Category: M/M Romance

Release Blitz for Forever With You by Londra Laine (excerpt and giveaway)

Title: Forever with You

Author: Londra Laine

Publisher: Self-Published 

Cover Art: Aria Tan

Length: 230 pages/77,000 words

Release Date: January 9, 2018

Rating: 18+

Themes: New York City, office romance, contemporary, single-parent, multiracial, sexual trauma

TRIGGER WARNING:

Please be aware that this book contains a flashback of and several references to sexual assault.

Blurb

Kelly Brooks Montes is only nineteen years old and just starting college in New York City when tragedy strikes, and he becomes a single dad to his toddler brother. Four years later, Kelly and his baby brother, Jaylen, are doing well, though Kelly leads a double life to make ends meet. He’s a high-level administrative assistant by day and a racy go-go boy by night. Between raising his brother, dancing, and trying not to run afoul of his new boss, Kelly doesn’t have time for a boyfriend. Even if he did want a man in his life, a past trauma makes him question whether he can ever trust a man with his body or his heart. But then Kelly receives an unexpected but steamy birthday kiss from his boss, a man he was sure hated him, and he begins to wish for things he knows he shouldn’t.

Andrew Whitman knew from the moment he held Kelly’s hand that the man was special, and it both annoyed and terrified him. Kelly makes him feel a little out of control and Drew is a highly controlled man. He has to be to keep his sexuality a secret from his father, a conservative politician. And he is OK with that. He has a perfectly good, mutually beneficial, life plan with his best friend, Lex. A long time ago, he’d made his peace with the fact that he’d never find a man worth turning his life upside down for. Then he ends up with his capable and gorgeous assistant under him on top of his desk, and his life plans change. Drew can’t seem to get out of his own way when it comes to the quiet, sexy, and surprising single dad, but he can’t stop himself from falling for Kelly and his sweet baby brother. And just when it seems that Kelly has worked through his past hurts enough to let Drew into his body and his heart, manipulative family and words unspoken threaten to tear them apart. But after getting a taste of a life he never thought he could have, Drew won’t let anything tear his fledgling family apart.

Buy Links

Amazon buy link

Amazon US 

Amazon UK

Goodreads

Excerpt #1

Hot, wet, messy, they fed off each other. Kelly tightened his grip around Drew’s neck, hoisting himself up and bringing his legs around Drew’s waist. Drew slid his hands to Kelly’s ass, kneading and clutching him while Kelly started to slowly rock his hips.

“There you go, baby. Fuck, you feel so good. Take what you need.”

Kelly started grinding against Drew aggressively, his low, sexy moans making Drew’s cock ache with the need to be even closer. Skin to skin.

Drew spun them around, and with one hand, shoved a bunch of crap off his desk and onto his chair, laying Kelly out on his desk.

Drew grasped and spread Kelly’s thighs as he settled between the smaller man’s legs, pressing them chest to chest. Drew pulled Kelly’s glasses off his face and gently tossed them in the general direction of his desk chair, hoping they landed safely.

Drew wanted to fully possess Kelly. Absorb him, sink into him, claim him, soak him in. Drew lifted Kelly’s wrists above his head with one of his hands, restraining him while he fondled Kelly’s dick through his pants with the other. He needed unfettered access to him.

About the Author

Londra has loved reading since she discovered The Baby-Sitters Club, which remains her favorite book series. As a child, her parents would ground her by taking all the books out of her room for several days. Little did they know that when she couldn’t read other peoples’ stories, she’d make up her own.

Londra began reading romance in 2008. She fell in love with the M/M romance genre after purchasing a book by accident several years later. After decades of daydreaming, and jotting down storylines in various notebooks, Londra decided to give life to the characters in her head. She writes to give her guys the happy ending she wishes everyone––no matter their race, religion, gender, or orientation––could experience in real life.

To pay the bills, Londra helps IT engineers communicate with the people using their products. She is a recovering journalist and a former political staffer. Londra loves to watch American football, baseball, Seinfeld, The Golden Girls, and almost any show on HGTV. In 2010, she moved from her native California to New York City where she lives with her partner in Harlem. Forever With You is her first book.

Social Media Links

Londra on Twitter

Londra on Amazon

Londra on QueerRomance Ink

Londra on Goodreads

Londra on Facebook

Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win either a $30 or a $15 Amazon gift card.

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RELEASE BLITZ SCHEDULE

January 9

Noteworthy Book Reviews REVIEW x2

Blazing Zane Book Blog Review

Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings  REVIEW

MainelyStories REVIEW

MJ’s Book Blog and Reviews 

Lily G Blunt  

Gay Book Reviews  

January 10

Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter

MM Midnight Cafe   REVIEW

Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author  REVIEW

Megan’s Media Melange REVIEW

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Lelyana’s Book Blog REVIEW

Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews  REVIEW

My Fiction Nook  REVIEW

January 11

Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents

Diverse Reader  REVIEW

Sur l’étagère, derrière la sirène en plastique  REVIEW

Bayou Book Junkie  REVIEW

Tangents and Tissues

Smokin’ Hot Reads Book Blog  REVIEW

Stories That Make You Smile

January 22

Drops of Ink 

~

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A Lila Release Day Review: Southernmost Murder by C.S. Poe

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Aubrey Grant lives in the tropical paradise of Old Town, Key West, has a cute cottage, a sweet moped, and a great job managing the historical property of a former sea captain. With his soon-to-be-boyfriend, hotshot FBI agent Jun Tanaka, visiting for a little R&R, not even Aubrey’s narcolepsy can put a damper on their vacation plans.

But a skeleton in a closet of the Smith Family Historical Home throws a wrench into the works. Despite Aubrey and Jun’s attempts to enjoy some time together, the skeleton’s identity drags them into a mystery with origins over a century in the past. They uncover a tale of long-lost treasure, the pirate king it belonged to, and a modern-day murderer who will stop at nothing to find the hidden riches. If a killer on the loose isn’t enough to keep Aubrey out of the mess, it seems even the restless spirit of Captain Smith is warning him away.

The unlikely partnership of a special agent and historian may be exactly what it takes to crack this mystery wide-open and finally put an old Key West tragedy to rest. But while Aubrey tracks down the X that marks the spot, one wrong move could be his last.

Southernmost Murder is a perfect mix of mystery, quirky characters, and romance. I was captivated by Aubrey since the very beginning. I remember him from the Snow and Winter series, just like Jun, and I’m glad the author took the time to give these two their own story. It’s not necessary to read the other two books though.

I loved how Aubrey’s narcolepsy was part of him and not a prompt to make him more interesting or create conflict. It’s an integral part of the story and it’s relevant to the plot and the relationship. We get to know all the characters through their actions and each of them had their personalities and backstories.

The book has a solid ‘whodunnit’ plot with many twists and turns. Yes, Aubrey makes several dumb decisions during the story but those don’t take from it. I enjoyed the way the author brings the reader into the setting and the different locations. Together with all the historical facts, items, and side characters.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the romance arc take a central part of the story. Jun’s and Aubrey’s chemistry was intense but their friendship really added to it. I wish we could have seen them together during their courtship, but we get little glances of it. Jun’s POV would have been nice too. The secondary romance is heartbreaking.

Overall, this is a great mystery and love story. I hope to see more about these two and some of the other characters. Perhaps the detective? Adam?

The cover by Reese Dante shows Aubrey and Jun together with some of the elements of the story.

Sale Links: DSP| Amazon | NOOK

ebook, 200 pages
Published: January 9, 2018, by DSP Publications
ISBN: 9781640800779
Edition Language: English

A MelanieM Review: Bring Me the Dead by Becky Black

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

 

A million years, ago a galactic empire fell. That ancient empire is a source of many things. Wonder, knowledge, academic careers, and treasure. Treasure is what Beau Johnson seeks, tracking down artifacts for high-paying clients. Once a top student at the specialist institute for the study of the ancient empire, Beau rejected respectable archaeology and academia in favor of adventure.

Unlike his one-time rival Park Ki-tae, a brilliant student who became an enforcement agent tasked with keeping Imperial artifacts out of private collections. Beau thinks Ki-tae needs to loosen up, have more fun, and stop making it his life’s work to send Beau to jail. Ki-tae thinks Beau is a rogue and a criminal, and that it was a big mistake to sleep with him that one time…

When a client sends Beau after a legendary artifact that allows communication with the dead, Ki-tae pursues, sure that this time he’ll nail Beau. But circumstances force them to work together and deal with the feelings for each other they’ve both long denied. They have very different plans for the artifact they’re seeking–if it’s not a myth. Will they ever agree on their plans, or on anything else at all?

Bring Me the Dead by Becky Black sort of slides along that line between like and love.  There’s quite a lot that’s almost on the love side.  From the plot line to many of the characters but the total package and yes, execution just keeps it shy of the mark.

I love science fiction and here you have a group of treasure hunters after a mythological artifact and an galactic enforcement agent with a fierce resolve to ensure that artifact, if found, isn’t sold to the highest bidder as well as a certain hunter goes to jail.  Sound familiar?  And yes, they have a past together.  Black takes it further making them competitors/advisories since college where Beau Johnson always came out on top.  A nice twist that works to explain Ki-tae’s obsession with Johnson and his crew.

Black’s characters were a mixture.  While I thought Park Ki-tae, the enforcement agent, was strong, that of Beau Johnson had some major flaws, especially of someone of his renown. Supposedly the best at what he does, he was sloppy, under informed, ill-prepared etc. In other words, just not believable.  And that took away much of the ability to connect to the storyline. One or three of his crew were really nice characters, with enough quirks to stand on their own but for a band of superb outlaws at the top of the game? Never in a million years.

Other elements saved the story.  The places visited along the hunt for the artifact had rings of what might pass as authenticity in the future.  Most of the hard, narrative lifting here is done by Park, with Beau and crew chiming in.  But it was the most interesting part of this  story and the one I connected with.  King, their boss, and his android wife, were a nifty aspect of the tale.

The romance between Beau and Park  again seem undermined by the fact that Beau came off as less substantial, less believable than Park.  He’s supposed to be this huge deal yet falls so far short in the story that you wonder why Park is pursuing him.

There’s a HFN ending, which makes you wonder if the author intends this to be the first in a series.  There’s still so many loose plots threads dangling around t make a reader feel a bit unsatisfied even if the original hunt has come to an end.

If you are a lover of science fiction and want a quick read, you might want to investigate the hunt for a galactic artifact in Bring Me the Dead by Becky Black.

Cover art by April Martinez is on point with the characters and storyline.

Sales Links: Loose id | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Published October 31st 2017 by Loose Id
Original TitleBring Me the Dead
ISBN139781682524367
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttps://beckyblack.wordpress.com/bookshelf/standalone-novels-and-novellas/bring-me-the-dead/

Release Blitz and Giveaway for Lost In Time by A.L. Lester

 

Buy Links: JMS Books | Amazon US | Amazon UK


Cover Design: JM Snyder


Publisher: JMS Books


Length: 54,000 words approx.


The Gate (a FREE short story introducing the characters from Lost In Time) 
Amazon US | Amazon US | JMS Books


Blurb

Lew’s life is pleasantly boring until his friend Mira messes with magic she doesn’t understand. While searching for her, he is pulled back in time to 1919 by a catastrophic magical accident. As he tries to navigate a strange time and find his friend in the smoky music clubs of Soho, the last thing he needs is Detective Alec Carter suspecting him of murder.


London in 1919 is cold, wet, and tired from four years of war. Alec is back in the Metropolitan Police after slogging out his army service on the Western Front. Falling for a suspect in a gruesome murder case is not on his agenda, however attractive he finds the other man.


They are both floundering and out of their depth, struggling to come to terms with feelings they didn’t ask for and didn’t expect. Both have secrets that could get them arrested or killed. In the middle of a murder investigation that involves wild magic, mysterious creatures, and illegal sexual desire, who is safe to trust?






Author Bio

A. L. Lester likes to read. Her favorite books are post-apocalyptic dystopian romances full of suspense, but a cornflake packet will do there’s nothing else available. The gender of the characters she likes to read (and write) is pretty irrelevant so long as they are strong, interesting people on a journey of some kind.


She has a chaotic family life and small children, and she has become the person in the village who looks after the random animals people find in the road. She is interested in permaculture gardening and anything to do with books, reading, technology and history. She lives in a small village in rural Somerset and is seriously allergic to both rabbits and Minecraft.



Website: http://www.allester.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CogentHippo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALLesterAuthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cogenthippo/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/A.-L.-Lester/e/B01MZ6R1QR/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/allester

Giveaway

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A MelanieM Review: Beyond The Tunnel (The Wizard Shifter #1) by Dan Mitton

 
 Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
 

What would you do if you rode into a mountain tunnel in North Carolina and then rode out into a different world? Adam Stephens is about to find out…


Adam Stephens is a man with a mission. It has been three years since they chopped that malignant brain tumor out of his head, and he is off on a solo motorcycle camping trip through the Appalachian Mountains.


When he rides into the Pine Mountain Tunnel in North Carolina and rides out into another realm—a realm that comes complete with a big sexy grizzly bear shifter, mages, and an evil sorcerer—he isn’t sure he isn’t lying in the tunnel after crashing his bike. Can such a world exist? Or is he dreaming? If he is dreaming…it sure is realistic.


Along the way, there will be some major hurdles to surpass including no indoor plumbing…and no coffee. A man needs some basic luxuries, correct?

I’m as divided about writing this review as I was when I finished this story. Beyond The Tunnel (The Wizard Shifter #1) by Dan Mitton has left me with so many mixed thoughts and feelings about this novel.  Generally,  they are all mostly good. I completed the story knowing I would love to read more in the series and that the characters certainly left a big enough impression that I wanted to know what happened to them after the ending.

First off?  I loved the premise of this story.  A man still in recovery from brain surgery decides to take motorcycle trip he had always planned on before his next chemo session starts.  Only the light he sees exiting a tunnel in North Carolina shines with a different glow, the highway has disappeared, and the forest turned almost primeval in it’s towering growth. Is it a delusion…a result of the surgery and tumor or is it real?  That would have been an interesting road to travel but Mitton goes for the straightford route which still works here.

Adams has found his  way into another world, complete with magic, shifters, and an evil sorcerer.  Whew.  Once here, so many things start to happen.  There’s a huge case of instant love.  And to give the author his due, Adam remarks that yes, it’s instant love with tons of sex.  Unfortunately, this part of the story doesn’t help the book.  I liked both characters of Adam and Rafe but never felt that they had the time to develop their relationship.  That ‘instant love’ thing just doesn’t work here.  Good thing both are likable.

However, there’s so much more happening here.  Mostly about an evil sorcerer, who just happens to be from Adam’s time.  I found the author’s ability to make the villages and their inhabitants come alive especially appealing and essential to this story.  I cared about them and certain events are devastating.

Mitton sets himself a high agenda here with this story, with multiple tasks he obviously he wanted to accomplish with the narrative. So much so that he starts with certain threads and then drops them throughout the storyline.  I’m not sure if that’s because he’s going to use them in stories down the line or what.  But to have these tantalizing hints tossed out here and then nothing made of them? Sort of irritating.  Adam glowed in the dark in places Rafe reported?  Had snatches of lightning that appeared around him?  Little story elements  so curious and neat that just disappear never to be seen again.  Argh.  And yes, there are huge holes in the story here that never to get explained satisfactorily or at all.  Almost all center around magic, Adam and the mysterious sorcerer.

However, there are scenes so beautifully descriptive you’ll believe you are there.  Characters both down to earth and magical that you’ll connect with and root for.  There’s so much in this story that even when you want to say “why did he pull that in”, you keep going because you have to know what happens to them all.

I won’t discuss the ending.  Parts really didn’t make too much sense, especially with regards to the evil sorcerer.  So I expect he’s coming back in the sequel.  It all ends on an up and joyous note, one that will make you want to read the next story.

Cover art works for both the characters and the storyline,  Great job.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Exstasy 
 
Length: 79,777 words

 

A Lila Audiobook Review: Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists by Angel Martinez and Michael Pauley (Narrator)

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

A poltergeist haunts Taro, dogging his international travels. It washes glasses, puts dishes away, and even dusts. At least he hopes it’s a cleaning-obsessed poltergeist and not his own anxieties burbling over into neat freak fits he doesn’t remember. When his property manager suggests he call paranormal expert, Jack Montrose, Taro’s skeptical but desperate enough to try even a ghost hunter.

Jack’s arrival crushes Taro’s hopes of a dashing Van Helsing-style hero. Instead of an invincible hunter, he gets Ichabod Crane. As the paranormal puzzles multiply and Jack begins to suggest the entity might not be a ghostly one, Taro adds a budding friendship with Jack to his pile of anxieties. It’s a race to see whether Taro’s poltergeist or his relationship with the obviously-not-ace Jack will reach maximum strangeness first.

Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists never pulled me in. Taro’s self-reprieves take too much of the initial part of the story for me to feel compelled by his story. The initial meeting with his family and the subsequential travels were rushed and almost identical. I understand the author was trying to set the plot of the story, but I kept waiting for something interesting to happen.

The trips were almost like a list of places he visited were the same “magical cleaning” happening. He was always tired and lonely but the minimal interactions with others and his internal dialogue didn’t make me want to know more about his situation or his past.

Getting to know Jack was hard too; especially from Taro’s perspective. Perhaps a little more information was needed to sympathize with him and their relationship. Their main conversation about their differences was a bit awkward and it was hard to believe in them and their future.

Overall, it is a nice story, with the author’s natural fun and quirky writing. It just not great.

I didn’t enjoy Michael Pauley’s narration. Yes, the voices were distinct but it was more of a performance than a narration. It was hard to get into the story without feeling as if the whole thing was being forced. It had an unnatural quality that made me want to take breaks when listening to the story.

The cover by L.C. Chase is a cute representation of the story’s main plot and it has a ghostly feel that fits well.

Sales Links:  Mischief | iTunes | Audible

Audiobook Details:

Narrator: Michael Pauley
Length: 4 hours 2 minutes
Published: November 15, 2017 (Audio Edition) by Mischief Corner Books
ASIN: B077GDKWBC
Edition Language: English

An Alisa Review: Tangled Up in You by Emily Carrington

Rating:  3.5 stars out of 5

Retired SearchLight agent Jason Campbell stumbles into intrigue in Kansas. Never attracted to women or men, he finds himself compelled by a fox demigod who gets to him through the magical medium of music. As Jason falls deeply in love with Reynard, he discovers an awful secret: Reynard is slave to a monster. As Jason struggles to free both Reynard and the fox-god’s son, he must do so without weapons, without backup, and without all the facts, which could lead to death’s retirement.

It was nice to read another story in the SerchLight universe however even though this doesn’t need to be read in order with any other story I felt as if there was a lot of little information missing.  Jason doesn’t know what to do with himself when is forced into retirement by SearchLight.  Reynard has been captive for so long he doesn’t know how to react to the confusing human who stumbles upon him.

I felt as if I was watching this story from a distance and didn’t really get to understand the characters.  I loved that Jason wanted to help Reynard but never felt as if these two really connected and they didn’t seem to get it either.  It also didn’t make sense to me how Reynard is a demigod but doesn’t always know when he is using his powers.  There was just so much talking in circles and around topics that while I liked the story it just seemed disjointed.

Cover art by Fiona Jayde is nice and follows the style of other SearchLight stories but the models seem way too young for two guys in their forties.

Sales Links: Loose Id | Amazon | B&N

Book Details:

ebook, 127 pages

Published: November 20, 2017 by Loose Id

ISBN: 978-1-68252-444-2

Edition Language: English

Series: SearchLight Universe