Category: M/M Romance

A Chaos Moondrawn Review :Royal Guardian (Rise of the Symbionts #1) by Jo Tannah

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Lando is a man genetically bred by machines for security purposes. By the age of 12, he is one of the top 20 security specialists on the planet Oryon based on his intelligence and skill. He is training to be a Royal Guardian assigned to Prince Kallen, a powerful technomage. Prince Kallen was born sickly and is dying. When unknown inhabitants of the planet Nigul sent a distress call to Oryon, they arrive too late to save anyone while the planet is destroyed. Lando finds an egg with a sentient being inside that seems to have empathic abilities. The symbiont, Bobik, attaches itself to the Prince after it hatches, healing him.

There is an eight years age gap between the Prince and Lando. While Lando is in love with his prince, he never thinks anything will come of it. Kallen has other ideas–though he waits until his 18th birthday to make his feelings known. When Kallen names Lando Prince Consort, Lord Commander Militant Cheol, unhappy with the union and the symbiont, resigns his position and leaves with fifteen thousand guardsmen. While Lando hunts Cheol, Kallen leaves for Vespa to study magical protocols for two years. Lando becomes Lord Commander Militant, security and advisor to the King. When the Prince is kidnapped and Bobik is not with him, they fear the worst. Is Cheol involved? Are there other enemies they don’t know about? Many fear the alien Bobik and Kallen is such a powerful technomage already.

Although this was slow to get going, I actually enjoyed this. The love scene is strange as Bobik is involved. Part two will undoubtedly take up the search for Cheol. Lando also found a new egg as part of a mission assigned him by the King. I expect this is how the rise of the symbionts (the subtitle) will happen. I would have preferred this to be a long novel rather than having the story broken up into three novellas. Now I have to know what happens. This was an easy enjoyable read with likeable characters, low angst, and palace intrigue.

I like the cover art by Angela Waters, which communicates the story is science fiction and shows Lando.

Sales Links:       Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 76 pages
Published March 31st 2017 by eXtasy Books Inc
ISBN 1487412029 (ISBN13: 9781487412029)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesRise of the Symbionts #1

Charlie Cochrane on Her Fav Reads and her new release Old Sins (Lindenshaw Mysteries #4) by Charlie Cochrane (author guest post, tour and giveaway)

Old Sins (Lindenshaw Mysteries #4) by Charlie Cochrane

Riptide Publishing
Cover Art: L.C. Chase

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Charlie Cochrane back again talking about the latest releases in her Lindenshaw Mysteries, Old Sins.  Welcome, Charlie.

 

🐾

 

 

What Charlie likes to read

Do you have a favourite book? I have many, in all sorts of genres. “The Charioteer” if we’re talking gay fiction, “Death at the President’s Lodging” if it’s mysteries, “Three Men in a Boat” for humour; the list goes on and on through different genre, fictional and non-fiction. Some of these books are a bit of a guilty pleasure, not least because I can see their flaws.

I’m a huge fan of classic age mystery writers; Dorothy, Agatha, Michael, Ngaio and the rest, but they have their feet of clay. Sayers could sometimes overcomplicate plots to the point of obscurity (which reader could really have worked out the sequence of events in Five Red Herrings?) and seems increasingly in love with her detective, Lord Peter Wimsey.  All of these authors shared a falling of their powers in later life – the last few Appleby mysteries are a pale shadow of the early ones – and, of course, all were products of their time, so modern readers might fund things which jar, such as anti-semitic references or the treatment of gay characters in a derogatory way.

Some of these authors reused plot ideas and devices. The classic story of the murderer assuming someone else’s identity, sometimes to benefit from inheritance, occurs again and again with Christie (as do other tried and tested story arcs). Marsh also showed an economy of plot, using the same method of murder both in a short story and again in a full novel. Her “Death and the Dancing Footman” falls into the category of “familiar plot” – the twist is the sort that an avid reader of the genre would soon spot –  but that doesn’t make it any less of a delightful comfort read. A sort of literary equivalent of mulled wine in front of a roaring fire.

The book has several of the staple elements of the archetypal classic age mystery: a country house, a house party cut off by snow, family rivalries, a sealed room death, an outsider who acts as ‘chorus’ and a witty, urbane and aristocratic sleuth, Roderick Alleyn. How I love “Handsome Alleyn” – I wonder if Ngaio loved him, too, like Sayers loved Wimsey. He seems just a bit too perfect at times.

That’s why I’m determined to show that neither of my male leads in the Lindenshaw series are anything less than human. They get angry, they make mistakes, they argue with each other, they make up, they talk about work, they refuse to talk about work…just like any of us. I’m also determined not to fall in love with either of them, although how can I resist falling head over heels for their dog Campbell?

A detective, his boyfriend and their dog. That’s the Lindenshaw mysteries in a nutshell. Old Sins is the fourth instalment in the series, and not only does Robin have a murder to investigate, he and Adam have got the “little” matter of their nuptials to start planning. And, of course, Campbell the Newfoundland gets his cold wet nose into things, as usual.

 

About Old Sins

Past sins have present consequences.

Detective Chief Inspector Robin Bright and his partner, deputy headteacher Adam Matthews, have just consigned their summer holiday to the photo album. It’s time to get back to the daily grind, and the biggest problem they’re expecting to face: their wedding plans. Then fate strikes—literally—with a bang.

Someone letting loose shots on the common, a murder designed to look like a suicide, and the return of a teacher who made Robin’s childhood hell all conspire to turn this into one of his trickiest cases yet.

Especially when somebody might be targeting their Newfoundland, Campbell. Robin is used to his and Adam’s lives being in danger, but this takes the—dog—biscuit.

Available now from Riptide Publishing.

 

About the Lindenshaw Mysteries

Adam Matthews’s life changed when Inspector Robin Bright walked into his classroom to investigate a murder.

Now it seems like all the television series are right: the leafy villages of England do indeed conceal a hotbed of crime, murder, and intrigue. Lindenshaw is proving the point.

Detective work might be Robin’s job, but Adam somehow keeps getting involved—even though being a teacher is hardly the best training for solving crimes. Then again, Campbell, Adam’s irrepressible Newfoundland dog, seems to have a nose for figuring things out, so how hard can it be?

Check out the Lindenshaw Mysteries.

 

About Charlie Cochrane

Because Charlie Cochrane couldn’t be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her mystery novels include the Edwardian era Cambridge Fellows series, and the contemporary Lindenshaw Mysteries. Multi-published, she has titles with Carina, Riptide, Endeavour and Bold Strokes, among others.

A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People and International Thriller Writers Inc, Charlie regularly appears at literary festivals and at reader and author conferences with The Deadly Dames.

Connect with Charlie:

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Old Sins one lucky person will win a swag bag from Charlie! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 16, 2019. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

An Ashlez Audio Review: Road of No Return: Hounds of Valhalla MC (Sex & Mayhem #1) by K.A. Merikan and Wyatt Baker (Narrator)

Rating – 2 stars out of 5

— Don’t talk to strangers. —

Zak. Tattoo artist. Independent. Doesn’t do relationships.

Stitch. Outlaw biker. Deep in the closet. Doesn’t share his property.

On the day of Stitch’s divorce, lust personified enters the biker bar he’s celebrating at. Tattooed all over, pierced, confident, and hot as hellfire, Zak is the bone Stitch has waited for life to throw him. All Stitch wants is a sniff, a taste, a lick. What follows instead is gluttony of the most carnal sort, and nothing will ever be the same. Forced to hide his new love affair from the whole world, Stitch juggles family, club life, and crime, but it’s only a matter of time until it becomes too hard.

Zak moves to Lake Valley in search of peace and quiet, but when he puts his hand into the jaws of a Hound of Valhalla, life gets all but simple. In order to be with Stitch, Zak’s biker wet dream, he has to crawl right back into the closet. As heated as the relationship is, the secrets, the hiding, the violence, jealousy, and conservative attitudes in the town rub Zak in all the wrong ways. When pretending he doesn’t know what his man does becomes impossible, Zak needs to decide if life with an outlaw biker is really what he wants.

As club life and the love affair collide, all that’s left in Zak and Stitch’s life is mayhem.

 I had a few issues with this book, overall it was nice and filthy – lots of loving.  There were some points I hated .. the use of the word “fag” was very prominent and I found it a huge turn off.  I can’t express that enough, I get that it’s a hardened biker book but the CONSTANT use of the word was just too much for me.  The warning says homophobia which like I said, expected in this context but the WORD always used, downer.
I listened to this book in audio format, for which I’m both grateful and not, perhaps the previous word that was used to often wouldn’t have been as strong had I read the words instead of heard them – I didn’t mind the narrator, he had a few moments of over the top biker growling going on, but overall was well read!
Cover – 100% fitting , and very nice.. who doesn’t like leather
Sales Link:  Amazon | Audible
Audio Book Details:
Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
Audible Audio, 12 pages
Published January 19th 2019 by Acerbi&Villani ltd. (first published July 17th 2014)
Original TitleRoad of No Return
ASINB07MWHTTWF
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesSex & Mayhem #1, Sex & Mayhem (DE editions) #1, Serie Sex & Mayhem (IT editions) #5 , more
CharactersZac Richardson, Thor ‘Stitch’ Larsen

An Alisa Review: Hidden Hearts (Bad Valentine #3) by Clare London

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Accident-prone Ethan has a dating history that reads like a disaster movie script. Strong and silent Kel can’t seem to master the necessary small-talk on a proper date. When they both get signed up anonymously for a Valentines’s night event—”for those with an adventurous spirit but an open diary”—they never imagined they’d be matched. They never imagined the romantic sparks would fly. To be honest, they never imagined they’d survive the week.

A catalogue of disasters dogs the footsteps of their blossoming romance, including a coffee date with food allergies as an added extra, an intimate dinner that strays too close for comfort to chopped chillies, and a sensual massage with hot wax candles that threatens to alert the local fire brigade.

But if they can hold tight to their sweet, surprising, yet single-minded attraction – they might just survive this Valentine’s Day with something very special to look forward to.

Oh gosh, I loved this story.  Ethan isn’t who Kel would have usually gone for but they connected immediately on their blind date.  Kel is everything Ethan has dreamed about but never thought he could have.

I liked how this was a bit opposites attract but they connected so beautifully.  I loved how Kel didn’t even blink at Ethan’s clumsiness and wouldn’t let it scare him away.  And the best part an epilogue, it always wraps a story up nicely to me.

The cover art by Jordan Castillo Price is cute and I love the visual of Ethan.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 68 pages

Publication: February 1, 2019

Edition Language: English

Series: Bad Valentine #3

A MelanieM Review: Old Sins (Lindenshaw Mysteries #4) by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Detective Chief Inspector Robin Bright and his partner, deputy headteacher Adam Matthews, have just consigned their summer holiday to the photo album. It’s time to get back to the daily grind, and the biggest problem they’re expecting to face: their wedding plans. Then fate strikes—literally—with a bang.

Someone letting loose shots on the common, a murder designed to look like a suicide, and the return of a teacher who made Robin’s childhood hell all conspire to turn this into one of his trickiest cases yet.

Especially when somebody might be targeting their Newfoundland, Campbell. Robin is used to his and Adam’s lives being in danger, but this takes the—dog—biscuit.

The books in this series are not meant to stand alone but rather read with the understanding that you already know Robin, Adam, and their wonderful Newfie Campbell and all the events and history that has gone on before.  Trust me, that’s considerable, both in their backgrounds and in the small village in which they live and work. Or did work.  Now the cozy cottage where they live (it was Adam’s) and the village is both a distance from their new jobs and they are planning both a move and wedding when the new story opens.  How I love this series!

 

So yes, a lot has gone before Old Sins (Lindenshaw Mysteries #4) by Charlie Cochrane  and quite a lot is beginning to happen.   For things are never dull for long for these two who have just gotten back from a long needed holiday before the school year starts up again for Adam and the criminals start a wave for Robin and his crew.  Plus there is that wedding to be planned, pesky details and all.

For those new to the series, I do recommend heading back to The Best Corpse for the Job, the first story in the series. 

That is where Adan and Robin meet, and it all begins, including our love affair with Campbell, Adam’s Newfoundland.  There are many secondary characters that appear , in varying stages of narrative importance depending upon the plot, book after book.  So meeting them and being able to identify them early is a great thing.  Then seeing them again is like greeting old friends, ornery or otherwise.  In these villages, the personalities swing widely!

Cochrane’s characters are so beautifully crafted that it’s  sometimes hard to tell which way the plot will fall, who will be the villain or the victim?  Sometimes both have the same personality traits!  You can emphasize with both or neither, an element I really love.  It makes them so human.

Here once again Robin’s tortuous childhood is involved, one he is still dealing with and this case brings it back with an immediacy he never expected.  Plus a connection to Adam, as it always happens with these cases.  Throw Campbell into the mix, and things turn frightening, mysterious, and downright murderous.

I will admit to guessing part of the plot (the person partially) but got the motive all wrong!  No, the author kept me guessing on the twists and turns on that until the end.  There was a couple of things I wanted more neatly tied up  but that’s just me.

On the whole, I found this extremely satisfying, it took Adam and Robin’s relationship to a deeper place, and at least moved their wedding plans forward ! lol  Plus i got more Campbell which is always a wonderful thing.

If you love cozies like I do, this is one mystery series for you.  Start at the beginning and make your way here!  i highly recommend them all.

Cover art: L.C. Chase.  I really like the covers for the series.  I wish it had Campbell on the cover, but that was the last one.  Oh well.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 209 pages
Published February 11th 2019 by Riptide Publishing
Original Title Old Sins
ISBN 139781626498723
Edition Language English

Series Lindenshaw Mysteries :

The Best Corpse for the Job

Jury of One

Two Feet Under

Old Sins

New Release Blitz and Giveaway for Eagle In The Hawthorn (Rowan Harbor Cycle #7) by Sam Burns

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK – Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited
 
Length: 45,000 words approx.
 

Cover Design: Melanie Farlow @ Clause & Effect

 

The Rowan Harbor Cycle Series


Book #1 – Blackbird in the Reeds – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #2 – Wolf and the Holly – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #3 – Fox and Birch – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #4 – Hawk In The Rowan – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #5 – Stag and the Ashe – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book #6 – Adder and Willow – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #6.5 – In Any Light – Amazon US | Amazon UK
 

Blurb

Rowan Harbor has had a tough winter, and Devon Murphy wants nothing more than to make it better. When he proposes a solution to the town’s low morale, it creates a rift in his relationship with his boyfriend, Wade. They’ve hardly ever argued, and when things get tense, Devon has no idea how to handle it.


But an evil presence in his town targets the people Devon loves, he has to put his personal worries aside and face danger down again. Will he be able to protect his town, and if he can, will Wade be waiting for him when it’s done?
Sam wrote her first fantasy epic with her best friend when she was ten. Like almost any epic fiction written by a ten year old, it was awful. She likes to think she’s improved since then, if only because she has better handwriting now.



If she’s not writing, she’s almost certainly either reading or lost down a Wikipedia rabbit hole while pretending to research for a novel.


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Giveaway

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Cover Reveal and Giveaway for Becca Seymour’s Realigned

Realigned by Becca Seymour

Hot Tree Publishing
Expected publication: March 30th 2019

 

Escape with Shaun and Mitch in outback Australia as they discover it sometimes takes time, distance, and interfering family to help them realign.

Giveaway

Giveaway: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ea80a6ed346/

Escape with Shaun and Mitch in outback Australia as they discover it sometimes takes time, distance, and interfering family to help them realign.

Blurb

After eight years of living in America, it’s time for Shaun to return home to his family’s farm in outback Australia. He has a decision to make: continue working his dream job with NASA or move back for a corporate job and his family.

He thinks his decision is easy.

He thinks he’s going to have a fun two weeks at home catching up.

He also thinks seeing his best friend, Mitch, will finally allow him to move on from that one hot kiss they shared the day he left.

Shaun realises he’s truly screwed as what he thinks and what he knows don’t always align.

Realigned is a fun and steamy M/M novella in Becca Seymour’s Coming Home series. Stand-alone romances complete with heat, wit, and happily ever afters.

#Realigned_Reveal #GayRomance #MMRomance #hotcowboy

A Jeri Review: Damaged by Tricia Owens

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

I have mixed feelings about this book. It could have been so much better if it had gone in a different direction.
After a bust gone wrong that kills his partner, Jack heads off to an Indian Casino to wait out his suspension while they investigate. He is drawn to the manager of the casino, Taylor (who is constantly referred to by his last name Brandt) even though he only plans to gamble, sleep, and drink.
I couldn’t quite figure out if Jack was gay and suppressed it or was just in the closet or is bi or ?? But this is his first experience with a man.  And, it is definitely an experience.
Taylor, or Brandt, is gay and has had some bad relationships. Of course both of those were with cops so he is wary.  Both of them took BDSM way too far to the point that he almost died. You’d think after the first he would have learned his lesson. He also mentions that he was mostly trying BDSM out. Uh, that is kind of extreme. And if the first time left you almost dead, why try again?
So Damaged these guys definitely are. But they way they come together is not healthy at all. Jack uses Brandt to punish himself. Brandt uses Jack to punish his former Doms. Honestly, it is books like this that give BDSM a bad name. I love broken characters and watching them find love and redemption. But this was not the way to do it.
 I didn’t feel a connection between them at all. More like they were each objects to each other. A ways to a means.
There was a bit of a subplot about Native American lore and the forest surrounding the casino and the inordinate amount of people who seem to commit suicide there. It was mentioned here and there and, again, it could have made a really strong impact at one point but it was kind of just tossed off.
And the pretty rainbow bow at the end was a bit too much after the darkness of the book. I would give this a pass.
Cover art:  Tricia Owens.  The cover aptly indicates parts of the story and gives the reader a major element at a glance.  Great job .

Buy Links – Available on KindleUnlimited

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 133 pages
Published February 12th 2018 by Tricia Owens
ASINB07N7F5M4H
Edition Language English

An Alisa Review: Square One by Dale Chase

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

When Noah Dahl ends an eight-year Hollywood relationship with actor Reece Landreth, he heads north to the family home he inherited years before, intending to make a new start. What he doesn’t anticipate is finding his boyhood crush Glenn Wager has also returned.

Though Noah suffers from his breakup, he finds Glenn suffering far more from difficult circumstances surrounding the death of his mother. As Noah’s boyhood feelings return, he must acknowledge that twenty-four years have passed and work at approaching the troubled Glenn as a man, not a boy.

But Noah quickly finds obstacles in his way, namely Glenn himself. Can the two ever fully reunite and possibly build a life together?

This story was not for me.  It started out alright though it was strange how Noah just casually and calmly left his relationship without even talking about it.  I didn’t really get the connection to Glenn or how it all started so quick.

I felt that Noah just seems to jump into any relationship and 2 days after meeting Glenn again he offers for him to move in.  My biggest pet peeve was the cheating, I mean, seriously, who sleeps with their ex just because of an argument?  And then he basically hides it and never brings it up, umm no.  There was no connection to the characters or really the story either.

The cover art by Written Ink Designs is okay but I didn’t feel it had any connection to the story.

Sales Links: JMS Books | Amazon | B&N

Book Details:

ebook, 69 pages

Published: January 12, 2019 by JMS Books

ISBN: 9781634867931

Edition Language: English