Category: M/M Romance

A MelanieM Review: Will and Patrick’s Happy Ending (Wake Up Married #6) by Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths

Rating: 5 stars out of 5     ★★★★★

Will & Patrick Happy EndingFollow Will & Patrick in this final installment of the romantic-comedy serial, Wake Up Married, by best-selling author Leta Blake and newcomer Alice Griffiths!

Sure, Will and Patrick are in love now, but they weren’t when they got married in Vegas. For Patrick, that’s no problem, but Will can’t shake his doubts that a relationship started through coercion can ever become the real deal.

Since the Molinaro crime family has reversed their position on divorce, Will and Patrick have a chance to rectify their drunken mistake. But is divorce the solution? Find out in this final installment of the much-beloved Wake up Married serial.

Episode 6 of 6 in the Wake Up Married serial.

If  you’ve been following the romantic adventures of Will & Patrick from the first serialized story, Will & Patrick Wake Up Married you know that they had to have their happy ending and what a ending it was.  In a story that brought the last of the roadblocks to Will & Patrick’s HEA, this time it comes from themselves, mostly  Will.

Facing the fact that he and Patrick can finally divorce, its that inner voice he can’t rid himself of that tells him that he doesn’t know what true love it, even as his heart is telling him otherwise.  The fallout from Will’s inner turmoil is heartbreaking for Patrick and the readers.

What I thought continues to make this series and story so wonderful is the characterizations by Blake and Griffiths.  Even as you find yourself grinding your teeth over Will’s decisions, you also are nodding your head in sympathy.  Because Will is basing his decisions on sound reasoning, he’s not trying to hurt Patrick but work his way through his past issues so they can be together.  Is it right? Perhaps not, but you get why he’s doing it.  Always, these are perfectly fleshed out human beings and their actions throughout the narrative demonstrate that.

The issue of autism and love is addressed here, and I think it is done with sensitivity and the right amount of depth for the men and their relationship.  The same for sexual addiction.  Yes, there are many things going on with this storyline and still that wonderful cover says it all.   With all the emotional angst, weighty issues and lively sexy scenes, at heart, this is still such a wonderful romance of two men who met  in Las Vegas and eventually fell in love and found their happily ever after.

Could I hope that Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths find it in their hearts to bring Will & Patrick back again after they’ve gotten their dog and house and maybe something more?  May their grand adventure never stop.  Consider all their adventures highly recommended, but definitely start with the first and work your way up to here.

Cover art is some of my favorite for a series, this one included.  Colorful, branding the series and yet perfect in every way.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Published April 15th 2016 by Leta Blake Books
Original TitleWill & Patrick’s Happy Ending
ISBN139781626227521
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesWake Up Married #6

Series:

 

A Paul B Review: Amended Soul (Mated Heart and Soul #2) by Kate Steele

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Amended SoulJamie Hardin is looking to repair his relationship with his oldest son Rio.   He blames himself partially for the abuse Rio suffered from his step-mother.  So Jamie and his six year old son Jack head to visit Rio and his mate Mick.  Fortunately for Jamie, Rio is eager for a reunion with his family.  In fact Rio is happy that his family is moving into the area to stay.  Jamie just has to get comfortable around a pack of werewolves.  The one that is most worrisome is the sexy brother of his son’s mate.

Jed Matranga is Mick’s younger brother.  He is happy that his brother has found his mate and considers Rio to be a younger brother.  At the family get together held to celebrate Rio reuniting with his father, Jed takes notice of Rio’s father.  He tries as best as he can to turn on the charm to attract the Jamie.  When Jamie states that he needs some work done with his new office, Jed volunteers to do the work himself.  He figures out it is the best way to try to win over this man who is bitter over his ex-wife’s betrayal.

As Jamie settles into his new surroundings and meeting the new neighbors, Jed is busy making changes to Jamie’s optometry office.  The two’s attraction to each other begins to strengthen as they spend more time with each other.  As Jamie knows some about werewolf culture, he begins to question whether or not he is Jed’s mate.  However, Jed has not stated such.  Jed meanwhile does not want to push the issue with Jamie as he has been married twice before.  Would Jamie accept a same sex mating for himself, even if he approves of his son’s mating.  When Jamie returns from a welcoming party that a neighbor holds, Jed smells a female on Jamie and flies off the handle.  Has Jamie already rejected their mating before it has even really started?

I enjoyed this second book in Kate Steele’s Mated Heart and Soul series.  I missed the first book in the series but want to go back and read it.  A reader gets enough of the backstory in the first book to not feel lost in this one. I found the playfulness of Jamie and Jed delightful especially Jed’s generous use of double entendres.  Rio’s reaction to his father’s relationship with Jed is a bit puzzling considering matings are sacrosanct in werewolf culture.  However, this was explained toward the end of the book to my satisfaction.  This series has been added to my list of to be read books.

The cover by Valerie Tibbs is fairly standard for werewolf shifter books.  The top portion shows two shirtless torsos while the bottom half depicts a wolf howling at a full moon.  It is nothing spectacular but does fit the book.

Sales Links:  Loose id | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 176 pages
Published March 15th 2016 by Loose Id
ISBN139781682521069
Edition LanguageEnglish

Series:  Mated Heart and Soul

  • Altered Heart (Mated Heart and Soul #1)
  • Amended Soul (Mated Heart and Soul #2)

Dive Back into the Magical AURA Fantasy Series with Kellen’s Awakening (AURA #3) by Bellora Quinn and Angel Martinez

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Kellen’s Awakening (AURA #3) by Bellora Quinn and Angel Martinez
 Release Date: May 3, 2016

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Cover Artist: Emmy Ellis

Blurb

The staff at AURA has had a busy summer. Between chronic understaffing, dealing with warring goblin factions and an unusual number of hazardous Events, everyone is overworked. Sinistrus the incubus, newly hired as an AURA medic, actually enjoys his busy new life of responsible employee and faithful lover to his gorgeous police sergeant, Ness the centaur. Life would be perfect, except for a niggling suspicion about a colleague. Everyone else seems to disagree, but Sin’s certain something’s not right with that pixie.

Kellen, a pixie crossover, loves his job working in AURA medical, even if he is something of an outsider. His job and the friends he manages to make are happy spots in an otherwise dark and secretive life. As the rest of AURA tries to discover the root of the inexplicable rise in violence and large scale Events, Kellen fights to preserve his own life and what dignity he has left.

These two unlikely heroes must put their differences aside and navigate tragedy and ever-escalating disaster together in order to stop the sinister forces that hold Kellen in thrall.

 

Pages or Words: 69,000 words
Series should be read in order
 Categories: Alternate Universe, Contemporary, Gay Fiction, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy

 Special Excerpt

Tenzin glanced up at the clock and realized the time had gotten away from him. He kissed Kai’s cheek and gathered up their lunch things. “I’m sorry, love. I have an interview and must be off. New medic, I’m hoping.”

Kai made shooing motions with both hands. “Go, go. I hope this one works out better than the last three.”

The last three had been human, one hopelessly underqualified, one perhaps not entirely comfortable being interviewed by a yeti and the third hiding pernicious bigotry behind a bright smile. The one today was reported to be a pixie, and Tenzin wasn’t disappointed when he found the slender, fidgeting slip of an applicant waiting in the elevator lobby.

“Hello, there.” Tenzin extended a hand. “I’m Tenzin, the medical department supervisor. You must be Kellen?”

“Yes. I am. Nice to meet you.” He shook his hand, brief but firm.

“Come into the department. We’ll talk in one of the empty patient rooms.” Tenzin led the way, pleased that the pixie hadn’t flinched at his appearance. When they had settled, Tenzin on the little plastic chair in the room, Kellen on the rolling stool, he leafed through the interview file and began. “Why don’t you start by telling me about your prior experience.”

“I don’t have a lot of experience, yet.” Kellen answered. “The placement counselor asked about my skills when I crossed over and thought I might do best working in some way for AURA. I couldn’t pass the test for enforcement, and I didn’t think research was a good fit, so I asked to take the classes for medical.”

Tenzin tried hard not to frown. “I see. You do seem to have passed the classes with good academic scores. What did you do in your past life? Before you crossed over?”

“Well, I would have probably become a soldier eventually. Most of us do. I wasn’t old enough to join the ranks though. I was good at organizing things.”

Even without his wings out Kellen seemed to droop a bit, perhaps realizing that he wasn’t exactly painting a stellar picture of his skill set. While Tenzin didn’t disbelieve the revelation about pixie soldiers as someone else might have, he had experience with fierce flower fairies after all, he had the feeling something was off here.

“Organization is important in a medical department,” Tenzin said gently. “What sorts of things did you organize?”

“Nectar and honey, mostly.”

“Ah, food supplies. For your family?”

“For the colony. See, the collection squads were always going to the closest hives and groves first, and by the time anyone got to the outer reaches the fruit would be over ripe, or some of the neighboring colonies had poached the farthest hives. So I set up a rotation, so they went out to collect more evenly. Our stores increased almost thirty percent.”

Tenzin nodded. “That’s very resourceful.”

He didn’t need another trainee, he needed someone who could step into the breach, as it were. But Kellen seemed like such a sincere, intelligent individual, Tenzin didn’t want him to slip through the cracks. He was trying desperately to think of a solution when the air above his head erupted in chittering from whirling colorful beings. His troop of flower fairies zipped around his head, chattering with such agitation he couldn’t understand them. A blur of pink hovered in front of his nose, Brianna pointing sternly at the flower fairies by his right shoulder.

“Oh, dear. How did this happen?” Briac and Tara cradled sapphire-blue Timon between them, his wing bent at an impossible angle. “It’s alright, it’s alright little ones. We’ll set it. I think perhaps some surgical tape will hold it in place.”

Kellen made a small sound and Tenzin looked over at him to see him shaking his head. “Not tape. The wing membrane needs to breathe, and the adhesive might tear the wing when it’s removed. A gauze wrap would be best.”

The words were soft, almost apologetic, as if Kellen were afraid to contradict him. Brianna scolded, telling Tenzin she would’ve told him the same thing, but he held up a finger to halt her.

“Very sensible. Would you like to do it, Kellen? Supplies are in the cabinet there.”

Rather than answer Kellen simply set to work. With a roll of gauze and some cotton swabs he used forceps and scissors to fashion a tiny flexible cast and sling to hold the wing immobile and support it from below. Timon sat still for him on the table while the rest of the troop alternately hovered or landed on Kellen’s head and shoulders while he worked. He hummed soothingly under his breath when he set the wing in place, while his fingers worked oh-so-delicately on the fragile wing.

Tenzin blinked in surprise. Not that he’d spent much time with pixies, but he didn’t expect the healing song like the ones the elf healers used. He glanced at Brianna who gave him a nod and glowed in approval. The youngster didn’t have much field experience, but, goddess knew he needed someone with knowledge of wing membranes. Timon flexed his uninjured wing and let out a little chirping sigh, obviously relieved when Kellen had finished.

“Well then.” Tenzin picked Timon up and let him nestle into his shoulder fur. “I only have one question left. Do you have issues working with any race or species?”

“No. We’re all in this together now, aren’t we. I just want to be able to help people.”

There was a lie in there somewhere, or perhaps an omission, but Tenzin felt confident they could deal with whatever the obstacle was if it came up. “So when can you start?”

 

Buy the book:  Pride Publishing

 

RC

 

 

 

Meet the authors:

Angel Martinez

The unlikely black sheep of an ivory tower intellectual family, Angel Martinez has managed to make her way through life reasonably unscathed. Despite a wildly misspent youth, she snagged a degree in English Lit, married once and did it right the first time, (same husband for almost twenty-four years) gave birth to one amazing son, (now in college) and realized at some point that she could get paid for writing.

Published since 2006, Angel’s cynical heart cloaks a desperate romantic. You’ll find drama and humor given equal weight in her writing and don’t expect sad endings. Life is sad enough.

She currently lives in Delaware in a drinking town with a college problem and writes Science Fiction and Fantasy centered around gay heroes.

Bellora Quinn

Originally hailing from Detroit Michigan, Bellora now resides on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida where a herd of Dachshunds keeps her entertained. She got her start in writing at the dawn of the internet when she discovered PbEMs (Play by email) and found a passion for collaborative writing and steamy hot erotica. Soap Opera like blogs soon followed and eventually full novels.

The majority of her stories are in the M/M genre with urban fantasy or paranormal settings and many with a strong BDSM flavour.

Where to find the authors:

Facebook:

Facebook Author Page:

Twitter:

  • @BelloraQ
  • @AngelMartinezrr

Pinterest:

 


Tour Dates & Stops:

3-May: Oh My Shelves, The Novel Approach

4-May: Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Molly Lolly, My Fiction Nook

5-May: Love Bytes, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, A.M. Leibowitz

6-May: Havan Fellows. MM Good Book Reviews, BFD Book Blog

9-May: Prism Book Alliance, Bayou Book Junkie, Nephy Hart

Final

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: $10 Pride Publishing gift card.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
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Its Back to the Superhero World of Panopolis with ‘Where There’s A Will’ with Cari Z (Riptide Giveaway)

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Where There’s A Will (Panopolis #3) by Cari Z.
Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist L.C. Chase

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here

About Where There’s a Will

Being a Hero in Panopolis means living the high life: parties, money, influence, even reality television. And I’m one of the most powerful Heroes in the city. I have plenty of fans, a manager who looks out for me (after himself), and a job that pays the bills. I should be enjoying myself.

Unfortunately, the downside of my superpower means I can’t touch anyone, which tends to put a damper on things. I probably don’t deserve all those perks anyway, since I’m working in secret with two of Panopolis’s biggest Villains to undermine GenCorp—my main sponsor and the company that controls what gets through my force field.

I obviously don’t trust my corporate overseers, but they’ve hired a new scientist who actually seems interested in helping me. Dr. Mansourian might have the answers to all my questions—not to mention a starring role in most of my dreams—but he’s hiding something big. If I let him have what he wants, I might not live to regret it.

Then again, the way things are going in Panopolis these days, I might not live either way.

About Cari Z

Cari Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing, because some things she just thought she could do better. She’s still climbing that ladder, but can’t stop herself from writing, or from sharing what she creates.

Cari enjoys a wide range of literary genres, from the classics (get ‘im, Ahab) to science fiction and fantasy of all types, to historical fiction and reference materials (no, seriously, there are so many great encyclopedias out there). She writes in a wide range of genres as well, but somehow 90% of what she produces ends up falling into the broad and exciting category of m/m erotica. There’s a sprinkling of f/m and f/f and even m/f/m in her repertoire, but her true love is man love. And there’s a lot of love to go around.

Cari has published short stories, novellas, and novels with numerous print and e-presses, and she also offers up a tremendous amount of free content on Literotica.com, under the name Carizabeth.

Connect with Cari:

WhereTheresAWill_TourBanner

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Where There’s a Will, Cari is giving away ebooks of both Where There’s Smoke and Where There’s Fire, a $10 Riptide credit, and a Panopolis t-shirt. Leave a comment to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 7, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.  Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Panopolis

Panopolis, the City of Heroes: a place where exciting things happen every single day. Things like mad science, reckless public endangerment, corporate espionage, and political puppetry.

You’ve got to wonder, why would anyone ever want to move here?

And once they get here, why would they ever want to stay?

Maybe for the excitement of watching real super-powered Heroes battle it out with Villains every day—preferably from a few hundred yards back. Maybe for the chance to become one of those Heroes, brave and stalwart and always doing the right thing.

Or maybe . . . just maybe . . . some people stay because they prefer to take their chances with a Villain or two.

Where There’s Smoke (Panopolis, #1) by Cari Z

Where There’s Fire (Panopolis, #2) by Cari Z

Where There’s a Will (Panopolis, #3) by Cari Z

Where There's Smoke cover

WhereTheresFire_600x900WhereTheresAWill_600x900

A Stella Review: Between Ghosts by Garrett Leigh

RATING:  3.75 out of 5 stars

BetweenGhosts_600x900In 2003, journalist Connor Regan marched through London to add his voice to a million others, decrying the imminent invasion of Iraq. Eight months later, his brother, James, was killed in action in Mosul.

Three years on, Connor finds himself bound for Iraq to embed with an elite SAS team. He sets his boots on the ground looking for closure and solace—anything to ease the pain of his brother’s death. Instead he finds Sergeant Nathan Thompson.

Nat Thompson is a veteran commander, hardened by years of combat and haunted by the loss of his best friend. Being lumbered with a civilian is a hassle Nat doesn’t need, and he vows to do nothing more than keep the hapless hack from harm’s way.

But Connor proves far from hapless, and too compelling to ignore for long. He walks straight through the steel wall Nat’s built around his heart, and when their mission puts him in mortal danger, Nat must lay old ghosts to rest and fight to the death for the only man he’s ever truly loved.

I’m a fan of Garrett Leigh, she is a great author who writes beautiful and heartbroken characters, just how I like my boys to be. I had enormous expectations on her new release, Between Ghosts, and in some ways they were greatly satisfied, because the author can write and pick the right cast, main and secondary too. As you can read and imagine from the blurb, the story is pretty hard and the setting is hurtful, still I wasn’t scared and I was wrong. Now I can admit I can’t read these kind of books. Between Ghosts is well done and deeply emotional, but the sadness I felt, highly distracted me.

I was left dubious and not so into the book since the start, I felt a detachment from the words I was reading and although I was enjoying Nat and Connor, I couldn’t connect with them. And to me the reason was pretty simple: I was too overwhelmed by the setting. I was able to feel a chemistry and a connection, because it was clear from the first sight Nat and Connor are meant to be together and heal each other hearts. Still the mission  they were on played a huge role on the plot and was more important than the beginning of something (physical) between the guys.

I was a little disappointed by the last third of the story, some parts were predictable, others a little unrealistic but the ending was what I wanted, a sense of closure and a peace hard to find throughout the story, but so well deserved. What the MCs felt and did in their lives earned them the right to try and get all the happiness they can have together. And right there at the end I was really hoping for a sequel where I could follow them in a new life and enjoy them in another way.

The cover art by Garrett Leigh is well done as anything she designs. The cleaness and the colors were a success for me.

Sales Links:   Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook,226 pages
Published March 14th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626493510(ISBN13:9781626493513)
Edition Language English

A Free Dreamer Review: Lost Souls by Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Lost SoulsCan love survive when immortality doesn’t last forever?

Blood Brothers Series

More than a hundred years ago in old San Francisco, Kabuki actor Ryuhei Nakamura and vampire Kiyoshi Ishibe cemented an immortal love. Then at the dawn of the twentieth century, their lives were torn apart by tragedy. Now Ryuhei’s hope is reborn in the form of Jesse Shigeta, a gifted musical student. The young man is so like Ryuhei’s murdered beloved, that he believes fate has been kind in reuniting them once more, this time for eternity.

But Jesse is full of secrets. As a child, the supernaturally gifted young man discovered Kiyoshi’s soul still bound to Earth. His every intent was to reunite his ghostly friend with Ryuhei, but when Jesse falls in love with the vampire himself, he will stop at nothing to keep his place by Ryuhei’s side.

Even if that means calling upon ghost hunters to destroy Kiyoshi.

Vampires, ghosts, gay romance AND Japan all in one book? I just had to read this book. Unfortunately, the blurb promised a more interesting story than the authors actually delivered.

The premise as such was intriguing. It’s not often that you come across a ghost who once was a vampire and is now hopelessly pining for his lover. I think Kiyoshi’s pov would have been the most interesting of the three, but unfortunately he got the least on-page time.

The world building was sadly lacking. I’m not entirely sure how the whole vampire and ghost business works and how well known the supernatural is to the normal population.

The love story was a bit hard to relate to. Jesse’s feelings for Ryuhei never felt very convincing and I honestly quite disliked him at times. I did not like how he treated poor Kiyoshi, once they were in Japan.

The parts about the Kabuki theatre and playing the Shamisen were very interesting and I would’ve loved to read more about that. Unfortunately, Jesse quickly lost any interest in his studies once he’d met Ryuhei.

The HEA for everybody involved came a little too easily for my liking. It didn’t feel very realistic.

Long story short, “Lost Souls” didn’t quite live up to its very promising blurb. The parts that actually focussed on the Japanese culture, as well as Kiyoshi’s pov were very interesting, while the love story and the HEA didn’t feel very realistic.

Still, it was a nice little story with a unique idea behind it. I might take a peek at the other books in the series eventually.

The cover by Anne Cain is a very pretty, artsy picture of Ryuhei and Jesse kissing, with Kiyoshi ominously looming in the background. I really like it.

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing | Amazon

Book details:

ebook, 240 pages
Published July 15th 2008 by Samhain Publishing
Original TitleLost Souls (Blood Brothers Series)
ISBN 160504069X (ISBN13: 9781605040691)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesDragon’s Disciple/Blood Brothers #6

A BJ Review: Blackfrost (Wytch Kings #2) by Jaye McKenna

Rating:  5 stars out of 5        ★★★★★

Blackfrost_600x900Son of a simple blacksmith, Apprentice Wytch Kian has always known that once his apprenticeship is over, he’ll be sent far from home to serve the Wytch Council. Before his training is even complete, Wytch Master Taretha orders him to Blackfrost, an isolated country estate, where he is to serve as personal healer to Prince Ambris of Miraen.

Nothing in Kian’s experience has prepared him for what he finds at Blackfrost, and every day brings new questions. Like why is Prince Ambris being kept prisoner at Blackfrost? Where does Wytch Master Taretha take him every fortnight? And why does the prince return from these excursions suffering from horrific injuries that Kian is expected to heal?

Kian quickly learns that seeking answers to these questions could cost him his life. Worse, he soon finds himself struggling with his growing feelings for Ambris, putting him at odds with both Wytch Master Taretha and the sadistic guard captain, Malik. Can Kian unravel the mystery in time to save Ambris? Or will the prince finally succumb to madness and destroy Blackfrost and everyone in it?

If you read my review of book one in this series, Burn the Sky, you saw me proclaim it as my favorite dragon shifter story. Well guys, we have an upset. As of last night when I finished the ARC of Blackfrost, I must say that as much as I adored Garrick and Ilya’s story and didn’t think it possible for the series to get better. It did. New favorite!

I love broken boys, and this author excels at providing perfect, realistic HEA endings for the tortured and broken men she makes me adore. Well, I’m here to say that Prince Ambris gives a whole new meaning to the word broken. Don’t believe me? Read the first chapter and see.

The story hooked me in practically from the first page, which is actually pretty rare for me. In thinking of a word to describe the beginning, what came to mind is stunning because both of the dictionary meanings do apply (1. causing astonishment, bewilderment & 2. of striking beauty or excellence).  If you’re easily squeaked out, maybe a bit of caution as it’s very vividly written, but don’t let it stop you please, as I can almost guarantee it will suck you in.

The world building in this series rivals any I’ve seen. All of the author’s series take place in the same universe but often in a different timeframe, which makes for a world that’s well-developed, intricate and complex. Epic really. For a complete understanding of it, check out the authors Aion Timeline page here: http://www.jayemckenna.com/p/timeline.html

We get to visit with characters from book one who I loved, the newly crowned Wytch King Garrick and his beloved Wytch Master Ilya. Also Garrick’s younger brother Jaire whose powers have grown since the last book. And of course, sweet and witty Kian.

Kian is such a nice guy. In Burn the Sky, he was Prince Garrick’s friend and sometime bedmate. I love that the two remained friends despite well, everything from book one. That there was no jealousy when Garrick found his love in Ilya, that their friendship was firm and solid throughout. I loved that Kian is bisexual, and that he’s such an easy going, laid back, and rather simple guy. Not easy to anger or volatile but just a downright affable guy. He’s the guy I’d like to have for a pal. I could just squeeze him.

As much as I like Kian, it’s Ambris who rocked this story for me. And it’s hard to explain why without spoilers, which is frustrating but I really don’t want to give anything away! So I’ll just say that I enjoyed seeing how having someone care for him and for whom he could care allowed him to find the strength to transform from the tortured, beaten down, nearly hopeless man he was at the beginning into the strong and confident man of royal blood that was his destiny. That, and the fact that the physical description of Ambris is so unique that although the cover rocks just as it is and I really wouldn’t change it, there is a small part of me disappointed that it didn’t have a representation of Ambris in all his awesomeness.

Amidst the nicely paced action and angst, the main characters manage some steamy sexy times, including a lovely massage scene that I found particularly titillating. There’s also a delightful side relationship between two of the minor characters that I added another level of enjoyment to the story.

The cover by Chinchbug is not only eye-catching, but is like a freeze frame of action that vividly captures a key scene in the story in all of its power and poignancy right down to the screaming angst on the dragon’s face.

Sales Links: ARe | Amazon  | Smashwords


Book Details:  

ebook
Published May 1st 2016 by Mythe Weaver Press
Edition LanguageEnglish

Wytch King Series with links to BJ’s reviews:

Burn the Sky
Blackfrost

Sail Into the Past for Romance with Dianne Hartsock’s ‘Sweet William’ (guest blog and giveaway)

Sweet William Tour Banner

Title: Sweet William
Author: Dianne Hartsock
Genre: Gay Romance, Historical Romance
Length: Novella
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing

*********

Today Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words welcomes Dianne Hartsock here to share some insight into her characters of her latest novel, Sweet William.  Good morning, Dianne.

***********

Thank you so much, Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words, for having me as your guest today. In my story, SWEET WILLIAM, Fredrick has been in love with William for years, though their brief affair had been discovered by William’s father and Fredrick dismissed in disgrace. William suddenly appears in Fredrick’s life again, turning it upside down. Today, Fredrick is sitting alone in his room at the boarding house, and passes the time waiting for William writing down the ten things he’s most afraid of.

  • This one’s easy. That William realizes he can do much better than me, and leaves.
  • I cause William problems with his family.
  • As a tutor, I’m far beneath William’s social standing. I fear the ridicule of his friends at both our expense.
  • There are rough men working the docks. I fear being attacked or shanghaied into service.
  • I won’t be able to find another position as a tutor and end up with nowhere to live.
  • I have an irrational fear of drowning.
  • Having to go hungry again.
  • That my pneumonia comes back and I can’t afford the doctor.
  • My shoes wearing out before I can afford new ones. And I must have a decent coat for work.
  • Unable to afford coal.
  • Okay, one more. That William is only playing at love when I love him with all my heart.

Synopsis

William Wilkerson leads the life of the privileged rich. Head of his father’s shipping business, he indulges to his heart’s content in the pleasures of the flesh with Boston’s finest young men.

That is, until he reunites with Fredrick: his former tutor and the one man who captured his heart.

But William’s father has declared Fredrick off limits. And Fredrick, himself, believes he’s beneath the attention of the Wilkerson heir.

After having lost his current pupil to graduation, and with no prospects of a replacement, Frederick is homeless, hungry, and easy pickings for the men on the docks.

When Frederick is shanghaied into service on William’s own merchant ship, will William discover his plight in time to rescue him?

Sweet William Cover

Buy Links

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/sweet-william-by-dianne-hartsock/
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-William-Dianne-Hartsock-ebook/dp/B01EAU61KS/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sweet-William-Dianne-Hartsock-ebook/dp/B01EAU61KS/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/Sweet-William-Dianne-Hartsock-ebook/dp/B01EAU61KS/
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/Sweet-William-Dianne-Hartsock-ebook/dp/B01EAU61KS/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sweetwilliam-2018685-158.html

Giveaway

Prize: $10 ARe Gift Card.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

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Video Trailer

About the author

DIANNE HARTSOCK is the author of m/m erotic romance, both contemporary and fantasy, the psychological thriller, and anything else that comes to mind. Oh, and a floral designer. If she can’t be writing, at least she has the chance to create through the rich colors and textures of flowers and foliage to bring a smile to someone’s face.

Currently, Dianne lives in the Willamette Valley of Oregon with her incredibly patient husband, who puts up with the endless hours she spends hunched over the keyboard letting her characters play.

Social links

Website: https://diannehartsock.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diannehartsock
Twitter: https://twitter.com/diannehartsock
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/diannehartsock/