A Stella Review: Plummet to Soar by Z.A. Maxfield

RATING 1 out of 5 stars

Feckless, luckless, and charming, Mackenzie Detweiler is the author of a self-help book one reviewer calls “the most misbegotten motivational tool since Mein Kampf.” He’s maneuvered himself into a career as a life coach, but more often than not, his advice is bad. Really bad.

It’s even getting people hurt… and Mackenzie sued.

It falls to Mackenzie’s long-suffering editor, JD Chambers, to deliver the bad news. He chooses to do so face-to-face—to see if the spark he senses between them is real when they’re together in the flesh. Unfortunately, a snowstorm, a case of nerves, a case of mistaken identity, and finally a murder get in the way of a potential enemies-to-lovers romance.

There are many, many people who have good reason to want Mackenzie dead. JD must find out which one is acting on it before it’s too late for both of them.

This new release by ZA Maxfield, one of my favorite authors, was a surprise, but not a good one. Honestly? I finished the story just because I had to review it, otherwise it would have ended in my DFN shelf. I can’t even tell you how many times I started it, because at first I was so sure I was missing something that I started and restarted it to find what was going on and the right approach. It was a pain to reach the ending and I’m very sorry to say this, but I finally understood it wasn’t me, it was all the story’s fault, Plummet to Soar was a mess.

I don’t want to reveal details and spoiler your reading, as the book seems to be well loved. So if you think the blurb is interesting, go give it a chance. For my experience I don’t feel like recommending it but it’s just my taste. That said, no spoilers here, but really throughout the story too many elements were unrealistic and so fake I was just without words. There are some scenes (I said “some”, not one or a couple, some meaning several) that made no sense. From the beginning to the end. I can’t understand where the author wanted to bring the reader with this new release, I couldn’t find romance or love or any feeling at all. A mess of plot, with the mystery part that not only left me dubious but puzzling about it.

I’m not a huge fan of mystery novels but I read quite a few of them really well done and I truly appreciated them. This was not the case. Let’s talk about the characters. Mackenzie and JD were pretty shallow, not even once I was able to feel a connection between them, I wasn’t able to like them at all. There were several secondary characters and here too, in my opinion they were just thew in there to make up the numbers and nothing more.

This should have been a beautiful coral book, but it didn’t work at all. Plummet to Soar was confusing to me, hard to read, I don’t want to say it’s not well written, but to me too many names, nicknames, internal dialogues, then private phone chats, all of these created a chaotic tangle I wasn’t able to solve.

Still, I surely will be reading more from ZA Maxfield, I’m not going to give up on this author just cause this novel wasn’t what I was expecting.

The cover art by L.C. Chase is well done and fitting, I like the style and the colors. Lovely.

SALE LINKS Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 200 pages

Published May 8th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN13 9781640803831

Edition Language English

Series Plummet to Soar #1

A VVivacious Review: Military Emancipation by David O. Sullivan

Rating: 2 Stars out of 5

Marc and Adam are lovers, both serving in the navy at a time when DADT is still in effect though Marc still struggles with his sexuality. When an unwelcome come-on leads to an allegation of homosexuality putting his career in jeopardy, Marc finds himself questioning his sexuality, his life and his future.

I feel like I should be honest that I don’t fully understand how oppressive DADT was or could be. We truly live in much more liberal times that policies that are not even a decade old feel much more outdated, even though it wasn’t that long ago that they were still in effect. So I do agree that I am reading this story with a handicap and therefore I find certain plot points incongruous.

Even though DADT is still breathing fire and brimstone at the time of this story there was a surprising lack of homophobia among the military personnel while this could be true, I still feel that people would not be making this particular sentiment so overtly public for fear of slander and discrimination against themselves though I could be wrong. While in real life all these factors can coexist in a story things should be more cohesive and decisive if the story wants to focus on discrimination you can’t have everyone be so accepting because that particular approach in this book made my understanding of DADT even more tenuous.

Also, I didn’t like Marc’s defence of his homosexuality as he pleads not guilty and I find myself judging him on current standards wherein I wanted him to own up to it and not be ashamed of it when directly confronted with this question. This is the point in the story where the story’s 2018 feel directly contrasts with its 2011 setting, because everyone is so accepting I can’t understand where the discrimination stems from, so I want Marc to uphold 2018 standards. I really don’t know if I am getting this point across but I feel that this is at the crux of my disconnect with this story.

The story is suffering from an incongruous theme but despite that, the story held my interest and I read through this one quite quickly. The story is engaging but the writing and plot progression makes the story come across as very clunky.

I really couldn’t sympathize much with Marc as a character especially over his struggles with his sexuality somehow his struggle only comes through on a very surface level and I really couldn’t get any feel on why he struggled with his sexuality in the first place. I really couldn’t find my space in this story when it came to its characters though I liked Adam and would have liked a bit of his POV, I didn’t really connect with the other characters in the story.

Overall, the only thing that this story had going for it was that despite how many issues I was having with it while reading it this story still managed to hold my interest.

Cover Art by Written Ink Designs. I feel like the cover doesn’t really match the feel of the story but barring that I liked how the cover is designed.

Sales Links: JMS Books LLC | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Published April 27th 2018 by JMS Books LLC
ISBN139781634865999

JL Merrow on Modern Explorers and her new release Wight Mischief (guest post and giveaway)

Wight Mischief by J.L. Merrow

Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: Tiferet Design

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host JL Merrow here today talking about her new release Wight Mischief. Welcome, JL.

Modern Explorers

Hi, I’m JL Merrow, and I’m delighted to be here today as part of the blog tour to celebrate the release of Wight Mischief, a romantic suspense novel set on the island I grew up on, the Isle of Wight.

We’re all familiar with tales of exploration from history. There’s (to name but a few) Leif Eriksson, who made it to America five centuries before Columbus; Gertrude Bell, who pioneered the novel idea of preserving relics of antiquity in their home locations; Marco Polo, whose 24-year travels were a 13^th-century inspiration to explorers who came after him; Sacagawea, who was invaluable on the Lewis-Clark expeditions, despite being presumably somewhat inconvenienced by giving birth en route.

You might think the spirit of adventure and exploration has died out in modern times. Hasn’t everywhere already been mapped? But that spirit, that urge to discover and to document, lives on—and you can find it on the internet.

Some key scenes in Wight Mischief take place on or around a tunnel that leads down from Marcus’s fortress home through the cliffs to a staircase ending on the beach. Now, this fictional route is based on a real tunnel, constructed as a supply tunnel to a 19^th-century Palmerston fort built to defend the island against French invasion. I can remember the excitement of making my way through this tunnel as a teenager, and the nervous drop from the rusted-off end of the staircase to the rocks below.

Of course, these days health and safety wouldn’t allow such perilous pursuits, and in any case, the land is now in private hands and fenced off. So I wasn’t, alas, able to refresh my decades-old memories by revisiting the site.

Other, however, have been bolder. There are forums online for these modern explorers to discuss, and to document, their visits to all kinds of off-the-beaten-track places which lie forgotten and falling into decay. They see this as an important preservation of our heritage. Some specialise in subterranean exploration. Others focus on the derelict in a race against time to document buildings and other structures before they are lost forever.

You may not agree with their methods—it’s fairly clear not all of them trouble to get the landowner’s permission before they strike out on their expeditions of discovery—but you have to admire their spirit of adventure.

Question: Another favourite playground of my youth was a tumbling-down fort on Culver Cliffs. Do you have fond memories of somewhere derelict or forgotten where you played as a child?

Giveaway: I’m offering a prize of a $10 Dreamspinner Press gift certificate to one lucky commenter on the tour, who will be randomly chosen on Friday 15^th June. Good luck!

Wight Mischief

A ghost of a chance at love.

Personal trainer Will Golding has been looking forward to a getaway with his best friend, Baz, a journalist researching a book on ghosts. But on the first day of their camping trip on the Isle of Wight, Will takes a walk on a secluded beach and spies a beautiful young man skinny-dipping by moonlight. Ethereally pale, he’s too perfect to be real—or is he?

Lonely author Marcus Devereux is just as entranced by the tall athlete he encounters on the beach, but he’s spent the years since his parents’ violent death building a wall around his heart, and the thought of letting Will scale it is terrifying. Marcus’s albinism gives him his otherworldly appearance and leaves him reluctant to go out in daylight, his reclusiveness encouraged by his guardian—who warns him to stay away from Will and Baz.

The attraction between Will and Marcus can’t be denied—but neither can the danger of the secrets haunting Marcus’s past, as one “accident” after another strikes Will and Baz. If they don’t watch their step, they could end up added to the island’s ghostly population.

Available in ebook and paperback from Dreamspinner Press

Wight Mischief was previously published by Samhain, but has been completely re-edited and given a lovely new cover for this second edition by Dreamspinner Press.

Author Bio:

JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again.

She writes (mostly) contemporary gay romance and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour. Two of her novels have won Rainbow Awards for Romantic Comedy (Slam!, 2013 and Spun!, 2017) and several of her books have been EPIC Awards finalists, including Muscling Through, Relief Valve (the Plumber’s Mate Mysteries) and To Love a Traitor.

JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers and the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.

Find JL Merrow online at: https://jlmerrow.com/, on Twitter as @jlmerrow, and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jl.merrow

Series Recap Blitz for Boystown Series by Marshall Thornton – Books 1 through 10 (Giveaway)

Series Recap Blitz

Boystown Series

Boystown Bundle 1 – 3 – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #4 A Time For Secrets – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #5 Murder Book – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #6 From The Ashes – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #7 Bloodlines – Amazon US | Amazon UK (ON SALE for 99c)
Book #8 The Lies That Bind – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #9 Lucky Days – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #10 Gifts Given – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #11 Hearts Desire – Amazon US | Amazon UK (PREORDER)

All available to borrow on Kindle Unlimited.

The Series

The Lambda Award-winning Boystown Mysteries detail the cases of former police officer-turned-private investigator Nick Nowak. Set in Chicago and covering the period between 1981 and 1984, the ten books follow Nick as he struggles with memories of his abrupt departure from the CPD and the end of his long-term relationship with librarian Daniel Laverty. He moves through a series of casual tricks until he meets homicide detective Bert Harker with whom he begins a tentative relationship.

As cynical and difficult as the city he calls home, Nick doggedly pursues his cases and often solves them out of sheer stubbornness. He relies on help from a charming cast of characters, who provide clues and comfort in equal measure. Beyond the mobsters and murderers, Nick encounters a larger villain looming on the horizon. A villain who begins striking down Nick’s friends and lovers, bringing the freewheeling fun of the early eighties to an end.

Author Bio

Marshall Thornton is known for the Lambda Award-winning Boystown Mysteries. His comedic novels include The Ghost Slept Over, My Favorite Uncle and the Lambda Finalist for Gay Romance, Femme. Marshall holds an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA and has had plays produced in both Chicago and Los Angeles and stories published in The James White Review and Frontier Magazine.

Website
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Twitter
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A Stella Review: Out, Proud, and Prejudiced by Megan Reddaway

RATING 4,5 out of 5 stars

One’s proud, one’s prejudiced, and they can’t stand each other.

Quick-tempered Bennet Rourke dislikes Darius Lanniker on sight. Darius may be a hotshot city lawyer, but that doesn’t give him the right to sneer at Bennet, his friends, and their college. It doesn’t help that Bennet’s restaurant job has him waiting at Darius’s table. So when his tutor recommends him for an internship at Darius’s Pemberley estate, Bennet isn’t sure he wants it. He’s also not sure he can afford to turn it down.

Darius is a fish out of water in the small college town of Meriton, but something keeps pulling him back there. He’s helping out a friend with business advice, nothing more. If he’s interested in Bennet, it’s not serious. Sure, Bennet challenges him in a way no other man has. But they have nothing in common. Right?

Wrong. Their best friends are falling in love, and Bennet and Darius can’t seem to escape each other. Soon they’re sharing climbing ropes and birthday cake, and there’s a spark between them that won’t be denied. But betrayal is around the corner. Darius must swallow his pride and Bennet must drop his prejudices to see the rainbow shining through the storm clouds.

A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

I’m a huge fan of Jane Austen and in general of that era literature. Pride and Prejudice is one of my all the time fave books. I saw and read everything related to the novel. More or less I liked them all. That’s why of course I had to read this new release by Megan Reddaway, a new to me author. I thought I could enjoy the story but I wasn’t expecting to love it so much. It was a lovely surprise.

I’m not going to focus my review on the plot cause the blurb tells you what you have to know and well, since it’s about Pride and Prejudice, you know what to expect. That said, the book is really well done, written so well my reading flew easily, and to me, being English is not my first language, this happens only when the writing is great. The greatest surprise were the characters, apart from the fact I adore coral stories like this one, when there are quite a few characters to meet and love, the author did a good job and she let me know a little about all the second characters, some of them I loved, others I despised as I did in the original novel. Some true gems like Giorgio and Jamie caught my heart deeply with their pureness. And then Bennet and Darius with their parts followed the enemies to lovers trope and made my heart beating like Elizabeth and Darcy always do.

I want to highly recommend Out, Pride and Prejudiced, it’s not just a simple retelling, through all the reading I felt connected to Jane Austen’s work, I could find all the elements I needed and everything was just right and fitting. I loved it.

The cover art by Natasha Snow is not a favorite of mine among the artist works, it is nothing special and in my mind is doesn’t fit the story, I don’t know why.

SALE LINKS: Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 270 pages

Published June 4th 2018

ISBN13 9781912735006

Edition Language English

A MelanieM Release Day Review: BFF by K.C. Wells

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

I’m about to do something huge, and it could change… everything.

I met Matt in second grade, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. We went to the same schools, studied at the same college. When we both got jobs in the same town, we shared an apartment. And when my life took an unexpected turn, Matt was there for me. Every milestone in my life, he was there to share it. And what’s really amazing? After all these years, we’re still the best of friends.

Which brings me to this fragile, heart-stopping moment: I want to tell him I love him, really love him, but I’m scared to death of what he’ll say. If I’ve got this all wrong, I’ll lose him—forever.

I’m having a terrific contemporary fiction week! BFF by KC Wells is a warmhearted, feel good story of discovery, friendship, and love. It’s got a sort of tone to it that caught me off guard that I attribute to its format. I almost had to read the first couple of paragraphs twice to make sure it was part of the story and not an author’s forward. Well, it was an author’s forward. But it didn’t come from K.C. Wells but rather from David, our narrator of this story.

You see BFF is the coming of age, coming out story that charts two men’s friendship from their first meeting as second graders where they became the Dynamic Duo, through high school, all through roommates at college and after graduation as they start their various careers…always together. As the best of friends.

But David is recounting it at the beginning of novel, he’s writing it all down as a story, complete with notes and reflections on his behavior towards Matt at the time (hindsight is everything). It gives the book an immediate and intimate feel as his thoughts and feelings come tumbling out along with the memories. Through David’s eyes, both Matt and their families come alive as does their long, blended history together. If the two boys were always side by side so too were their parents (and siblings), matching them for support and love, even in the toughest of times.

Oddly I’m talking financially here. This wonderful story has these families carry with them many of the strains most modern families do….job security, moving, eduction issues, and learning disabilities. Even sex education and tolerance in the nicest of ways. What it doesn’t have? Extreme angst of any sort. This is a gentle, moving story of a journey of a friendship and a deep love towards a final revelation and HEA.

KC Wells really got to me. Even when she had David remarking on his own dialog as a kid (too smart) in his story, to his interactions with Matt throughout the years, I was there with them, throughly invested in their relationship, their happiness. That included their families. I tell you I loved both sets of parents and when you read this story, you will too.

Honestly, that blurb gives you one idea of the plot line. But the story is so much more than that. It’s bigger, warmer, decades in these mens lives and a touching, joyous journey to love. Trust me, I really didn’t want to let them go. I highly recommend this story. It left me smiling and with a happy heart. Doesn’t that sound like a grand afternoon?

Cover art: Reese Dante. This cover is perfect in every way. That’s David and Matt and an importation location. Love it.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Expected publication: June 5th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781640801004
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Lucy Review: Detour (Transportation #1) by Reesa Herberth and Michelle Moore

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Ethan and Scott were best friends and boyfriends. All through high school they planned on this amazing cross country trip. They were going to see all the kitschy things together. An all too common tragedy occurs senior year – Scott is killed by gunfire in a school shooting. Ethan has to get out of his town because of the guilt he feels for still living and the sympathy/pity of people, even as he doesn’t want to do this trip alone. So he hits the road, promising his parents he will call them and will not pick up hitchhiker’s who might take him to a murder cave and kill him.

He’s driving on a stormy night in the dark and nearly hits a hitchhiker. Despite his parents’ warning, he can’t leave the man there in the rain, so he offers him a ride. This is Nick and Nick is running away from a ton of bad things as well. Namely, he just escaped an abusive pray-the-gay-away conversion camp as well as an abusive ex-boyfriend, Kyle. Nick has a painful history and he knows what it’s like to grieve for someone, having lost his little brother to cancer. He accepts the ride with Ethan and Ethan offers him the chance to be a part of his great adventure, seeing all the ridiculous roadside attractions they can see.

There is a moment when Nick admits he has no money to do the sights and Ethan tells him Scott’s parents had given him a large amount, probably what they were going to give Scott for graduation, and it just made me cry. There are so many shattered dreams here. Ethan suffers from panic attacks, which Nick handles with care and kindness. For his part, Ethan treats Nick with the same care and kindness. The two of them can be snarky and funny and I thoroughly enjoyed. The scene at the haunted train tracks just made me happy and made me think that they could learn to be happy again.

Nick has a seriously abusive ex-boyfriend in Kyle and feelings of betrayal by his parents after being sent to Camp Cornerstone, i.e. abusive conversion therapy. He was able to walk away from the camp only because he turned eighteen. Ethan’s gift to him really showed the sweetness of Ethan and the vulnerability of Nick. “Eventually it became too much, got too close to the place inside him that wanted nothing more than to beg for any scrap of care he could get.” Oh, Nick, you deserve so much.

Ethan sends text messages to Scott and he’s very afraid he’s doing the trip wrong. “I don’t know if I want my life to happen without him.” There is no shying away from all the emotional turmoil for these guys. They have to work through it and though they have different issues, they are equally painful and hard to deal with. Nick’s trip through Cornerstone is horrific and it is brought on by the abuse of Kyle. And Kyle continues to be crazy, abusing, texting and going as far as to call Ethan’s parents, posing as Nick’s brother, to get information. That’s probably the least of what he did but stalker, abuser and psycho cover it. Add in that Nick doesn’t feel worthy of happiness sometimes. He has his own survivor’s guilt.

The book doesn’t pull its punches on dealing with some serious issues but it also conveys that these guys are young and they talk and act that way, even through stress and grief. They are there for each other, through the biggest guitar and talking to the police, but they work through their grief and guilt on their own as well. Their conversations could be so emotional, other times so sweet and funny. The “lie to me” made me want to cry sometimes.

“But, mostly, I think we get so obsessed with missing someone, trying to stay connected with who they were as people.” That is so true and it was the lesson both of them needed to understand. Ethan’s grasping that Scott was really, truly gone was just heartbreaking. “Scott would have changed. He would have learned things, and seen things, and we’d both be different people now than we were when he died. I think that was the ghost I was hoping to find. The person Scott would have become.” And that’s what you really can’t find, because that person will remain the same as you remember them while you continue to learn things, to grow and to change. “Instead of keeping Scott’s memory alive, I was trying to get away from the person I was becoming without him.”

Both Nick and Scott, so young to be dealing with such things and yet they do, working their way through guilt and through grief, through fear, learning they can lean on each other. I was pulling for these guys to get a little happiness. The one thing I would have appreciated was an epilogue to show that they were still together, still happy and still working on it.

The cover art by Kanaxa light and fun. Which doesn’t exactly speak to the reality of the storyline.

SALE LINKS Riptide Publishing | Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 339 pages

Published May 7th 2018 by Riptide Publishing

ISBN 1626497435 (ISBN13: 9781626497436)

Edition Language English

A MelanieM Release Day Review: His Leading Man by Ashlyn Kane

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

He wrote a comedy. Fate directed a romance.

Drew Beaumont is bored of the same old roles: action hero, supervillain, romantic lead. He’s not going to let a fresh gay buddy comedy languish just because they can’t find him the right costar. No, Drew bats his eyelashes and convinces everyone that the movie’s writer should play Drew’s not-so-straight man.

Aspiring writer Steve Sopol has never had a screenplay optioned. Now one of Hollywood’s hottest properties wants to be in a movie Steve hasn’t finished writing—and he wants Steve as his costar. Turns out the chemistry between them is undeniable—on and offscreen.

Drew swore off dating in the biz, but Steve is the whole package: sharp, funny, humble, and cute. For Steve, though, giving in to the movie magic means the end of the privacy he cherishes. Will the credits roll before their ride into the sunset?

Sometimes all you want is an extremely well written angst free romance. One completely lacking in murderous ex lovers, psychotic stalkers, or even the normal life driven “why did it happen to me/them” elements that realistically thread through some contemporary novels these days. Sometimes, I just want happy. A well plotted story, full of multidimensional characters who were easy to connect with, and, had a journey towards HEA that just pulled me in for hours.

His Leading Man by Ashlyn Kane is that story. Two intelligent, nice, hardworking men who find each other at the right time in their lives and it works. It was so enjoyable! I fell effortlessly into the tale of actor Drew Beaumont and writer Steve Sopol on the set of Steve’s low budget movie Dog Gone that he’s written. It’s Steven’s first screen play and his big break into movies as a writer. For Drew? This low budget film represents something different. Smartly written, dialog his loves, as well the the comedic character and tone of the story? And LGBT storyline? It’s something he’s been looking to play.

Ashlyn Kane brings us right into the dynamics of creating a low budget movie, writing a screenplay and acting, all the while as two men discover each other and fall in love. We get both points of view, a cautious relationship that moves from friendship to dating to love, and with each step, I fell in love with this couple and this story even more.

I first read Ashlyn Kane from her hockey books but it had been a while since I’d last turned a page of one of those. What a delight to rediscover her and her stories again in His Leading Man. This just showed me what I’ve been missing. Now I’m off to see what else she’s been writing in the interim.

Do you love contemporary romance? One’s guaranteed to reach into your heart with a sweetness and lightheartedness that will make your day? Then I recommend His Leading Man by Ashlyn Kane to fit the bill.

Cover art: Bree Archer. Light, fun, and romantic. It works for the character and tone of the story. Perfect.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner website | Amazon.com.

Book Details:

ebook, 222 pages
Expected publication: June 5th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
Original TitleHis Leading Man
ISBN139781640801080
Edition LanguageEnglish
URL

Release Blitz and Giveaway – Made In Portugal by Ana Newfolk

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 68,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Jay Aheer

Blurb

At 10 years old Joel was uprooted from his home and everything he knew in Portugal to start a new life in the States. At 26 he finds himself returning for the first time in thirteen years. So what if looking into the eyes of his childhood best friend again still makes his heart race out of his chest?

Living in sunny, laid-back Portugal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. For David, dreams of being a pastry chef come second to working in his family’s café where his renowned custard tarts draw in the crowds. Seeing Joel brings old feelings back. Feelings he’s not sure he’s brave enough to acknowledge to anyone other than himself.

With the inspiration of an old travel journal, the two friends embark on a real journey through memories in a country where looking back into the past runs as deep as the blood that courses through their veins.

Falling in love was never meant to be a stop along the way, but maybe inevitable when you have the adventurous spirit and courage to pursue what you want, make love under the stars, and even figure out how to jumpstart an old Citroen 2CV in the middle of the Alentejo countryside.

Ana Newfolk was born in Portugal where she grew up surrounded by sunshine and countryside. She has always had a deep love of reading, and ever since she can remember her favorite presents and treats have always been books. She would often be found in her not-so-secret spot reading her favorite adventure books (when she was younger) and romance novels (when she discovered boys). At 20 years old she moved to the UK where she has lived since.

In 2015 Ana stumbled across her first MM romance novel by chance, and she was hooked. She loves reading about men falling in love, hard, fast and ever so sweetly. This new found love for LGBTQ+ romance has opened a new world for Ana, and in 2017 she decided to finally listen to the voices in her head and write them down.

In addition to the time she spends reading and writing Ana has a full-time job that involves meeting lots of people with interesting stories to tell. She also loves baking as much as she loves watching people eat what she creates, much to the delight of family, friends and work colleagues alike.

You can follow Ana on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or through her blog for up to date news of her book releases.

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A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Hush by Tal Bauer and Joel Leslie (Narrator)

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

It’s impossible to summarize the “meat” of this story in a single paragraph. Even the blurb only covers part of it, but in a nutshell—Federal Judge Tom Brewer has hidden his sexuality ever since he was a young college grad eagerly looking forward to law school. In the climate of the early eighties, when men were first diagnosed with the new AIDS disease, there was no room for doubt if a young man wanted to become a successful lawyer, so he turned away from everything he was and buried his sexuality very, very deep. Mike Lucciano, the US Marshal assigned to the federal judges protection detail, is an out and proud gay man, and he may just happen to hold the key to that safely locked away heart of Judge Tom Brewer.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Joel Leslie made this story 5 stars for me, though the raw material was certainly exemplary to begin with. This action adventure, complete with political intrigue was done in combo with a beautiful heartwarming MM romance amidst the chaos of a federal court, terrorist plots, and political intrigue.

Action packed, nail-biting suspense abounds in this story. And just when I thought things were going to run smooth, they took a turn toward crazy. And the people? Who do I trust? Who’s guilty? Who’s innocent? Who’s clueless? And who’s simply misinformed? Amazing characters, awesome situations, a grand international adventure—all rolled into one powerful story.

There are plots and subplots, characters to love and characters to hate, and both subtle and not-so-subtle nuances to the importance of any given situation. There’s no doubt Tal Bauer is a storyteller and there’s no doubt Joel Leslie can take that story and run with it. A man of a thousand voices, he brings me to my knees in heartbreak when one of our characters is at death’s door. And he brings an ear-to-ear smile to my face when the joy of finally being the man he should have been able to be all along comes to Tom Brewer.

I very, very highly recommend this story in audiobook format to all lovers of MM romance, especially to those who love older men, action/adventure, political intrigue, and a heartwarming HEA.

~~~

Cover art depicts a man with a gun to the back of his head, set against a background of the metro DC area. Just perfect for the story!

Sales Links: Amazon | Audible

Audiobook Details:

Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 05-01-18
Language: English
Publisher: Tantor Audio

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Wight Mischief by J.L. Merrow

Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: Tiferet Design

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Series Recap Blitz

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