sights set elsewhere, for a love he’s not allowed to indulge. One night, eight for dinner at the Canon’s table means the potential arrival of a ghost. But what message will the spirit bring and which of the young men around the table is it for?

The Angel in the Window:
Two officers, one ship, one common enemy.
Alexander Porterfield may be one of the rising stars of the British navy, but his relationship with his first lieutenant, Tom Anderson, makes him vulnerable. To blackmail, to anxieties about exposure—and to losing Tom, either in battle or to another ship. When danger comes more from the English than the French, where should a man turn?

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About the Author

As Charlie Cochrane couldn’t be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her favourite genre is gay fiction, sometimes historical (sometimes hysterical) and usually with a mystery thrown into the mix.

She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People, and International Thriller Writers Inc., with titles published by Carina, Samhain, Bold Strokes Books, Lethe, MLR, and Riptide. She regularly appears with The Deadly Dames and is on the organising team for UK Meet.

To sign up for her newsletter, email her at cochrane.charlie2@googlemail.com, or catch her at:

An Ali Review: Painting with Fire (Survivors Find Love #1) by Lissa Kasey

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
painting-with-fire-by-lissa-kaseyCharlie “Wood Chuck” Fox knows his best friend and fellow wildfire firefighter Jessie Row had a major family break up in her past. Charlie has adopted her into his heart and into his huge family and when Jessie gets word her mother has passed away, Charlie fears returning home is going to tear her up.
Bastian Hart’s choice of career as a doll painter has put him at odds with his family. He’s made a sanctuary for himself on the San Juan Island of Friday Harbor, an hour away from his family. He welcomes his aunt Jessie and her friend Charlie into his house as they all prepare for the upcoming funeral. Charlie and Bastian discover a spark of smoldering fire igniting between them, but Charlie is unwilling to push and Bastian hesitant to trust. 

 They will have to wade through pain, hate, and fear to find their future together.
This was a lovely story about two unlikely men falling in love.  When Charlie and Jessie go back to her home town they end up stating with Bastian.  Bastian is younger and is a doll maker for a living.  He has had an abusive past with his family and he’s very lonely and fragile.  The two men are immediately attracted to each other and their relationship is a slow bloom kind of thing.  Bastian has some emotional issues he needs to work through and Charlie has the patience to take the time to work through them with him.  I enjoyed watching these two fall in love and I liked them as a couple.
I found Bastian’s job really interesting and something I’ve never read in a romance story before.  I felt the author did a good job showing us what this profession entails and also uses it to show us facets of Bastien’s personality.  I also felt the atmosphere was set well.  It was easy to image the town and Bastian’s home.  
Overall I really enjoyed this.  The main plot was a classic hurt/comfort trope but the author added in enough different things (such as Bastian’s job) to make it feel like a unique story.  This is a story I would recommend and I will be looking forward to more books in this series.
 The cover art is nice enough but does not really stand out to me.  
Sales Links

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Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 173 pages
Published December 2nd 2016
ASIN B01MDPH0X0
Edition Language
English Series Survivors Find Love #1

A Caryn Review: You Are Not Me (’90s Coming of Age #2) by Leta Blake

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

you-are-not-me-by-leta-blakeI can’t remember the last time I was this emotionally connected to a book.  I read this through in one sitting, and I kept wanting to reach in and shake Peter, or warn him, or give him a hug, or something!!  And I’m now so invested I can’t wait for the last installment!

The book picks up immediately after Pictures of You ends – the summer between high school and college.  Peter’s boyfriend and first love, Adam, is in Italy to stay with his parents until college starts in the fall, while Peter remains at home, working to save money to go to University of Tennessee.  He’s still feeling that uncomfortable mix of guilt and want that was with him all through senior year, missing Adam, and wondering what really will happen when Adam gets back.

But the summer turns into a series of revelations for Peter.  All his high school friends?  Actually more of Adam’s friends, and Peter doesn’t have much in common with them anymore now that Adam is gone.  His parents, who had been distant and uninvolved his entire life, turn over a new leaf and become both supportive and intrusive.  Peter starts spending more time with Robert (his drag queen boss) and her boyfriend, and they both encourage him to get to know other gay people.  He had his first taste of being open and honest when he came out to his parents, and now he is exploring what it means to be gay, and thinking about coming out to the world at large.  His boss Robert takes it upon himself to introduce Peter to the gay community of Knoxville, primarily through  the club where he performs as a drag queen.  I was reminded at this point that Peter is still only 19 years old, with teenage judgement and teenage hormones – kudos to the author for making sure the reader never loses sight of this as he goes through all these difficult situations!  When he is exposed to the world of alcohol, drugs, anonymous sex and promiscuity, he gets conflicting advice from his friends, from “party hard” to “be safe”, and meanwhile he is still trying to decide how he is going to handle Adam when he comes back home.

To complicate things further, Daniel – who was introduced in the first book when Peter met him at Robert’s house – is back in the picture.  The initial attraction that Peter felt for him is still there, and perhaps even stronger now that Adam is only a voice on the phone or in a letter.  Daniel is everything that Adam is not:  he is completely out, mature, responsible, looking out for Peter and trying to keep him out of trouble, and completely honest with everybody.  Always.  Daniel wants Peter, everyone knows it, but he will not pursue Peter as long as Peter wants to stay faithful to Adam.

Peter’s choice:  stay with his closeted boyfriend whom he still loves and who says he needs him, or break it off and pursue what he knows would be a healthier relationship.  It should be an easy choice, but Adam still exercises a fascination that Peter has trouble resisting, and since Peter is basically loyal and generous, he can’t let Adam go.

That’s the kind of choice that makes a person really examine their values and their past decisions, knowing that the choice they make now will have a permanent influence on who they become.  Heavy stuff!  But sympathetically written, engaging, and once again ending at just the right spot when Peter makes that choice.

Finally, I really appreciated how the hysteria surrounding HIV/AIDS in the early 90s was presented.  The ways different gay men approached safe (or not) sex, testing, and those who were HIV positive.  25 years later, HIV is now a manageable chronic illness, and the general public is no longer so fearful of touching or even being around HIV positive people.  But I remember those days, remember doing HIV awareness programs in high schools – in the bible belt where we were forbidden to talk about condoms or safe sex! – and how bigots hoped that the “gay plague” would wipe out homosexuals.  Even though we have a long way to go for equality, we have come really far!

Cover is gorgeous and perfect for the story and series.

Sales Links

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Book Details:

ebook, 328 pages
Published November 29th 2016 by Leta Blake Books
ISBN139781626227613
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series’90s Coming of Age #2

In Our Holiday Audiobook Spotlight: Snowed In by Teodora Kostova (special audio excerpt and giveaway)

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Title: Snowed In
Author: Teodora Kostova
Release Date: November 14th 2016
Genre: Audiobook, Contemporary MM Romance

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BLURB

Be careful what you wish for…

Nate has been in love with Quinn, his brother’s best friend, for as long as he can remember. But when he finally gets the chance to show Quinn how he feels, his heart gets broken in the most unexpected way.

Second chances come when you least expect them…

Quinn doesn’t believe in miracles, especially not Christmas ones. When he decides to win Nate back he knows it won’t be easy. The last thing he expects is a health scare, a road trip and a vicious snow storm to work in his favor.

In the end, a cabin in the woods turns out to be not only the shelter they desperately need, but also Quinn’s very own Christmas miracle.

Sometimes, to forgive, you need to get snowed in…

Buy Links: Audible | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Goodreads

Book Trailer: Youtube

Snowed In audio book tour

Excerpt #4

The guy peered above Nate’s shoulder, his arm still curled around Nate’s waist protectively. Quinn’s stare zeroed in on the fingers fanned out on Nate’s stomach, and primal jealousy erupted strong and hot in his gut.

“Nate,” Brandon said, standing up and stepping in front of Quinn, shielding him from view.  “Wanna get dressed and come out here? We need to talk.”

Nate’s lips curved into a cruel smile. “Nah. I’m good.” He entwined his fingers with the ones on his stomach, turned his head around and gave the guy a sweet, lingering kiss.

“Nate…” There was a warning in Brandon’s voice, but Nate didn’t pay him any heed. He dragged the guy into his bedroom and slammed the door behind them.

“Fucking immature asshole,” Brandon muttered as he stalked into the direction of Nate’s bedroom. He walked in without knocking, completely ignoring the shouting that came from inside.

Quinn dropped his face into his hands. Confused, hurt, and utterly miserable, he contemplated getting up, going out the door and never coming back. The past should stay buried, right? There was nothing keeping him in Chicago anymore. He’d graduated, Kai was gone… The world was his oyster. He could do anything he wanted, go anywhere he liked.

And yet… The only place he wanted to be was where Nate was.

Quinn could hear shouting coming from the bedroom, but his head was pounding and he couldn’t focus enough to get exactly what was said. He could guess that Brandon was ripping into his brother and, the stubborn hothead Nate was. he wasn’t budging an inch.

That could go for a while.

Surprisingly, Brandon stormed out of the room a moment later, his frown making him seem much older than his twenty four years.

“He’ll be right out,” he declared, storming into the kitchen and opening the fridge with more force than necessary, rattling the contents inside.

EXCERPT

Nate could hear the cruelty in his tone but he didn’t care. He’d never been this angry in his life, and if Quinn wasn’t here to face the mess he’d caused, Nate was going to use the next best thing – the traitor who’d chosen him over his own brother.

“I didn’t know any of that,” Brandon said, his eyes softening. He reached for Nate, but Nate whipped his hand away, taking a step back.

“Don’t fucking touch me!”

Angry tears prickled behind his eyes, making him feel humiliated even more. Spinning around on his heel, he ignored Brandon’s voice calling him back and stomped into to his room, slamming the door.

He didn’t make it to the bed. The anger, grief, and loss he’d felt overwhelmed him and Nate slumped to the floor, a ragged sob tearing out of his throat.

I hope one day you can forgive me…

Not a chance in fucking hell.

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**GIVEAWAY: for a chance to win 3 x Snowed In audiobooks, 3 x Snowed In ebooks, 1 SIGNED Snowed In paperback (International) and a $5 Amazon giftcard!!!

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About the Author

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Hi, my name is Teodora and I live in London with my husband and my son. I’ve been writing ever since I can remember, but it became my full time job a few years ago when I decided that everything else I’ve tried bores me to death and I have to do what I’ve always wanted to do, but never had the guts to fully embrace. I’ve been a journalist, an editor, a personal assistant and an interior designer among other things, but as soon as the novelty of the new, exciting job wears off, I always go back to writing. Being twitchy, impatient, loud and hasty are not qualities that help a writer, because I have to sit alone, preferably still, and write for most of the day, but I absolutely love it. It’s the only time that I’m truly at peace and the only thing I can do for more than ten minutes at a time – my son has a bigger attention span than me.

When I’m procrastinating, I like to go to the gym, cook Italian meals (and eat them), read, listen to rock music, watch indie movies and True Blood re-runs. Or, in the worst case scenario, get beaten at every Nintendo Wii game by a very inventive kid.

Don’t be shy and get in touch – I love connecting with my readers.

Links: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Blog Stops:

December 1st – Socially Awkward Book Nerd | The Blogger Girls | Nerd Girl Official | Dawn’s Reading Nook

December 2nd – Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words | Outrageous Heroes

December 3rd – Love Bytes Reviews

December 5th – Making It Happen | BFD Book Blog | MM Good Book Reviews | My Fiction Nook

December 6th – The Purple Rose Tea House

December 7th – Addison Albright | MJs Book Blog and Reviews

December 8th – Because Two Men are Better Than One | Bayou Book Junkie

December 9th – Bonkers About Books

December 12th – Prism Book Alliance | Drops of Ink

December 13th – Diverse Reader

December 14th – All in One Place

December 15th – Happily Ever Chapter | Sinfully Gay Romance | Velvet Panic

December 16th – TTC Books and More | Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents | Triple A

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