Category: M/M Contemporary Fiction

Review Tour and Giveaway for Any Given Lifetime by Leta Blake

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Length: 70,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Dar Albert @ Wicked Smart Designs
 
Blurb



Neil isn’t a ghost, but he feels like one. Reincarnated with all his memories from his prior life, he spent twenty years trapped in a child’s body, wanting nothing more than to grow up and reclaim the love of his life.


As an adult, Neil finds there’s more than lost time separating them. Joshua has built a beautiful life since Neil’s death, and how exactly is Neil supposed to introduce himself? As Joshua’s long-dead lover in a new body? Heartbroken and hopeless, Neil takes refuge in his work, developing microscopic robots called nanites that can produce medical miracles.


When Joshua meets a young scientist working on a medical project, his soul senses something his rational mind can’t believe. Has Neil truly come back to him after twenty years? And if the impossible is real, can they be together at long last?


Any Given Lifetime is a stand-alone, slow burn, second chance gay romance by Leta Blake featuring reincarnation and true love. This story includes some angst, some steam, an age gap, and, of course, a happy ending.

 
Author Bio
 

Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.

 

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Read Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review here.  We absolutely recommend it.

A MelanieM Review: A Taste Of Agapi by Chris Ethan

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

A sweet, Greek romance that will hook you from start to finish.

Jimmy has a secret.

But when he meets Ren, he can no longer hide it.

Ren is an adventurous comic-book nerd.
He transfers to Thessaloniki, Greece in an attempt to find his place in the world.
What he gets is more than just an escape from his academic family.

Jimmy is a hard working man.
After losing his mother, he has put his heart and soul into finishing his studies and helping his dad through his financial difficulties.

When he is introduced to Ren, Jimmy initiates him into the coffee-and-chill culture of his Greek city.

But something awakens in both of them. Something neither can tame.

Can the two boys be more than just friends?

And what is that feeling called? That feeling they can’t seem to shake off?

A Taste of Agapi is a sweet, low-angst, coming-out romance with some swearing, a little bit of geekiness, a lot of Greek culture and a happy ever after.

If you read that last sentence of the blurb above basically my review is written for me.  All that is true.  Review done.  Shortest review ever!  Excerpt that A Taste Of Agapi by Chris Ethan also opens a window into Thessaloniki, Greece. We meet its people with its infinite variety, dive into Greek culture through its food, language, politics, family life, and yes, monuments.  We even get to travel into parts of collegiate life with Ren when we attend classes with him.  No, A Taste of Agapi is a treasure trove and love letter to Greece and the Greek people with it’s honesty about its issues (the elements of racism, homophobia, intolerance) that high unemployment and an economic slump has seen increased as well.  We still want to travel there, share in the love and joy of those we will meet eating and celebrating in their neighborhood bars and seaside establishments, hoping for the same welcome that Ren was lucky enough to find with Jimmy and his friends.

Ethan’s characterizations are marvelous.

Warm, layered portraits of people that you not only want to meet but might recognize anywhere.  Funny, flawed, fierce, and loving, these are young men and women at that most bright and precarious stage of their lives.  Coming into adulthood, finding themselves, figuring out futures, and just being young.  Chris Ethan captures it all and does it while making them genuine Greek youth navigating the peculiars of Greek society.  In this case, it’s the very real fear of what coming out will do to you and those around you in a culture that sees it as something not only to be reviled but criminal, the laws only now changing.  No, this is not liberal Europe or the US.

The relationship between Ren from England (and a more liberal culture) and Jimmy (definitely not out in a hostile one) still manages to be sweet, questioning, and romantic.  It also feels entirely real.  It’s very easy to connect with these two as they try to figure out what they feel about each other, what they are doing with each other (virgins), and  all the conflicting issues they face, each other’s cultures not withstanding.  Huge questions that face these young men in such a short time together.

Therein lies my one issue with this story.

It’s really only half of a book.  It ends exactly where the other half of the book should start.  That keeps this story from being a 5 star read for me.  It almost took it down to a 4 (that and a element with 2 brothers and a uncle that petered out to nothing, not that I’m complaining).

No, it’s that we need the rest of this story.  I can only hope that the author is hard at work writing it.  This couple and the readers deserve to know how it all plays out.  Until then, travel to Thessaloniki, Greece in A Taste Of Agapi by Chris Ethan for a sweet coming out romance you will thoroughly love.

Cover art:  Tiferet Designs.  Gorgeous cover with the White Tower of Thessaloniki in the background, one of the many monuments that Jimmy took Ren to.  Love it.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 190 pages
Published September 26th 2018 by Chris Ethan Gay Romance
ASINB07GTK9MP2
Edition Language English

A MelanieM Release Day Review: Love and Lint Rollers by Kaje Harper

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Even with six beloved cats at home, Thom Fletcher can’t help opening his heart to a little injured stray he finds at Pride. Luckily, the generosity of the veterinarian who helps him means he doesn’t have to open his wallet. Thom’s budget is stretched pretty thin, between his struggling start-up and medical expenses for his Crohn’s disease, so the free cat care helps a lot. Thom may have fallen for the little feline, but he’s also intrigued by the attractive vet in the bi-pride bracelet.

Dean Edwards went to Pride with his colors on his wrist, hoping to find community after his divorce. Instead, he’s pulled into a cat rescue by an appealing man. Dean likes Thom’s kindness to strays, his blue-gray eyes, his intelligence, and his perspective from decades as an out gay man. Maybe with Thom, Dean will finally feel able to explore his long-neglected attraction to men.

They’re not a perfect match. From Dean’s cat-hating dog to Thom’s chronic health issues and preferences in bed, going from a casual date to something more will be a challenge for both of them.

I don’t know when I last read a story with so many elements that stood out as remarkable and yet still folded nicely into a heartwarming romance in the end as the ones in Love and Lint Rollers by Kaje Harper.   First the characters are older which I really appreciated, one in his early fifties, with all that means emotionally, mentally, and baggage wise.  Thom Fletcher has the added complications of Crohn’s Disease, something that has drastically affected his health and his love life (no anal sex to be explicit). Harper addresses life with Crohn’s through Thom and we see all stages of the disease and its effects on his life and relationships.  For some readers it might not be enough information. For others too much.  We definitely learn a lot about life lived with this illness and its tight restrictions.  And how not to give up as well.

The character of Thom is someone I just loved and understood, even if I wanted to given him a shake or two.  If you have ever known anyone who has or had had serious illnesses, then you know how their focus can or sometimes must narrow down to dealing with their own health issues, especially if they have been doing so over a length of time.  And doing it on their own.  Letting someone else in is hard and Harper shows that realistically.  Especially with a diseases such as Crohn’s.  Portraying Thom’s shame, fear, and belief that no one will ever stay with him because it’s too hard will ring true with all readers who will emphasize with this man.

Dean Edwards too is dealing with past issues, coming out at his age, overcoming the emotional restrictions his deceased parents placed on him that still effect him.  I really liked Dean and believed in his internal battles and choices he was making.  As well as his love of his animals and Thom. Oh, and Dean is a vet with years of medical experience behind him which helps when one has many animals and other issues.

Ah, the animals!  Cats Gin, Snap, Buster, Louie, Onyx, Salem, and Cinder.  Plus elderly but still fierce dog Tig.  All with their huge roles to play in Thom’s life, this couple’s relationship, and in the story. And of course, the reader’s heart’s they wind and twine their way into.

There is a lesbian couple with a bestie half with tendencies to want to control Thom’s life.  That was a character i found irritating, probably realistic as there are always people like that in RL who believe that they know better than another person what path that person’s life should take. That they do it out of love doesn’t make it any less controlling. That you as a reader want Thom to have this person back off?  Well, it means that Harper has done her job and written this bestie so believably we have become put off by their behavior.  Well done.

For me, I might have wished for a little less of the Crohn’s, and  a little more of Thom and Dean together at the end with the menagerie for Love and Lint Rollers by Kaje Harper to fulfill all the promise I had hoped for. But honestly?  It came so close I’m not complaining.  I loved it.  And think you will to.  Especially if you love cats as well.  I highly recommend this!

Cover Art is adorable.  At first I thought the models were too young.  Still wavering on that.  But Thom is remarked to look more like in his 40’s than the early 50’s he is and I loved the cats.  More cats.  Where is Louie?

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 220 pages
Expected publication: October 9th 2018 by Kaje Harper
ISBN139780463646465
Edition Language English

BLOG TOUR Craft Brew (Trouble Brewing #2) by Layla Reyne (with teaser and giveaway)

Craft Brew (Trouble Brewing #2) by  Layla Reyne

Release Date: E-Book and Audio – October 8;   Paperback – October 30

Publisher: Carina Press

Buy Links: 

Carina: http://bit.ly/2luKFZr

AMZ: https://amzn.to/2NVKiUB

UBL: https://books2read.com/craftbrew/

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Layla Reyne here today on tour for the latest story in the Trouble Brewing series, Craft Brew!

About Craft Brew

Assistant US attorney Dominic Price is staring down the barrel of his father’s debts. The bull’s-eye on his back makes him a threat to everyone he cares about, so when his lover wants to go public with their relationship, he bolts. Not because he isn’t in love—he can’t stomach the thought of putting Cam in danger.

Kidnap and rescue expert Cameron Byrne is determined to figure out what trouble Nic is running from, but devastating news from home brings him back to Boston and to the cold case that has haunted his family for two decades. Shoving aside his pride, he calls Nic for help.

Together they search for answers, navigating the minefield of Cam’s past. But when they get too close to the truth, Cam must use every skill in his arsenal to save the man he loves…before it’s too late.

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

Excerpt/Teaser

“Move in with me.”

Four words that should have resulted in amazing sex round two.

Not that Cam had ever uttered those words before, but from what he understood, they usually brought a couple closer, including a celebratory tumble in the sheets. Perfect as he and Nic were already there, naked and sweaty from amazing sex round one.

Nic’s understanding, however, was apparently not the same as Cam’s. He stiffened in his arms one second and scrambled out of bed the next. Levering up, Cam braced a hand on the mattress and watched the giant cypress inked on Nic’s back sway with his mad dash to the bathroom.

“Never known you to run from an argument, Counselor!” Technically, they’d not been arguing, but Cam knew the start of one with Nic as well as he knew the other man’s taste. Arguing was what they did best, even better than sex.

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Nic hollered over the running water.

Cam flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. “Sure as fuck could have fooled me.”

Trouble Brewing Series

Imperial Stout

Craft Brew

Noble Hops  coming soon

 

 

About Layla Reyne:

Author Layla Reyne was raised in North Carolina and now calls San Francisco home. She enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline-fueled suspense and heart pounding romance. When she’s not writing stories to excite her readers, she downloads too many books, watches too much television, and cooks too much food with her scientist husband, much to the delight of their smushed-face, leftover-loving dogs. Layla is a member of Romance Writers of America and its Kiss of Death and Rainbow Romance Writers chapters. She was a 2016 RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist in Romantic Suspense.

Author Links:

FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/216903272072959/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/layla-reyne

Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/laylareyne

Newsletter: https://www.laylareyne.com/signup

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/laylareyne/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laylareyne/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/laylareyne/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/laylareyne/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/laylareyne

Giveaway

Giveaway: Win 1 of 2 e-copies
of any back catalog book by Layla Reyne!

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Release Blitz and Giveaway – From The Ashes by C.M. Valencourt

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK – Exclusive to Amazon in Kindle Unlimited
 
Length: 65,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: James @ Go On Write
 
Blurb
 

Hunter and Derek are at a fork in the road…


At their friend Justin’s funeral, once-best-friends Derek and Hunter meet again almost four years after their monumental falling out. Hunter kissed Derek, and Derek freaked out and chose a college on the other side of the country.


If they had a choice, both of them would walk away and never see the other again. Except Justin has given them a mission: an epic road trip to scatter his ashes all over the Midwest, complete with cryptic notes, new friends, and a whole lot of sexual tension. Can Derek and Hunter finish Justin’s road trip without ripping each other’s heads—or clothes—off?

 
Author Bio



C.M. Valencourt is a new m/m romance author. They started devouring queer fiction when they still had to smuggle it into their parents’ Catholic household, and dreamed of writing books about queer people finding love ever since. They like figure skating, ghost hunting shows, and Carly Rae Jepsen. You can find out more about their books and learn about upcoming releases at cmvalencourt.com.


Website: cmvalencourt.com
Twitter: twitter.com/cmvalencourt
Facebook: facebook.com/cmvalencourt

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An Ashlez Review: Murderous Twins by Edward Kendrick

Rating – 4.5 out of 5

Blaine Ayers and Lloyd Thomas are identical twins — separated at birth, reunited by accident, and serial killers by choice. Two men, posing as one.

Steve Cooke is a private investigator married to Gary Drake-Cooke, an interior decorator.

The four men’s paths cross when Blaine and Lloyd move into a house across the street from Steve and Gary. What happens next has the potential to change their lives forever — for better or for worse.

Warning: This story contains scenes of graphic violence.

 
You know,  what, as short as this book is I think it was great – I think it had more potential if it were a bit longer and more in depth on the past of each of Blaine and Lloyd, I would have liked to see a bit more in that aspect.
 
It’s typical reasons serial killers exist – anyone who has seen criminal minds will understand.  I liked the neighbor detective and his want to find out what’s going on – I enjoyed reading about his husband.
 
If you want a hot and heavy romance this is definitely not the book for you – there’s none of that in this book and honestly I was OK with that – it fits more with the story than if it had a steamy romance.
 
Once you get to about halfway things really start to get interesting, and I really couldn’t put it down.  Not going to go into much detail due to the nature of the book – hello thriller – but I enjoyed it immensely it was exciting and kept me engaged.  I do think it reads like an episode of criminal minds which, of course, who would hate.Nature vs Nurture.
 
Cover Art:  Other than the cover being twins it really doesn’t lead to the story – not mad at it though, perhaps a bloody item would make it more dynamic!

Sales Links:  JMS Books LLC  | Amazon

Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 112 pages
Published August 11th 2018 by JMS Books LLC
ASINB07FP6G9DV
Edition Language English

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Craft Brew (Trouble Brewing #2) by Layla Reyne

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

I enjoyed this story much more than book one. First, because I knew the MCs, and second, because past characters came into this story slowly and their backstory was filled in. Building on the drama surrounding Nic’s father and the events of book one, this story added more, but it appears the resolution to that will not occur until book three.

The early section of the story surrounds Nic and his father’s debts and his budding relationship with Cam. On the heels of Cam asking Nic to move in, Nic takes a temporary 5-week assignment in San Diego, in other words he chooses to run from the commitment, making the moving in a moot point. On his return, someone sets fire to his apartment building—another disaster in a long line that seems to be following Nic wherever he goes. He worries that if he lets his relationship with Cam become common knowledge, whoever is causing the trouble for him might go after Cam.

With no choice after losing his apartment, though, he agrees to move in with Cam. Then just as they start to settle in, Cam’s past comes crashing down around him. His mother has had a heart attack and when he flies home to Boston to see her she asks that he solve the cold case of his sister’s disappearance twenty years before. A disappearance that Cam feels personally responsible for since he was supposed to pick her up the day she disappeared, but he blew her off, leaving her to head home alone.

What he finds when he starts to investigate is that his sister may have been the first of a long line of girls to disappear in that area, and he calls Nic to help. Cam also needs his love and support, but since he’s not out to his family, he has to hide those needs and simply introduce Nic as a friend and colleague. Of note, Nic was super mature in his support of Cam and didn’t throw a hissy fit or downgrade his love for Cam just because Cam couldn’t face coming out.

The action is fast-paced and interesting, involving both brainwork and footwork and involving Jamie from the previous series. Since I didn’t read that series, I appreciated the author’s handling of his insertion in this story and the background information we were given. It was much easier to assimilate and in fact I do believe I’m going to have to purchase Single Malt to see what all the fans are raving over.

I digress. Cam and Nic do solve the mystery, and Cam does come out to his family, unable and unwilling to hide his love for Nic from the world. That was a great scene as was the family support in putting Erin’s body and memory to rest. We had a lot of opportunity to get to know Cam’s family, and I’d sure be happy to see either Bobby or Keith or both show up in a future book.

This doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but it’s quite evident that Nic’s story—involving his father’s finances and a gangster who doesn’t seem to take no for an answer—will continue into the next book. I’ll be in line for that one, for sure.

The cover for this book features a head shot of one character with another standing in the background. The artist used a yellow and purple color filter which throws the left side of the close-up in yellow, the right in purple. To be honest, I don’t like it at all. It makes the MC look angry and unappealing—not at all how I pictured him.

Sales Links:  Carina Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: October 8th 2018 by Carina Press
ISBN139781488097119
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series Trouble Brewing #2

An Alisa Review: Square One (Under The Uniform #7) by JJ Harper

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Xander is angry and fed up with being signed off work for something that was out of his control. He loses himself in alcohol and one-night stands, anything to dull the pain in his head.

Jonah is enjoying the freedom away from his small-town life, living life to the full in a big city. A few weeks away from starting his job as a firefighter, he embraces the nightlife and the men found in the clubs. One man, in particular, catches his eye, and not even exchanging names, they spend a night lost in each other, and then another. Still not bothering to find out any more about each other, they go their separate ways.

Until they find themselves face-to-face at work.

Unable to stay away from each other, they embark on something that soon morphs into so much more. Deeper, more intense, looking a lot like love.

But will it be enough when Jonah hears some life-changing news and he turns to Xander for support?

I liked this story once Xander and Jonah really got together, I liked that it started the morning after their firs one night stand so we know how everything was from the beginning.  The beginning of the book is littered with inconsistencies about the characters from they never to repeats to they want what they have to be inclusive from the beginning and one even getting jealous form when they weren’t exclusive.  I just don’t like when characters do the flip flop and after pushing things away jump right in like they never hesitated before.

Jonah and Xander quickly find their groove together, though I don’t actually know how much time passes throughout the whole book.  I loved that Xander’s family quickly accepts and loves Jonah which he needs in his life.  We never really get to know Jonah’s family just see his mom’s nagging through phone calls but it’s known they are not very supportive and it seems to me they are selfish.

I loved how Jonah helped Xander to accept himself after the accident and that it’s okay for someone to support you and see you vulnerable.  I was glad to see Xander support Jonah through his ordeal also and hurt for Jonah at the lies and deception from his childhood friend.  They really build a family together, I just wish there would have been some real closure with Jonah’s issues other than Kit suddenly becoming an important part of their lives.

The cover art by JC Clarke is nice but doesn’t have any real connection to the story.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 247 pages

Published: September 20, 2018 by Aubergine Publishing

Edition Language: English

Series: Under the Uniform #7

A Lucy Review: A Pride Anthem by Rob Browatzke

 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

This is a modern retelling of a Christmas Carol, with Pride being the celebration in question rather than Christmas.  The narrator does speak to the reader in first person as in Christmas Carol and it starts with the same type sentence.  “Jake was dead.”  The Jake in question was co-owner of a gay bar, Good Judy’s, with his ex-love, Ben. “They met while working there, had started dating while working there.”  When the boss retired, they took the leap and bought it. They were so happy for so long, then Jake left Ben and two years later, Jake died.  The joy of Pride has left Ben and he keeps Good Judy going and it’s successful.  But there is no happiness in it for him and he is very “meh” about the whole idea of Pride.  There is nothing of Jake left in their office (and how horrible did that have to be, sharing an office with the man you still love who doesn’t want you back) except for the ashes on the shelf.  He tries to deny it but he thinks of Jake all the time.

As in Christmas Carol, he wakes one night to his ex-partner’s ghost standing at the foot of his bed. “Ben didn’t believe in ghosts, or God, or much of anything anymore really.”  But he believes what he is seeing is the ghost of Jake, who warns him he will be visited by three more ghosts this night and showing the chains he carries through eternity because of how unhappy he made Ben.

“My happiness wasn’t much of a concern when you left me…” Ben said.”  Jake died in a car accident while drunk.  “That wasn’t about you, you know, or the club, or the break-up, or anything.  I was just…lonely.”  But because we are never told why Jake threw Ben away, it didn’t make sense to me.  Later, in a visit with the other Marsha, ghost of Pride past, Ben brings up that “All Jake had wanted to do was to leave Ben.”   She tries to show him that Jake loved him or why would he “…have come here, back to this plane, wearing all those chains, because he wanted to leave you?” I was left confused because he HAD left Ben, two years before he died. 

The ghosts follow the idea of Pride Past, Pride Present and Pride Future.  The other Marsha shows Ben memories of meeting Jake and falling in love with him, working Good Judy’s and realizing that Jake “…was my everything.”  More than he wanted to admit to this ghost, who had such a tragic past.  I wanted to cry for Marsha and what she had been through.  Ben decides his mother was right, that being gay makes for a lonely life. 

The ghost of Pride Present, Marc, is a god-like vision who shows Ben (obviously) what is happening with all the people of Good Judy’s and the community as related to Pride.  Ben doesn’t celebrate,

The third ghost, Avenir, is a gender/racial/ethnic fluid sort of thing, which I liked the most of all of them. More than Ben’s future, the possible future presented by Avenir was terrifying.  “Make America Straight Again.”  It is what we might become in real life and it’s frightening.

Ben is so sure that Pride and maybe gay bars altogether are no longer needed that he doesn’t believe there is a reason for keeping on.  Some parts of this came across as a lesson to us, the reader, as opposed to adding to the story, while this is being explained. Some parts came across as a reminder that we are nowhere near where we need to be.  “Some found solace in the bottle, some in the needle.  Some never found solace at all but succumbed to self-harm. Some were beaten to death by strangers.  One was left to hang on a fence and changed a nation.  Some were gunned down in their sanctuary but we still feel their spirit’s pulse.”   But Micah and his parents give me hope. 

The ending is, as the title suggests, Pride Anthems.  So many of the songs I love are on this list and there were some new to me.  Anthems for Pride.

Cover art: Alex Bischoff.  Eye-catching.

Sales Links:

Amazon US  

Paperback

Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 55 pages
Published May 10th 2018
ASINB07CZTRNF