Category: M/M Contemporary Fiction

Cover Reveal for Shake The Stars by V.L. Locey (giveaway)

 

Pre-Order Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
 
Length: 100,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Sloan J Designs
 
Publisher: Gone Writing Publishing
 
Blurb
 

Spending time in the Poconos with his family was the last thing Dane Forrester wanted to do over the summer. He had dreams of spending his last break touring Europe and gathering story ideas for his upcoming creative writing classes before heading to college. Maybe even finding that elusive first love in a small café in Paris, or along the Rhine, or even in a sultry villa in Italy. But no, he was stuck at the Silver Fir Lodge with his family where his dreams of romance and passion would wither and die a slow painful death, or so he imagined.


When all seemed lost, the budding wordsmith is saved—in more than one sense—by Khalid Novak, a lifeguard at the lodge’s pool. Khalid is two years older, a bit more sophisticated, and the most incredibly alluring thing Dane has ever seen. The two young men find themselves joyously wound in a searing romance that teaches Dane that love can be wildly intense yet fleeting so one should revel in it when the discovery is made.


Can this summer romance survive the chill of autumn as well as the winds of time?

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.


V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.


When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

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A MelanieM Review :Seeing Red (Trowchester Series #4) by Alex Beecroft

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Bad boys don’t tame easy.

Victor is a bad man. Is there anything he won’t do for power and money?

Destroy a local business so he can buy it cheap? Kick out its owners and turn it into a cash cow? He relishes the chance.

Idris is a good man in possession of a renowned tea-house. He’s put his heart and soul into the place. It’s everything he has and wants…

Except for Victor.

He wants Victor too.

Can the love of a compassionate man soften a predator’s heart before it’s too late? Or is Idris doomed to lose his life’s work, and his heart with it?

A contemporary mm romance, Seeing Red is a long-awaited new installment of the critically acclaimed Trowchester Series.

Each book in the series is a standalone, and can be read in any order.

I have been an enthusiastic fan of Alex Beecroft’s Trowchester series since the release of the first story, Trowchester Blues.  There we met Finn Hulme, a retired criminal, now proud owner of a bookshop in Trowchester and Michael May, ex cop come to the village and his childhood home full of bad memories.  Everything about that story has staying power.  Vivid complicated characters, a powerful romance with a troubled and rocky path, realistic given the men, and a complex plot that included Finn’s past returning to haunt him.  All that while introducing us to the village of Trowchester.  The canals, the canal boats, the shops, the people, and overall atmosphere of ancient and waning, new and struggling.  So remarkable and vivid that the place just felt as though you could go visit and walk the streets, but stay in the lights in certain areas.

This first novel set the format for the characters and plots really for the stories that followed in the series.  Contemporary romance yes, but the main characters?  Unlike really any I’d met.  They felt raw, real, sweet and naive, solemn and severe, gritty and savvy, broken and internally twisted.Even sociopathic in some cases, their upbringing warm or a horror, or even , here where several of the characters and their culture is so far removed from the British norm.

Seeing Red is another spectacular novel and romance which further elevates this series.  It starts with Victor and his very different perspective.  It’s that of a man who is going to destroy someone we have come to love through the previous stories, Idris and his quirky tea shop.  However, Beecroft turns this into a psychological study of a man who’s entire life has been a struggle of fear and survival, stemming from abandonment and pain, and constant abuse.    Victor has used the items of wealth as barriers against all that in his life, watches, clothes, condos, and a job he hates. All a wall against the existence he had growing up and the voice that beats against his brain and heart constantly when he lets it.  It’s a fierce and scary thing.

On the other end of the spectrum is sweet, and somewhat naive Idris, running his shop with  his cousin from Bangladesh, where being gay is a crime.  But even in Trowchester, things are uncertain.  Brexit and the rise of hate crimes in England against Muslims are making Lalima  uneasy and she is thinking of returning.  But this is his home and his special place, his friends, and his sanctuary. His and others.  Something we have come to understand through the stories.  His gentle kind and loving nature shines like a welcoming beam through the pages ….to us and to Victor.

The thing is that Victor is unformed in so many ways.  He’s broken and stuck as a fearful almost child/man who has never seen the consequences of his actions or wanted something other than things.  All that will change now.

Seeing Red is shattering, heartbreaking, raw, beautiful, and incredible.  It’s about love and redemption.

And as Alex Beecroft does, enlarging one’s universe again and again.

There are things here that as an American I will never quite get.  The obsession and deep pain that gets inflicted on those with red hair in the UK or England.  Yes, people in the US get their share of getting called “carrot head” and other names, but basically its kid stuff.  Not the culturally deep seated derision and worse that seems to be reserved for “Gingers” over there.  That too comes through loud and clear though Victor .

Not familiar with this series?  Each is a standalone so start anywhere.  Including here.  Then go and get each one.  They are perfection and absorbing.  I highly recommend them all.

Cover art is gorgeous.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 298 pages
Published May 12th 2019
ASINB07RSWBMZ7

Check out the rest of the Trowchester Series here

An Alisa Review: Come Play: An MM Erotica Charity Anthology

Rating:  4.5 stars out of 5

Watch and Learn if the Coach’s Little Kitten can be Tamed. Follow the Doctor’s Orders and read all about Brotherly Love. Understand Abstract Love and then take a peek at A Kink Chronicles Short. It’s all about Pretty Boys, The Kiss, and Particular Tastes bundled up in this must-have erotic anthology.

Come, play with us.

Abstract Love by Sara Dobie Bauer

A Kink Chronicles Short by Luna David

Brotherly Love by Lynn Van Dorn

Coach’s Little Kitten by Quin Perin

Doctor’s Orders by Emma Jaye

Particular Tastes by T.S. McKinney

Pretty Boy by E.M. Denning

Tamed by T.M. Chris

The Kiss by A.G. Carothers

Watch and Learn by K.C. Wells

** All proceeds from this anthology will be donated to The Trevor Project. https://www.thetrevorproject.org **

This anthology features a collection of erotic MM short stories.

I love collections like this, it gives such a great variety to read and exposes me to new authors.  I really enjoyed the interactions with these characters for the most part and what I didn’t were mostly just items I would stay away from in my usual reading.  I love that this collection of stories is benefiting The Trevor Project tool, it always makes me appreciate authors a bit more when I know they care.

In Coach’s Little Kitten Baxter is out satisfying his sexual urges when Caleb catches his eye.  I liked the connection that Caleb and Baxter had, even if they more than likely won’t see each other again.  Donovan is Abstract Love fights his attraction to Sam with all his might.  But we get to see that he is deeper than what he shows on the surface and it may just take him a little bit to come to terms with how he is feeling.

In The Kiss we see Liam search out his desires and finds much more than he ever bargained for with Gavin.  Some of the definitions within this story confused me, especially primal, but I liked reading about BDSM with a slightly different angle.  I loved Paul in Pretty Boy, even when he was sure that no one would want his in his women’s clothes and makeup, he still wears them even in secret.  Once Mark realizes what’s going on though he quickly shows Paul how much it doesn’t bother him, I will point out for some this story had the most taboo to it, not that it bothered me ;).

In Particular Tastes Christian is still trying to come to terms with what happened months ago but Hudson doesn’t want that to happen.  It was funny seeing neither of them knowing how to actually approach the other but finally get a chance to figure it out. Doctor’s Orders pulled at your heart strings before it got to the kinky part, Alex has been through so much.  I was glad that Nate was able to show Alex that he can be whatever he needs to be and there is nothing Alex could do that would make Nate back away, even trying his kink he has never told anyone about.

I love Jay and Jamie in Brotherly Love, though I have to say I really hated the relationship their parents had with the other with Jay’s mom and also Jamie’s dad showing contempt or not love towards their step-sons.  I hated seeing that these two have been battling with their feelings for so long but finally get the chance to figure it out, even if Jay pushes a bit.  I loved how accepting Jay’s father was of their relationship and Jamie was able to gain that family when his father turned his back on them and the back and forth snippets helped to see how their relationship has evolved over the years.  In A Kink Chronicles Short we see Knox, Zach, Ronan and Jamie exploring some of their fantasies.  I love the closeness of these characters and how they are willing to do almost anything to make their fantasies come true knowing that Zach is true to Knox while Jamie is true to Ronan.

I hated seeing that Jake in Tamed has been shamed and hurt by so many Doms that while he longs to let go and for that connection he feels he has to fight for it.  I loved that Eduardo could see right through it and made it known that he would stand by Jake for however long it would take him to earn his trust before they go any farther.  Zac in Watch and Learn has never had good sex but Chris longs to show him what he’s been missing.  These two go to some weird parties that have somethings going on far beyond my comfort zone but it helps Zac learn what really turns him on.  I had the hardest time with their insistence that they didn’t want a relationship but ten months later they are having dinner together multiple times a week and doing special things for each other’s birthdays, I don’t know about you but it sounds like a relationship to me.

Cover art by Morningstar Ashley is great and gives just the right amount of these for this book.

Sales Links: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 680 pages

Published: June 11, 2019

Edition Language: English

Release Blitz for Come Play: An MM Erotica Charity Anthology

Book Title: Come Play – An MM Erotica Charity Anthology

Authors: Quin Perin, A.G. Carothers, E.M. Denning, Emma Jaye, K.C. Wells,

Lynn Van Dorn, Luna David, Sara Dobie Bauer, T.M. Chris, T.S. McKinney

Cover Artist: Morningstar Ashley

Release Date: June 11, 2019

Genre/s: M/M Erotica, M/M BDSM

Trope/s: Including hurt/comfort, first time, forbidden and others

Themes: Anthology includes BDSM and erotica. It has a wide variety of tastes/themes

Heat Rating:  A mix of 4 and 5 flames. This anthology features a collection of erotic MM short stories.     

Blurb

Watch and Learn if the Coach’s Little Kitten can be Tamed.

Follow the Doctor’s Orders and read all about Brotherly Love.

Understand Abstract Love and then take a peek at A Kink Chronicles Short.

It’s all about Pretty Boys, The Kiss, and Particular Tastes bundled up in this must-have erotic anthology.

Come, play with us.

Abstract Love by Sara Dobie Bauer

A Kink Chronicles Short by Luna David

Brotherly Love by Lynn Van Dorn

Coach’s Little Kitten by Quin Perin

Doctor’s Orders by Emma Jaye

Particular Tastes by T.S. McKinney

Pretty Boy by E.M. Denning

Tamed by T.M. Chris

The Kiss by A.G. Carothers

Watch and Learn by K.C. Wells

** All proceeds from this anthology will be donated to

💜💙💚💙 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 💙💚💙💜

 https://www.thetrevorproject.org **

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW

Universal Buy Link

Facebook Link for each Author

Quin Perin

A.G. Carothers

E.M. Denning

Emma Jaye

K.C. Wells

Lynn Van Dorn

Luna David

Sara Dobie Bauer

T.M. Chris

T.S. McKinney

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A MelanieM Review:Strike a Chord (Replay #4) by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

“You want to fake date me?”

Music is my life, my band is my heart and soul, and it’s all falling apart before my eyes.

A plan hatched from desperation as we both watch our careers burn down around us. Dating my best friend’s twin brother, Paris, who just so happens to be a gay icon at the moment seems like the perfect plan. And if we have a little fun along the way, where’s the harm in that? The band is spiraling, his football career is going up in flames, and the more the world falls down around us, the easier it is to get lost in each other.

But are stolen moments during our own busy schedules and hurried kisses hidden behind social media posts the basis for a real relationship, or is this just another thing that’s going to turn to dust in our hands?

**Strike a Chord is the fourth and final book in the Replay series. This series can be read in any order.

Tying up a series can always be a tricky business, especially if the series has rested its foundation on more than one couple.  In this case, its a band. K.M. Neuhold has stretched the arc over five books.  One a foundation story called Rock Bottom which shows the band Downward Spiral on the edge of imploding due to the personal problems of some of the band members after years of being together and incredible success. After that each band member gets their own story (which I have listed at the bottom of this review).  We see the band, their rise, each person’s demon’s and the SO, the relationship, the issues, and finally how it’s resolved for a HEA for that couple.  But the future of the band?  That’s left to this story and so is Benji, the last band member to get his HEA.

Strike a Chord (Replay #4) by K.M. Neuhold finally gets around to Benji, the “good” member of Downward Spiral, the one that can always be counted on not to bring the drama or any trouble, the stable one.  I am thrilled that Benji finally gets his time in the spotlight, his time to shine because he so deserves it.  Often the lowkey one in all the other stories, here Benji gets to take the stage and oh, my, how he takes command.

With his long flowing hair, elvish beauty, and lean body, Benji is gorgeous although in high school Paris initially thought mistook him for a pretty girl.  From the back at a locker in the hallway.    But that was the last time.  Then Benji turned around and Paris was lost.  And confused and totally in the closet until years later in the NFL.  Not so his twin brother Landon and Benji’s best friend also since high school.   Those two came out together, were inseparable until Benji and his band left for the road and success.

Strike a Chord begins with both men arriving almost at the same place in their careers and both dreading the future.  Benji believing his band will lose their contract and break up because of the deep personal issues of the others, including one back in the hospital and Paris ending his football career because of an injury and his age.  Neither knows exactly what is ahead of them or how to handle it.  Going home seems like the only answer for both.

The characterizations are quiet and fully realized.  I say quiet because while they lack the huge drama and specific medical or addiction issues of the others, the qualities of these men are no less compelling and real because they aren’t as angst driven as rest.  What starts off as a way to keep both men in the media while they figure out what happens next to themselves and their careers and lives becomes a believable and real relationship readers connect with.  It’s backed up by years of history between them so no case of instant love exists here. No, in fact the opposite exists, that both men have been in love with each other since high school and now, finally, get their chance at love and HEA.  After clearing up quite a few misconceptions and misunderstandings of course.

I enjoyed the Christmas family scenes (both families), the snow and the escape to the island paradise.  It was all so lovely and heartwarming. Just the delicious reconnection between them all over again?  Oh my word!   I read several passages over and over for the sweetness and the hotness combined.

The ending and the wrapup is everything I hoped for.  Sexy, all inclusive with all the band and their mates involved and happy ever after for all.  Every loose end tied up with a bow.  And awaiting some rice!  Yes, color me happy and recommending this book and this series.

If you love rock stars on a search for HEA, grab up this series.  Each member is very different and offers something for everyone as does their mate and storyline.  But I promise you each and every one gets their HEA and its a wonderful journey to take with them all the way to the end.  I loved every page of it.

Cover art is just not something I liked.  That’s not either mc.  Paris is a big brawny football player.  Benji?  Long flowing gold hair that is often up in a main bun, thin elvish gorgeous face and long, lean body.  Uh, no.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 216 pages
Published May 14th 2019
ASINB07RMZT7FN
Edition Language English
Series Replay #4

Replay Series with links to Goodreads:

Rock Bottom meet the band

Face the Music #1 Lincoln

Play it by Ear #2 Lando

Beat of Their Own Drum #3 Jude

Strike a Chord #4 Benji and the series finale

A Chaos Moondrawn Review: By Way of Pain – Criminal Delights: Assassins by J.M. Dabney

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

This is part of the Criminal Delights series, which are standalones by different authors revolving around dark themes. Pay attention to the trigger warnings. This book is about a lawyer named Cowan Kingley, who is a hired assassin. The reader sees him at different ages to establish him as not quite right, and much of the book is in his first person POV. The reader also gets the first person POV of the man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ends up kidnapped instead of killed. The key here is the why of it. What would make an assassin not kill a witness right away?

The warnings say dubcon, but I would say this is noncon. The Stockholm Syndrome contributes to the confusion. As a virgin with no experience, the captive has never had the chance to find out what he likes. Once Conway starts with the humiliation, whipping, spanking, choking, and breath play…his captive realizes he likes it. I don’t think this will convince anyone who isn’t predisposed to liking this sort of book. The book really has two acts. The first half is more intimate with just the two of them. The second half has John Wick style action sequences. While the whole book is actually effective, well written, and way more entertaining than it should be with a satisfying conclusion…there is a major issue.

Although Conway thinks of himself as a sociopath and has studied human psychology, I can’t agree since he is able to become obsessed, possessive, and caring–genuinely caring as the reader knows his POV–towards his captive. In the thank you note at the end, the author calls him a psychopath. These are not interchangeable words; they are two different things. One lacks empathy and the other lacks conscience, but neither would care about anyone else, let alone fall in love. This is the downfall of the book. If you are willing to ignore clinical definitions of these mental illnesses and suspend disbelief, it is well done for what it is.

The cover by was done by Natasha Snow. The covers of the whole series are stylized and match

Sales Links:  Amazon | Universal Link: books2read.com/CriminalDelights-Pain

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 166 pages
Published May 20th 2019 by Hostile Whispers Press, LLC
ASINB07PKQZ23C
Edition Language English

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Chef vs Chef (Sizzling in the Kitchen #2) by M.J. O’Shea

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

We first met Bobby Diaz in book one, Chef in the Wild, as Baldwin Powell’s sous chef. Bobby now has his chance to leave the mad world of the Manhattan restaurant business when Baldwin offers him the opportunity to help run his new restaurant in Montpelier, Vermont. But what Bobby doesn’t know is that Baldwin also offered his cousin Cal an opportunity to help run the restaurant while Baldwin is away filming a new chef show in the city. 

Two chefs + one kitchen = disaster in the making. Well, at first it does, and then Bobby realizes what a prima donna he’s being and decides to relax and just be himself. And “himself” is a happy, humorous, laidback kind of guy. And once he does, Cal falls head over heels for him and vice versa. That’s a simplified way of summarizing this nice MM romance that slowly builds from enemies to lovers, to friends, to romantic relationship. The complicated world the author builds makes for interesting, humorous, and heartwarming reading. The secondary characters, including Baldwin’s family, the owner of the bakery café, and even the dastardly rival chef, are all well-developed and realistic.

The principal secondary characters in this book were the MCs in book one and their story here intrigued me so much I had to go back and grab book one to read their love story. That’s now been devoured, too, so I can honestly say this series is MJ O’Shea romance at it’s best. No one does small town romance as well. From the moment I first read Coming Home and the rest of the Rock Bay series, she’s been among my favorites and these stories gave me similar warm and fuzzy feels. My heart is happy. Highly recommended.

Cover by LC Chase features a good-looking bearded man, wearing T-shirt and jeans set against a bright background. I assume this is Bobby and he definitely attracted my attention.

Buy Links: 

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 167 pages
Published June 4th 2019
ASINB07SPJJ9V6
Edition Language English
SeriesSizzling in the Kitchen #2

Check Out the Review Tour and Giveaway for Chef vs Chef (Sizzling in the Kitchen #2) by M.J. O’Shea

 

Buy Links: 
 
Cover Design: L.C. Chase
 
Sizzling In The Kitchen Series
 
Book #1 – Chef In The Wild – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
 
Blurb
 

Bobby Diaz has worked his whole life to get where he is – running a restaurant with his two closest friends, no boss, and generally content. When his best friend Baldwin gets the gig of a lifetime, he asks Bobby to take over the restaurant while he’s gone. He’ll miss his friend, but he’s excited to put himself to the test. He can’t believe he’s getting the chance to finally run his own kitchen.


Cal Mayer is thirty and starting over. His last relationship was a failure. His job went down the drain. So when his cousin Pete, a.k.a Baldwin Powell celebrity chef, offers him a gig in his restaurant, he can’t help but to jump at the offer to reinvent himself.


Bobby and Cal don’t exactly hit it off—to put it lightly. Bobby resents getting Cal dumped in his lap. Cal doesn’t appreciate Bobby’s frosty attitude. They’re stuck together day and night, and their chemistry is undeniable… but will it be sweet summer love or a case of too many chefs in the kitchen?

 Read Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words review here, we highly recommend it.

MJ O’Shea has never met a music festival, paintbrush, or flower crown she can stay away from. She loves rainstorms and a perfect cup of tea, beach days, music, bright colors, and more than anything a cozy evening with a really great book.



She is from the Pacific Northwest. While she still lives there and loves it, MJ has the heart of a wanderer. So she puts all her dreams of far off places and extraordinary people in her books.



Except for every once in a while when she does what all travelers have to do on occasion… come home.





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