Category: M/M Contemporary Fiction

A Stella Review: Home Skillet (Culinary Kings #1) by Cate Ashwood & Sandra Damian

RATING 2,5 out of 5 stars

Sometimes the only way to move forward… is to go back.

JAMES

I don’t know what’s more shocking—the sudden end to my marriage, or the fact that I’d married a woman at all. But now I’m broke and homeless, kicked out of my Upper West Side apartment while my ex-wife walks away with everything we’ve ever worked for.

So what’s an executive chef stripped of his dignity gonna do?

Go back to Jersey with his tail between his legs, that’s what.

BEN

I can’t say that spending a decade pining after my best friend was the best use of my time. While I’d pretty much become an expert at the whole unrequited love thing, I’d resigned myself to the fact that Jimmy and I were never gonna happen. But when Jimmy turned up on my doorstep in his hour of need, I jumped at the chance to offer him my bed—er, couch. I mean, what are friends for, right?

Now that he’s released from the shackles of matrimony, I can’t wait to show him exactly what he’s been missing out on all these years.

What I didn’t anticipate was him showing me that maybe I’d been missing out too.

There is nothing wrong with Home Skillet. The plot was interesting, the characters worked well together. There was a growth in the romance, a happy ending. The book is well written but I had no doubts because I know how well Cate can write. These are all the reasons why I gave the novel that (not so low as I meant) rating. I’ll be more than honest and say that I would probably put it on my DNF list if I didn’t have to review it. And I’m so sorry to say it because Cate Ashwood is one of my favorite authors, but I spent three weeks reading Home Skillet, I put it down and restarted it a couple of times and then just resigned myself to finish it in small doses.

Considering all the positive things I previously mentioned, I should have liked the novel but nope, it simply didn’t work to me. And the reason stays in the characters.  I loathed them from the start. Especially the first half of the book, I found both of them heartless, cold. I saw Jimmy taking advantage of Ben, after years spent ignoring his best friend and focused just on creating his success. I can’t like people who put their career before their feelings, and I couldn’t like Jimmy. Moreover I saw Ben spending the same years working a shit of a job and becoming a shallow person. I blamed Jimmy for this and I couldn’t overcome my dislike of him. Sure from a certain point in the story he gained points but it was too late to start enjoying the novel.

I will definitely read more from these authors and the next installment in the Culinary Kings series, this one was a huge disappointment for me.

The cover art by Cate Ashwood is well done but I can’t see Jimmy and Ben in the models on it.

SALE LINKS   Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

Kindle Edition, 1 edition, 196 pages

Published May 31st 2018 by Kydala Publishing, Inc.

ASIN B07D9YHB2K

Edition Language English

A Lucy Review: From This Window by Diana Jean

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

This is the very short (41 pages) story of Lucas and Jeremy.  The story is told from the point of view of Lucas, a hermit who exists in his apartment watching out the window at people, making stories about them and writing notes in notebook after notebook “He had never really written before he came to this apartment, but he found himself drawn to the idea of creating lives for these perfect strangers.”  He doesn’t have a job and only goes out to the café in his building and that is where he comes across Jeremy, who works there part-time.  Despite Jeremy’s beautiful smile and persistent friendliness, Lucas is rude and sarcastic to him always.

Lucas watches Jeremy, as well, as he heads down to work.  He always stops at the department store across the street before his shift and the reason for that is sweet.  Sometimes I couldn’t figure out why Jeremy kept up his pursuit of Lucas when Lucas was so adamantly against it but I’m glad he did.

Lucas is also rude to his brother, Kyle, the one member of his family who hasn’t given up on him even though his parents pay the rent on the apartment but it is ultimately Kyle that precipitates Lucas going over to Jeremy’s for a party.  One that he refused to attend when he was invited but Kyle visiting on Christmas Eve changes things.

Had this story been longer it would have been a 4 star at least for me.  The feel of Lucas’ depression was realistic.  “Sometimes you wake up and think the effort it takes to get out of bed is impossible.  Or the effort to get into the car, drive to work and be there for hours.  And you find out the effort of doing anything is so great that you just do nothing.”  It is never specifically stated but depression seems likely.  Jeremy seems sometimes too perfect and here again I’d have liked a little more fleshing out of the character. 

The cover art, a drawing of two men at a table in front of a window to the city, was a little too fluffy for the feel of the story.  While it ends hopeful, there is a lot of sadness within Lucas.

Sales Links:  Less Than Three Press|   Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition
Published June 18th 2018 by Less Than Three Press (first published November 30th 2013)
ASINB07DVNWCYC
Edition LanguageEnglish

 

Release Blitz for Discovery (Kinky in the City #3) by Quinn Ward (excerpt)

 Discovery RDB Banner

DISCOVERY – KINKY IN THE CITY #3

QUINN WARD

M/M ROMANCE

RELEASE DATE: 06.26.18

Discovery Cover 

COVER DESIGN:  Marisa-Rose Wesley/ Cover Me Darling LLC

 

AMAZON US

AMAZON UK 

 

SYNOPSIS

Sex is a lot like pizza. It’s good, but you won’t die without it…

Matteo’s always known he was different. Seeing his older brothers falling in love shines a spotlight on his own lack of desire. Modeling age play gear was a way to prove he could make his own decisions, nothing more.

Levi didn’t realize what a challenge it’d be directing the photo shoot for a new website. When he sees Matteo struggling, he instinctively falls into the role he’d given up years earlier: Daddy.

When Matteo discovers a side of himself he never expected, will Levi be able to show him that not all love begins with sexual attraction?

Discovery is the third book in the Kinky in the City series, but can be read as a standalone novel.

 discovery teaser2

discovery teaser 3

 EXCERPT

I walked back over to Matteo and crouched in front of his chair, running my hands over his legs. “It’s okay if you’ve changed your mind. We don’t have to do anything.”

Matteo shook his head. “No, I want this. I need you to help me understand why it calmed me the other day.”

I took Teo’s hand in mine, lifting it to my lips, kissing the back of each of his fingers to show my gratitude that he was willing to trust me with this.

The set was any daddy’s dream, but it was too perfect, too clinical. I looked at my boy and noticed the way he worried his lip between his teeth. He wanted this but struggled to get into the right headspace.

“Sit.” I pointed at the small table and chairs at the edge of the set. “I’ll be right back.”

I rummaged through the totes, trying to find the underwear that’d taunted me all weekend. I couldn’t forget the way his face lit up when I pulled out the race car undies, then tried to hide his disappointment when I’d put them back in favor of a more sedate pair that I’d incorrectly assumed he’d like better. After finding them, I moved to the next tote, a clear vision of the scene I hoped to create forming in my mind. Piece by piece, I gathered everything Teo needed to let go of his adult worries and sink into little time.

“Come here, boy,” I directed him when I returned, my words carefully measured so there was no mistaking that it wasn’t a suggestion. “Time for us to get you dressed.”

He glanced back at the door leading to the apartment. “I thought we weren’t shooting yet.”

“We’re not, but if you’re up for it, this will help you more fully embrace your role,” I explained, holding out a hand to him, subtly placing the ball in his court. If he balked, we’d stop, but if he approached, I planned to show him how a good daddy helped his boy.

One tentative step in front of the other, Teo closed the distance between us. I patted my knee, inviting him to sit on my lap. His breathing was shallow and labored, as if anxiety was flooding his senses. “Relax, boy. You’re safe with me. I won’t do anything to violate your trust in me.”

“I’m… I don’t want to have sex with you.” The words would’ve been like a knife to the gut from anyone else, but I knew Teo wasn’t trying to shoot me down. Realizing what he’d said, he groaned loudly and buried his face in my chest. Unfortunately for him, that still left his bright red ears on display. “I mean… oh, my god, I didn’t mean I don’t want to have sex with you, I meant I don’t have sex with anyone. I know it’s messed up, but I don’t like it.”

crude

EXPLORATION (Book 1): https://amzn.to/2IWdfgu

CHALLENGE (Book 2): https://amzn.to/2kvwtyR

 

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Quinn Ward is a non-binary author of LGBT romance. Throughout everything, the one constant in their life has been writing. It’s the piece of them they’ve never questioned. It’s their safe harbor, sometimes their escape when the real world gets to be too much.

Website: http://quinnwardwrites.com

Author FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/quinnwardbooks/

Author FB Profile: https://www.facebook.com/quinnwardwrites

Twitter: https://twitter.com/quinnwardwrites

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/quinnward76/

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

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17887674.Quinn_Ward

Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/quinnward

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Review Tour and Giveaway – That’s My Ethan by Tarian PS

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Length: 361 pages
 
Blurb



This is our story, mine and Ethan’s.
It is our story about two gay men, (well, one gay and one bi), beating the false pretenses that gay men can’t know love at first sight, let alone stay together, happily ever after. They are all wrong.


I’m not a gay married man, I’m a happily married gay man.


And I am going to prove it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


They met in college. Damir was a player in every sense of the word and proud of it– Ethan wanted nothing to do with the game; yet neither would deny the attraction they shared was too potent to resist. So what are two young men to do when the lines are too irresistible not to cross? A safeword.


It was a lifestyle structure that gave them the means to grow together, even as they struggled to understand it along the way. But what never wavered was who they’d set their goals to be with. Sometimes you just know. The challenge is making it possible.



June 18 – Bayou Book Junkie
June 19 – Cupcakes & Bookshelves, MM Midnight Cafe
June 20 – MM Good Book Reviews
June 25 – The Novel Approach, Archaeolibrarian
June 26 – Love Bytes
June 27 – Reading In Sarah’s Corner, Sarandipity, Love Unchained Book Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
June 28 – Joyfully Jay
June 29 – Mirrgold, Katie’s Book Corner, Tangents & Tissues



All About Tarian

(well, some of him)

As a long-haired, rock n roller and outdoorsy kind of guy, Tarian is proof there is life after a lifetime of being dead to themselves. Now, he lives, treating every day like an adventure and always with a smirk on his face.

He revels proudly to live outside the box and never canoes the main stream. Even when writing, he figures there’s plenty of extraordinary talented authors out there already taking care of that waterway. So, he enjoys venturing off, creating stories in places so few go… getting ensnared in scenarios that don’t conform to the comfort zones of familiarity. It’s what makes writing a pleasure for him.

When asked, why do you write, he responds, “I wrote a story I’ve always wanted to read. In the end, oh the places we will go.”

 
“Suddenly you’re ripped into being Alive. And Life is Pain, and Life is Suffering, and Life is Horror, but by god you’re alive and it is oh so Spectacular.”
 

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Release Blitz for My Crunchy Life by Mia Kerick (excerpt and giveaway)

Title: My Crunchy Life

Author: Mia Kerick

Release Date: 26th June 2018

Genre: LGBT, Young Adult

BLURB

John Lennon fought for world peace, but sixteen-year-old hippie hopeful Kale Oswald’s only made it as far as tie-dying his T-shirts with organic grape juice. Now he’s ready to cement his new hippie identity by joining a local human rights organization, but he doesn’t fit in as well as he’d hoped.

After landing himself in the hospital by washing down a Ziploc bag of pills with a bottle of Gatorade, Julian Mendez came clean to his mother: he is a girl stuck in a boy’s body. Puberty blockers have stopped the maturing of the body he feels has betrayed him. They’re also supposed to give him time to be sure he wants to make a more permanent decision, but he’s already Julia in his heart. What he’s not sure he’s ready to face is the post-transition name-calling and bathroom wars awaiting him at school.

When Kale and Julian come face-to-face at the human rights organization, attraction, teenage awkwardness, and reluctant empathy collide. They are forced to examine who they are and who they want to become. But until Kale can come to terms with his confusion about his own sexuality and Julian can be honest with Kale, they cannot move forward in friendship, or anything more.

Find My Crunchy Life at Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Harmony Ink

EXCERPT

“So, Kale, you say you’re a champion of human rights, hmm?” It’s clear to me that Julian detects my discomfort. When he steps up close, his voice emits from directly beneath my left ear. “That means you’re here to protect my human rights, even if it takes you to a place you never figured you’d go— not even in your wildest, but most certainly unoriginal, dreams.”

His breath tickles my neck— or maybe I just imagine it— and I shiver. “Yeah… that’s why I came here tonight.” My urge is to add “dude” to the end of my sentence, but I don’t want to make an assumption.

“Really.” It isn’t a question or a statement. It’s just a word. But the way he says it is sharp enough to cut glass.

I nod for the zillionth time tonight, and about ten thousand prickles of dread pop up in my armpits, which might sound strange, but I hear it’s a common response to stress.

“Really.” He says it again in exactly the same way, then steps in front of me so we’re standing face-to-face. I don’t want to look him in the eye. I’m not sure why I feel this way, because I’ve got balls. So I force myself to be a man and drag my gaze up his body from the badass combat boots, to the tights, to the oversized purple plaid flannel shirt that would make even a lumberjack look like he’s going dancing. And finally I focus on the important stuff: long, dark hair, freshly brushed and falling over his shoulders, even darker eyes that lift a little bit at the corners, and an “I dare you to mess with me” smirk on shiny red lips.

His lips… well, they’re moving again, but I don’t have a clue what he’s saying because I’m too busy staring.

At. His. Lips.

Are hippie dudes supposed to get captivated by other dudes’ lips?

Because this is a first for me, and not just in my brief life as a hippie. I’ve never been one to suffer with debilitating crushes on movie stars or pop singers or the high school’s most popular girls. And here I am totally caught up in the lips of a dude I don’t even know. Weird.

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About the Author

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—a daughter in law school, another in dance school, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son still in high school. She writes LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-four years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on emotional growth in turbulent relationships. As she has a great affinity for the tortured hero, there is, at minimum, one in each book. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of said tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press and Harmony Ink Press for providing alternate places to stash her stories.

Her books have won a Best YA Lesbian Rainbow Award, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, among other awards.

Mia is a Progressive, a little bit too obsessed by politics, and cheers for each and every victory in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com. Visit her website for updates on what is going on in Mia’s world, rants, music, parties, and pictures, and maybe even a little bit of inspiration.

Links: Facebook | Twitter

Release Blitz – Spark (North Star Trilogy #1) by Posy Roberts (excerpt and giveaway)

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Length: 91,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Olive Us Designs
 
North Star Trilogy Pre-Order
 
Fusion (Book #2) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Flare (Book #3) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Blurb
 

A love story with a seventeen-year intermission.


Hugo Thorson fell in love when he was sixteen. He’s maybe been in love since, but probably not. He’s been too busy directing plays to devote much time to men who can’t accept all of him. No one ever made him feel like his first love did.


Kevin Magnus married a woman and has two children, but the marriage wasn’t happy. In the shadow of divorce, he’s striving to be a better father, but he’s still a work in progress.


When Hugo and Kevin bump into each other at the lake, memories of their last kiss incite a new first kiss. Visions of the life they always wanted are vivid, but so much stands in the way of their dreams. Hugo is out and proud but no one knows Kevin’s bisexual. If Kevin comes out, he risks losing custody of his kids. If he doesn’t walk hand in hand with Hugo, he risks losing the love of his life.


The curtain may never rise on their second act.

 
Author Bio
 

Posy Roberts started reading romance when she was young, sneaking peeks at adult books long before she should’ve. Textbooks eventually replaced the novels, and for years she existed without reading for fun. When she finally picked up a romance two decades later, it was like slipping on a soft hoodie . . . that didn’t quite fit like it used to. She wanted something more.


She wanted to read about men falling in love with each other. She wanted to explore beyond the happily ever after and see characters navigate the unpredictability of life. So Posy sat down at her keyboard to write the books she wanted to read.


Her stories have been USA Today’s Happily Ever After Must-Reads and Rainbow Award finalists. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with her family and friends and doing anything possible to get out of grocery shopping and cooking.


Follow Posy on BookBub | Subscribe to Posy’s Newsletter | Join Posy’s Reader Group | Website

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