A MelanieM Review: Groomzilla by Tere Michaels

Review: 3.75 stars out of 5

When drama threatens to ruin a romance on a reality show, only a true friend can save a groomzilla’s wedding.

Daniel Green, an event planner with a neat, quiet, orderly life, reluctantly agrees to plan the wedding of his childhood friend Ander, an outrageous fashion designer soon to marry a wealthy entertainment lawyer named Rafe. To complicate matters, the happy couple have agreed to have their wedding made into a reality show—something that practical Daniel isn’t sold on.

Daniel is neither a romantic nor a wedding planner, but he’s the only person in the world who can manage Ander. Distracting him from his mission is Owen Grainger, a too-handsome-to-be-true producer whose quiet charm pulls Daniel into his orbit.

When the stress of the show triggers bad behavior from Ander, co-producer Victor Pierce decides it’s the key to a ratings bonanza, and he begins to undermine Ander and Rafe’s relationship to create more drama. Daniel is determined to protect his friend and his own reputation, but when he finds himself falling hard for Owen, there’s much more at stake than ratings.

Tere Michaels is a author who can tear at my heart with her characters and stories, her just concluded Faith, Love, and Devotion series is a perfect example of that. So I was curious to see if she could deliver light hearted romance as well.

She does. Tere Michaels style.

That means that angst, a pinch of sadness and a dash of anxiety gets thrown in with the humor and lighthearted romance. It all starts with Daniel Green, an event planner with an unhappy childhood only made bearable by a boarding school friend Anders who is now Daniel’s only family. Ander’s childhood is equally painful and they became each other’s support and heart sibling despite their startling differences in appearance and behavior. Now Ander is getting married and wants Daniel to plan the wedding as well as be his best man. Oh, and it’s all a part of a new reality online series. What could go wrong?

That would be everything.

Daniel and Ander are both two damaged men who have worked through their issues, mostly, to become men who understand themselves and each other. I loved Daniel, he’s worked hard to get where he is, with his own business, a degree from Harvard but he realizes that he’s starting to coast. Ander is smarter than his extravagant exterior and I love the surprises that his character continues to deliver throughout the narrative, especially when you least expect it. They are exactly the type of characters Tere Michaels does best. Daniel and Ander look so different on the outside, one sort of nicely average, the other peacocky gorgeous, and yet so alike underneath where it counts. The author makes them believable, flawed, and so likable it hurts at times.

Ah, Daniel and Ander. Their relationship dynamics are the heart of the story, not the romance between Daniel and Owen, or even Ander and his fiance Rafe, and that’s probably why I didn’t connect as much as I did with Daniel and Owen. It was because I was already invested emotionally in the deep friendship of Daniel and Ander and the wedding from hell. I was so caught up in what this wedding was doing to their friendship that it almost made everything else extraneous. I also needed a little more of the Rafe/Ander dynamic, although what I had was delicious, especially those scenes at the end. And Victor felt exactly like a reality show “villain” and I couldn’t make my mind up where that was good or bad.

Owen? Yes, I liked Owen even if I felt I didn’t get to “know” him as completely as I did the others. I certainly could see him as part of Daniel’s life. Perhaps if Daniel and Owen had their own story after Groomzilla and left this one to Daniel, Ander, and Rafe, that would have made me completely satisfied. But that’s not how Tere Michaels wrote it, so I will say I loved so many portions of this story, and the ending left me misty eyed and smiling. Those scenes with the video felt as “in the moment” as anything in the story. These scenes were “character capsules”, delivering a punch of emotion that I had been waiting for and now got. These were the people I wanted more of, the ones I had gotten fewer glimpses of as the catastrophe of a wedding starts to overtake the story (pretty realistic element), ones that Daniel was missing too. Really,that’s was wonderful thing to work into this plot. How the stress can make the best of us go a little crazy and maybe even lose sight of who we are and who we love.

Oh, Tere Michael, how I love your writing, characters, and storylines. Not familiar with this author? Groomzilla is a fun place to start. I think you will fall in love with Daniel, Ander and Groomzilla. I know I did.

Cover art by Anna Sikorska is cute but suffers from model use overload. That dark-haired model is everywhere, from books about chefs (more than one) to geeks in love. He’s cute but over used. This cover makes me think of other books instead of this one. A definite no no.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 160 pages

Expected publication: August 10th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN13 9781634761833

Our Pat Henshaw Interview and Book Spotlight! Redesigning Max  (Foothills Pride #2) by Pat Henshaw

Redesigning Max  (Foothills Pride #2) by Pat Henshaw
Release Date: July 29, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: AngstyG

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Author Interview

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Pat Henshaw, author of Redesigning Max.

Hi, Pat, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

Hi! I’m originally from Nebraska and have lived all over the U. S., landing here in Northern California. Now retired, I’ve held a number of jobs including theatrical costuming for the Alley Theatre in Houston, public relations for radio and television at WETA in D. C., and teaching English composition at a junior college in California.

Redesigning Max, the second of the Foothills Pride novellas, revolves around the unlikely pair of interior designer and architect Fredi Zimmer and the CEO of an outdoors equipment store and wildlife guide Max Greene. When he hires Fredi to redesign and update his Sierra Mountain mountain cabin, Max finds his life and heart undergoing a makeover too.

Not everyone in the small Stone Acres, California, community is as excited about Max and Fredi getting together as the guys are. Because Max’s been in the closet so long, he not only has to convince his friends that he’s gay but he also has to convince Fredi, who keeps getting mixed signals from him.

Do you have pictures that you use for your characters? Can you share them with us?

Yes, for this book, in my head I saw Fredi as Chris Colfer, so I watched a number of Glee episodes as well as looked at the accompanying photo of Chris. Max always looked like Aaron Eckhart with the addition of a droopy mustache to me and sounded like Sam Elliot.

What kind of book would you like to write that people would see as a huge departure for you?

I’d love to be able to write a children’s or YA book. Since I’ve never tried to write either one, they would be a larger-than-life departure for me. I’ve already tackled murder mysteries, fantasy (self-published The Vampire’s Food Chain about a vampire becoming a god), and het romance (as well as my gay romance Foothills Pride series).

Have you ever killed a character? Was it traumatic for you? If you haven’t killed one, would you ever consider it?

Not in the Foothills Pride series, no. I don’t think I’ll be killing off anyone in any of the gay romances I write. I have killed off characters in my futuristic fantasy novel, The Vampire’s Food Chain, but he was a vampire who needed killing. And when I was writing murder mysteries, well, a dead body is de rigueur, right?

Favorite location you’ve ever written about?

I like the Sierra Foothills where I’ve set the Foothills Pride series. I was particularly pleased when a friend of mine who grew up in the foothills told me I’d gotten the places and the people right. In fact, she said she knew Lorraine and Bud’s Rock Bottom Café really well. Since I hadn’t based it on any one place, I took that as a compliment. The last time we drove around the foothills I was saddened to see to see the place which I used as Guy’s Stonewall Saloon in What’s in a Name? wasn’t a bar anymore. It seems to be a warehouse now. Darn.

Introduce us to characters from a work in progress

Adam, the main character in When Adam Fell, is a renowned celebrity chef who walked away from his high-profile job in San Francisco to open a small foothills restaurant, Sierra Bistro. There he cooks a one seating prix fixe meal four times a week for friends, celebraties, and millionaires from the Lake Tahoe and San Francisco Bay Areas. Before he turned his back on the San Francisco gig, he was the host of his own cooking show on TV and had written a couple of bestselling cookbooks. Why he left his high-profile job and what he’s going to do next with his life are the focal points of his book.

Thanks, Pat, for stopping by and for the great interview! Please come back!

Renowned interior designer Fredi Zimmer is surprised when outdoorsman Max Greene, owner of Greene’s Hunting and Fishing, hires him to remodel his rustic cabin in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Fredi is an out and proud Metro male whose contact with the outdoors is from his car to the doorway of the million-dollar homes’ he remodels, and Max is just too hunky gorgeous for words.

When Max starts coming on to Fredi, the designer can’t imagine why. But he’s game to put a little spice into Max’s life, even if it’s just in the colors and fixtures he’ll use to turn Max’s dilapidated rustic cabin into a showplace. Who can blame a guy for adding a little sensual pleasure as he retools Max’s life visually?

Max, for his part, is grateful when Fredi takes him in hand, both metaphorically and literally. Coming out, he finds is the most exciting and wonderful time of his life, despite the conservative former friends who want to stop his slide into hell.

Pages or Words: 73 pages

Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, Romance

By the time we got to the Rock Bottom Cafe, I felt like I’d bottomed out. I was hungry, tired, and feeling the first twinges of a headache.
Max hadn’t exaggerated about how much I’d hate the Rock Bottom’s decor. It was the worst of rural cafe: hellacious plastic flowers, grotesque plastic-covered booths, peeling gangrene-painted beadboard walls, pockmarked linoleum floor, and faded food-stained menus. It made the cabin look almost palatial, except it didn’t smell as bad.
As Max slid into one side of a booth and I into the other, he said, “Food’s great here. Okay?”
I glared at him, but I had to admit the odors coming from the kitchen wove seductively around us.
After we’d ordered and had gotten glasses of iced tea, which I liberally dosed with artificial sweetener, Max leaned back in his side of the booth and blew out a little breath.
“So guess here’s what you need to know about me.” He was looking at the tabletop. “I was an only kid when my folks died. Raised by my aunt and uncle with their four boys. I was the youngest and nobody cared what I thought, so I don’t talk much.”
Oh dear. I wasn’t sure which of those statements I should answer, if any. My heart bled for the beautiful man in front of me who would give me a raging hard-on if I let my libido take control.
His words and lack of self-pity made me want to create a unique space where he’d feel completely at home and that would soothe him when he needed it. I probably wouldn’t end up his BFF or someone he could unbend with, but I could create a warm cocoon to shelter and coddle the man or let him entertain his friends comfortably.
The image of the young Max feeling like an outsider when he was thrust on his uncaring aunt and uncle to raise was banished by the waitress who put lunch in front of us.
“Oh. My. God!” I nearly drooled into the chili and homemade bread as I tasted them. “This is incredible.”
“What’d I tell you?” Max gloated. “Said you shouldn’t be put off by the decor. Some of us are more than our decor.”
I spooned up a couple of bites, then looked at Max. “You really do think I’m a snob, don’t you?”
Why was it so easy to get him to blush? I hadn’t a clue, but his quick, mercurial red cheeks had me intrigued.
“No, no, I don’t think you’re a snob,” he protested. “I mean, you’re just so….” He waved a couple of fingers at me, but kept his elbows on the table as if protecting his bowl of chili.
“I’m so what?”
Max shrugged. “I don’t know. Beautiful. And fancy,” he added, ducking his head over his bowl.
Ah, I understood now. Max was intimidated by my suit.
“Look, you came to get me in the coffee shop. I was dressed to take a rich lady through her house later this afternoon. I can work in jeans and a T-shirt”—did Max think I wore suits every day?—“or anything I want. Pajamas even. You just caught me on a suit day.” Which, I didn’t add, was too often for even my overblown sense of style.
Now Max was staring at me.
“Yeah, right. You wear jeans,” he scoffed, but looked interested, intrigued.
I shrugged. “Okay, not when I’m with a client. At home I’m way more casual.” I might have sounded a tad defensive.
“Yeah, right,” Max muttered with a grin.
I left it lying there. It wasn’t worth fighting about. But it bothered me that he saw such a divide between us. I was just a man, wasn’t I? Just like him, right? What was he going on about? Sheesh.

Pat Henshaw, author of the Foothills Pride series, was born in Nebraska but promptly left the cold and snow after college, living at various times in Texas, Colorado, Northern Virginia, and Northern California. Pat has visited Mexico, Canada, Europe, Nicaragua, Thailand, and Egypt, and regularly travels to Rome, Italy, and Eugene, Oregon, to see family.

Now retired, Pat has taught English composition at the junior college level; written book reviews for newspapers, magazines, and websites; helped students find information as a librarian; and promoted PBS television programs.

Pat has raised two incredible daughters who daily amaze everyone with their power and compassion. Pat’s supported by a husband who keeps her grounded in reality when she threatens to drift away writing fiction.

Where to find the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pat.henshaw.10
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6998437.Patois
Book website: http://whatsinanamenovella.blogspot.com
Website: http://patbooked.blogspot.com
E-mail: whatsinanamenovella@comcast.net
Tumblr: http://phenshaw.tumblr.com/
Twitter: @phenshaw

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: One of three $10 Starbucks Gift Cards. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.
Rafflecopter Code:
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Tour Dates & Stops:
29-Jul
Bike Book Reviews
Rainbow Gold Reviews
Hearts on Fire

30-Jul
Nephylim
Bayou Book Junkie

31-Jul
Parker Williams

3-Aug
Mikky’s World of Books
Prism Book Alliance

4-Aug
Velvet Panic
Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings

5-Aug
Happily Ever Chapter
Jessie G. Books

6-Aug
Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

7-Aug
Inked Rainbow Reads
MM Good Book Reviews

10-Aug
Molly Lolly

11-Aug
The Novel Approach
Divine Magazine

Supernatural Book Spotlight: Strength To Let Go by Alina Popescu (Author Guest post, excerpt and giveaway)

Strength to Let Go Blog Tour

Title: Strength to Let Go
Series: Tales of the Werewolf Tribes, Book One
Author: Alina Popescu
Genre: gay romance, paranormal, werewolves, paranormal romance, supernatural
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing

We are delighted to have Alina Popescu here in our Supernatural Book spotlight to talk about her book Strength To Let Go and Tribes Over Packs. Welcome, Alina!

Tribes over Packs by Alina Popescu

Whenever you create a society of any type of beings, the first question that pops in your head is how they are organized. With werewolves, the go-to form of organization is a pack. But how big is a pack? Can it be a small family? And are these part human, part animal creatures only bound by the animal order? That’s how my thought process into how to organize my shifters started.

I saw packs as the basic form of organization, right after family. After that came the clan, something that has to do with an extended family. Think of a county and its inhabitants, and you get my clans. Within each nation, there are several of them.

But what could I have ruling over the clans? I had to go back a bit, and decided the tribe is one of the oldest forms of organization I could use. Common culture and language, common territory, that leads to nationality, but when you need more than just your own kin, the tribe comes into play. Descendants of the old tribes might have mixed and migrated across borders, but the core was still there to provide some sort of belonging.

With areas like the Americas and Asia, the tribe spans over large territories, uniting clans of different nationalities. In Europe… well, we have this habit of having a lot of small factions that fight each other, so it made sense to me to have nationality matter more than anything, and thus came the large number of tribes roaming the same continent.

There was, however, e secondary reason to go for the tribe and make it mightier than anything – its link to myths and long forgotten stories, dating back to the dawn of time. Older than most surviving clans and the names and rulers of a country, part folk tale and part reality, the tribe holds some mystery that I find appealing.

A tribe implies an undeniable bond, yet that idea is in such stark contrast with what’s really happening within. Just look at everything going on with the Dragons of the Fang. Clans fighting for supremacy, nations wanting to rule over others, how very human of them!

I love contradictions. I love to explore the fine line between paranormal, myth, and reality. How they blend, how they affect decision and behaviors. But when it really comes down to it, werewolf tribe just sounds so cool to me!

Synopsis

After being abandoned by his mates, Shiki Kirishima, beta of the Dragons of the Fang werewolf tribe, returns to his home in Tokyo.

Crippled by grief, Shiki decides to end it all by going into the territory of the Siberian Killers tribe and challenging them to a battle to the death.

His death.

Ganzorig, beta of the Siberian Killers, however, sees the potentially disastrous consequences of having Shiki die in battle.

Instead, he saves him.

Having suffered loss himself, Ganz takes it upon himself to help Shiki deal with his pain.

Blake, Shikiís best friend since childhood, is as determined to show him there is life after a wolfís ultimate loss.

Could there also be something ëmoreí for them after friendship?

Excerpt (NSFW click on over 18 link to keep reading)

We hooked our arms around each other’s shoulders immediately after getting out of the car and made our way to the club entrance. This one was a popular hangout, but we had VIP status here. Everyone knew us, we could pretty much drop by at any point. Having a werewolf in my tribe for an owner sure sweetened the deal for us, but so did the large amounts of cash we’d dropped here. This was usually the first stop on our nights out. Because of our special treatment, we had access to the owner’s offices. That meant we could quench our thirst with a first catch of the night. We’d typically fly solo for this, finding our own prey, taking them somewhere private, and enjoying the hot and hard sex. Then we’d rejoin the other for one last drink before going to a different club.
We’d just randomly pick another Ni-chome hangout and start the other type of hunt: finding males we could share. One or two, depending on who we’d meet. Once we found them, we’d go back to Blake’s place and enjoy our spoils.
Everyone from the bouncers to the bartenders and the owner himself came to greet us. We had been no-shows for about a year and it seemed like our return was quite the event. It felt good to be treated like that, it made the club seem like a place we hung out with friends more than our hunting grounds for anonymous sex. It was probably my need to belong that caused those feelings anyway.
We had our very own, fine-tuned strategy when we were on the prowl. We’d go by the bar first, get a drink and finish it while chatting and saying hello to the people we knew at the club. This time it took a lot longer than usual, because there were questions about what we’d been up to. Blake took the lead and gave them vague answers, giving me time to notice the owner avert his eyes from me. So he knew…. I downed my drink and asked for another one. What the hell, it was bound to happen and I was determined not to let it spoil my good mood.

To keep reading, you confirm you are 18 years of age or older. Click here.

Book Trailer

Buy Links

Donít miss the Tickle Me Pink sale on the Wayward Ink Publishing site ñ 25% off all list prices till July 21st.

WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/strength-to-let-go-by-alina-popescu/
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B010ITT1VG/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010ITT1VG/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B010ITT1VG/
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B010ITT1VG/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-strengthtoletgo-1840807-145.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strength-to-let-go-alina-popescu/1122233801?ean=9781925222555

Giveaway

Prizes: $10 WIP Gift Card, 3 signed Bookmarks, and 1 ecopy of Strength to Let Go. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Eyes on Books Promotions.

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About the author

Writer, traveler, and coffee addict, Alina Popescu has been in love with books all her life. She started writing when she was ten and she has always been drawn to sci-fi, fantasy, and the supernatural realm. Born and raised in Romania, she finds her inspiration in books of all genres, in movies, and the occasional manga comic book. She is a proud geek who needs her fast Internet and gadgets more than she needs air.

Social Links

Site & Blog: http://alina-popescu.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoralinapopescu
Twitter: http://twitter.com/alina_popescu
Instagram: http://instagram.com/alinapopescuwriter
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/alina-popescu
Google+: https://www.google.com/+AlinaPopescu
Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/alinapopescu

A Mika Review: Violated by Jamie Fessenden

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Derek Sawyer thinks he has it all—a high-salaried position, a boyfriend, a dog, even a new cabin on the lake—until a business trip with his manager and best friend, Victor, shatters his world.

One night of drunken horsing around in their hotel room leads to the most intensely personal violation Derek has ever endured. As if the humiliation of working under his attacker every day isn’t enough, Victor reports Derek for sexual harassment. Now he’s without a job, without a boyfriend, and the mortgage on the cabin is due.

Officer Russ Thomas has worked with rape victims before, and it doesn’t take him long to sort out the truth in Derek’s tale. With his support, Derek finally reports the crime, months after it happened. But restraining orders and lawyers further Victor’s anger toward him, and even though a relationship develops between Derek and the policeman, Russ can’t be there to protect him all the time

This is going to be hard for me to rate, not because of the content of the story but solely based on the execution. I felt this was very much a one-note novel. I didn’t get a rise out of myself reading this, not one time. Certain parts of the story should demand a certain reaction out of it’s audience, but this did not get one. Reading this story, I feel like the way it was written left it emotionally unavailable. It did not feel authentic at all. I just felt like I was reading this, and felt completely detached from the story. I reached the end and felt absolutely nothing. I want to thank the author for being bold enough to write about this type of incident. I don’t think people talk about it enough. Going into this I expected turmoil, tears, and just an emotional read and I didn’t get it. I don’t want to say everyone is going to have the same reaction, because they aren’t but it was a straight read through.

The story itself was good. While I liked certain areas of it, I disliked more than a few of the characters, and the situations that the MC’s found themselves in. The author did a good job on the subject. Its not something we read a lot about in m/m fiction, it had a realistic feeling to it. Derek reacted like an individual would in this situation to me. A couple of times, I felt myself wanting to throttle him for not speaking up for himself afterwards, but nothing can be done on my time. I applaud Derek for going to work with his attacker everyday and living, surviving, and fighting to get back to himself. This incident brought up Derek’s dislike with himself. I think all the personal issues surrounding his sexuality might have impeded his recovery, but this is only my speculation reading it. Russ was a good guy, and character. I liked Russ with his sister, and I liked Russ with Derek. I did not like Russ on his own. It felt very filler-ish type. Like the author needed some space plugged up so we are just going to put Russ with these random people. I’m saying that not because he needed someone else, I’m saying it like it did not feel real. Where was the connection between Russ and the other two guys? None, I felt zero hints of magic with them. I just think it added n0thing really except me feeling like it was open space.

Cover Art by L.C. Chase: I liked this cover, very serene feeling. I think Derek had to come to terms with himself before he could love someone else.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Amazon links coming Aug. 7th.

Book Details:

ebook, 256 pages, also in paperback
Expected publication: August 7th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
original titleViolated
ISBN139781634764513
edition languageEnglish

A Stella Review: Get Your Shine On by Nick Wilgus

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

When his mother goes out to party one Saturday night and doesn’t come back, seven-year-old Ishmael Hood is taken in by his estranged uncle Henry and Henry’s live-in boyfriend, Sam. As this unlikely trio begins to build a new life together, they encounter both support and hostility in the small Mississippi town where they live. Seems like just about everybody has an opinion on the matter—and they’re not shy about expressing it.

While this blossoming little family finds its feet, outside forces—and ghosts from the past—threaten to tear it apart. Henry, still trying to deal with the tragic death of his parents, finds himself hard-pressed to open his heart to this needy child.

Just as a little shine begins to come back into their lives, Ishmael’s mother returns, and their world is thrown into chaos.

Nick Wilgus is one of my favorite authors, I have a soft spot for his Sugar Tree series, so every time I know he’s releasing a new book, I start to hyperventilate. Even if his books are not the usual m/m books I read, most of all even if his writing is hard to read for me, I’ve learned to simply love them and wish for more and more of his characters.

Get Your Shine On was another winner to me. I didn’t read the blurb because I didn’t care what it was about, I just cared that it was out. I wasn’t expecting this kind of story, so much (sometimes too much) emotional for me and I wasn’t ready for it. Especially halfway through it when we get some heavy angst. I so hoped, until the end, that it wasn’t like I suspected to be and when my suspicions became reality they were hard to take; the central part was melting, I had to stop a couple of times.

The style and the language are the ones we used to find in the Sugar Tree series so if you liked that books you absolutely can’t miss this new one. I enjoy Nick Wilgus’ writing so much especially because he talks about children, the not so lucky ones, the same ones that break my heart in almost every scene I read. He writes so beautifully about imperfect characters, in fact there is no one perfect character in all of his books. For example at the start of Get Your Shine On I despised Henry, the MC, so much. I didn’t like how he approached his nephew Ishy, he didn’t get the boy at all and often he was too hard to the little one to my liking. But Wilgus is great at creating well developed characters, some of them will grow in the book and become better people, for other character there will be no hope sadly. Each one of them is well portrayed, from the details, to their background.

What I appreciate the most (cause it’s real) but at the same time I can understand it could be not easy to accept, is a specific quality of this author, so present in this book too. His books are full of crap, the MCs usually have to take it from everyone. There are a lot of homophobic people, too many times the word pedophile is said and it is just one of the nasty things that flew in the books. It’s a trait of his writing that can leave the reader puzzled the first time but later will be understood as the true way to show us a world that truly exists. Moreover the icing on the cake is that all of this is surrounded by a ton of laughter. There are so many funny scenes that balanced the angsty and heavy and sad parts.

As you can see I haven’t talked about blurb, plot or characters, it will be your pleasure to discover them, I’m sure. I just want to mention my favorite character (apart from the little Ishy that filled my heart every time he smiled), because she deserves it. She is Sister Ascension. She was the best, so fierce in her wanting to help Hen and his new family. Religion and I have a tough relationship and I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the author for giving me a nun as the most positive person in this book.

I want to recommend Get Your Shine On cause it was emotional, funny, too many times really over the top. I can’t have enough of Wilgus’ works.

Cover art by AngstyG. It’s not my favorite by this artist. Not a bad cover at all but not so eye catching. I like it but nothing more. But at the end you could have give me a blank cover for this book, I wouldn’t have cared.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook 350 pages
Published July 24th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN13 9781634763738
Edition Language English

Anna Butler is Here Talking SciFy, Aliens, Romance and Heart Scarab! (Author Interview, Excerpt and Contest)

Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2) by Anna Butler
Release Date: July 22, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas

Sales Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Kobo

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Anna Butler, author of Heart Scarab.
Hi Anna, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

First, thank you for hosting me today. I’m delighted to be here.

Heart Scarab is the second of the Taking Shield series, which charts the life and loves of Shield Captain Bennet. Taking Shield is both a sweeping sci-fi story (old school sci-fi with spaceships and lasers, aliens and handsome heroes) and an equally sweeping love story. I should warn you, though, that it isn’t a romance in the sense that it won’t be what most m/m romance readers would expect.

Thousands of years after an alternate-universe Earth went dark, the people of one of her colonies, Albion, are struggling in a war that’s probably unwinnable, against aliens called the Maess. Although humans have been fighting the aliens’ cyborg drones for over a century, they haven’t seen a real, organic Maess. Set against the war, is the love story between Bennet and Fleet Lieutenant Flynn. They meet in the first book, Gyrfalcon, but for various reasons theirs isn’t going to be an easy love. They meet and part several times before the end. In Heart Scarab, Bennet’s return after being declared missing in action, presumed dead, puts intolerable strain on his relationship with his long term partner, Joss, but paves the way for a reunion with Flynn.
As for me, I worked for the UK civil service for many years as a communications specialist, working on everything from marketing employment programmes to running an internal TV service. These days I’m concentrating on trying to make it as a writer, combining my love of old school science fiction and m/m themes. I live in London with my husband and our cockapoo, Molly. We’re currently house hunting, looking for a country retreat.
• Do you buy a book because of the cover, the blurb, or something else?

That depends. I won’t say that I buy books *because of* either of those things, but if I’m trawling Amazon or a bookshop they do influence which books I’ll look into and which I’ll then consider buying.

I’m a very visual person, so the cover will catch my eye first. Truly, all the advice you read about getting a good cover that tells the reader something about the story, really holds true. Terrible cover, and I probably won’t even get to the blurb to see if it’s worth pursuing.

If the book comes to me as a recommendation, I’ll usually not let the cover influence me too much (beyond a wince if it’s dire).

Best possible tool – the ‘look inside’ feature on Amazon, or the sample. That really gives you a feel for if you’re going to get on with this author and book.

• What does ‘romance’ mean to you?

‘Good storytelling’ and ‘strong characters’ and ‘lose yourself for an hour here’—heartfelt emotion and drama, eroticism, sex scenes in which the feelings and the relationship matter as much (more?) than the physical gymnastics, an ending that is happy/enriching/hopeful. Stories about love. Sometimes about loss. But ultimately uplifting stories that leave you feeling good.
• What are your current projects?

I’m currently working on the fourth Shield book, The Chains Of Their Sins. On the current timetable, it will be published around this time next year, so I have a little time to polish it up! In this book, Bennet and Flynn are thrown together again, but it isn’t all hearts and rainbows. In fact, it isn’t hearts and rainbows at all…

• What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

Not to edit as I go along. I have a terrible habit of tinkering with what I’ve written so far, trying to perfect it, rather than ploughing on to the end and then editing in its entirety. It is a bad habit, because I can spend hours dithering over word choices and syntax when I should be forging on with the plot. Scrivener helps because it’s a separate folder and document for each chapter, so going back to the beginning to read is several steps more complex than in a word processing programme like Word. Scrivener is breaking me of some bad habits!

• Tell us something about yourself that would surprise people.

I’ve ridden in the circus ring.

I was about five, and my parents took my sister (then about three) and I to a small circus visiting a nearby town. The clowns brought in a Shetland pony, trained to do tricks as part of their routine, and at the end the Ringmaster asked for a volunteer to ride it. I was down in the ring almost before the man finished speaking. I can just about remember noise and light and a lot of people’s faces as I rode three times around the ring, led by the chief clown. He had a red coat and blue trousers and that’s all I remember about him. The pony was called Pickles.

Thank you, Anna, that was wonderful!

Now more about Heart Scarab.

Blurb:

Telnos is an unpleasant little planet, inhabited by religious fanatics in the festering marshlands and unregistered miners running illegal solactinium mines up in the hills. But the Maess want Telnos, and Shield Captain Bennet’s job is to get out as many civilians as he can—a task that leaves him lying on Telnos while the last cutter of evacuees escapes in the teeth of the Maess invasion.

Bennet is listed missing in action, believed dead on a planet now overrun by Maess drones. His family is grieving. His long-term partner, Joss, is both mourning and guilt-ridden.

And Fleet Lieutenant Flynn? Flynn is desolate. Flynn is heart-broken… no. Flynn is just broken

Pages or Words: 97,900 words

Categories: Gay Fiction, Science Fiction

Excerpt:

Flynn liked kissing. In fact, Flynn considered himself something of an expert in the art. He’d tried it in all its forms, from the first tentative pressing together of juvenile lips that had you wondering what all the fuss was about, to the discovery that if you just opened your mouth and, you know, kind of moved everything, your tongue suddenly had a lot more positive uses than just allowing you to articulate clearly and swallow things without choking. Flynn got the hang of it, ran with it, and never looked back.

Soft kisses and hard kisses; kisses that were wet and slobbery with people who didn’t know exactly how to hold their lips to get the best and sexiest effect, and wet and sexy kisses with people who did. Kisses that turned the blood to molten lava and kisses that cooled you as you came down. Kisses that inflamed and kisses that soothed; feverish kisses and languid after-sex kisses. Kisses that meant only good fellowship and casual affection, and kisses that were desire incarnate.

Flynn had not only tried them all, he’d made them his own. He was considered by all the relevant authorities to be rather a specialist in the area.

Flynn really liked kissing. He had been gratified by the discovery that Bennet liked it too. Because now he could add slow kisses to the repertoire. Kisses so leisured and intense the world came to a stop while a hot tongue moved over his lips, explored each and every tooth down to the last molar, while teeth pulled at his bottom lip, biting it gently until it was swollen and hot and heavy, and he had to lick his lip to cool it and met Bennet’s tongue with his. Only then, would Bennet’s mouth close over his and start a real in-earnest kiss that lasted several more centuries. Those were kisses Bennet seemed to specialise in.

Flynn was always willing to take tips from another expert. A man should always try to extend his technique.

About the author:

Anna Butler was a communications specialist for many years, working in UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to running an internal TV service. She now spends her time indulging her love of old-school science fiction. She lives in the ethnic and cultural melting pot of East London with her husband and the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockapoo.

Where to find the author:

annabutlerfiction@gmail.com
Website and Blog
Facebook
The Butler’s Pantry (Facebook Group)
Pinterest
Twitter

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize:

– a copy of my novella, FlashWired (epub, mobi or pdf) on every stop to one random commentator

– Chance to enter a rafflecopter for

(i) top prize of an Amazon gift voucher (is $50 overdoing it? It makes for a decent prize!)

(ii) second prize, winner’s choice of a Heart Scarab ipad cover or kindle cover

(ii) third prize, a Gyrfalcon iPad cover

Must be 18 years of 18 or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

Rafflecopter Code:

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Tour Dates & Stops: Wednesdays July 22 – November 4, 2015

22-Jul

Prism Book Alliance

29-Jul

Just Love Romance

Bayou Book Junkie

5-Aug

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

12-Aug

19-Aug

26-Aug

2-Sep

9-Sep

Inked Rainbow Reads

16-Sep

Velvet Panic

Molly Lolly

23-Sep

Emotion in Motion

30-Sep

BFD Book Blog

Jessie G. Books

7-Oct

Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews

14-Oct

MM Good Book Reviews

21-Oct

The Novel Approach

28-Oct

Amanda C. Stone

4-Nov

Butterfly-O-Meter

In the Book Spotlight: Agate: Then and Now (The Stones of Power #4) by M.D. Grimm

Agate: Then and Now (The Stones of Power #4) by M.D. Grimm
Release Date: August 5, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Torquere Press
Cover Artist: Shardel_4251

Sales Links: Torquere Books

Time travel. For mages, it violates their number one rule: what the Mother has written, let no one unwrite. The Mother writes the destinies of the creatures on the world of Karishian. If her writings were undone, it is feared that Creation itself could be undone. The Dark Mage Morgorth takes this rule to heart, but there are others who do not.

Morgorth is about to claim a stone of power when it is stolen from him by a female mage he hasn’t seen in decades. As they struggle for the stone, she activates it, and Morgorth is unwillingly plunged into another time and another place. It isn’t long before he realizes what time he’s found himself in and there are a few familiar faces.

Most notable is a much younger version of Aishe. His mate.

Living with a tribe who will be massacred, caring for a young lad who will become his mate, and fighting a battle against a mage who can travel from past to future at a whim; Morgorth’s life has never been easy but now he must contend with the will of the Mother. Unable to change the future and the tragedies of Aishe’s life, he must decide what his role in his mate’s past will be, and ask himself one vital question: how does one defeat time?

Pages or Words: 74,654 words

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

 Even as I felt the air around her began to tremble and heat, I only had a split second to make a decision. I lunged forward, trying to grab the stone again. She jerked her arm away but I managed to grab her wrist just as she activated the stone’s power. I didn’t have time to change my mind as a silver dome formed around Drasyln, as the stone seemed to open a vortex with a gravity I couldn’t fight. I was being suffocated, compressed on all sides. My breath left my lungs, my muscles seized and wept. My last thoughts were of Aishe, and if I would ever see him again.

In my efforts to prevent this exact event, I realized I’d just broken the cardinal rule of a mage. The Number One rule my mentor Master Ulezander had ever taught me.

What the Mother has written, let no one unwrite.

Atcoatlu was an agate. It was the stone of time.

M.D. Grimm has wanted to write stories since second grade and nothing has changed since then. Thankfully, she has indulgent parents who let her dream, but also made sure she understood she’d need a steady job to pay the bills. After graduating from the University of Oregon and majoring in English, she embarked on her writing career and couldn’t be happier. Working by day, writing by night, she enjoys embarking on romantic quests and daring adventures and creating characters that always triumph against the villain and find their soul mate in the process.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001710645622
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/M.D.-Grimm/e/B00I0KZMY6/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Website: http://www.mdgrimmwrites.com

Tour Dates & Stops: August 5, 2015Parker Williams, MM Good Book Reviews, TTC Books and More, Bayou Book Junkie, BFD Book Blog, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Molly Lolly, Christy Loves 2 Read, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, 3 Chicks After Dark, Amanda C. Stone, Full Moon Dreaming, Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My, My Fiction Nook, Andrew Q. Gordon, Ogitchida Book Blog, Inked Rainbow Reads

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Agate: Then and Now’. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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A Mika Review: Beyond the Scars by Louise Lyons

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

After years of physical and mental abuse, Tommy Chadwick finally finds the strength to leave Colin, his tormentor. But Tommy soon finds that escaping his violent boyfriend was only the first step on his path to recovery.

Now he must overcome feelings of worthlessness in order to rebuild his battered self-esteem. Tommy’s lack of self-confidence prevents him from going out… at first, but then has him ricocheting from one man to another, desperately trying to please them in his search for love and acceptance.

After being rejected on New Year’s Eve, and then beaten after leaving the gay bar, he agrees to accompany his best friend, Sarah, to a martial arts club. There Tommy meets Marcus, a strong older man, who at first becomes his friend, introducing Tommy to new interests, and later, tentatively asks him on a date.

Will Marcus be the man to help Tommy put his past behind him and fall in love for real?

I really like Louise Lyon’s writing style. I’m happy that one of the elements was domestic violence, it’s not something we see a lot of in m/m writing. Most guys who are victims of D.V are ashamed to come forward and get help, at least it seems that way to me.

At first I was certain that Beyond the Scars was going to be a DNF for me because I did not feel like Tommy was acting like a victim. Then I had to stop and think as I’ve never been in this situation. I can’t judge him for how he decided to deal with himself after getting away from his abuser. I can only speculate on what I would do, but then again unless you are living with this then you really can’t speak on it.   Tommy is a young guy, barely 23 and the last two years of his life has been hell. Being in an emotional and physically abusive relationship took a toll on him. He described his abuse in ways, and early on we got to see it. I’m happy he took his life back, and I’m glad that he was able to overcome his abuser when so many people can not. I really enjoyed Marcus. I thought he was a good guy, and I liked how the author described his emotionally abusive past as well. We can’t judge people based off their looks. Marcus was a man’s man and no one would have ever thought he’ll be a victim of domestic violence.

The story itself was okay to me. I wanted this story to pull more emotions from me, and that’s something the story wasn’t able to do. In fact, I feel like it did the complete opposite, and left me feeling contempt instead of compassion. I wanted Tommy to fight more, I wanted tears and anguish. I wanted emotional turmoil. I didn’t get that, and okay I’m happy that they were able to find themselves together. I just wish it took more of a toll on the heartstrings.

Cover Art by: Jay Aheer, I really like this cover. First the model looks like the guy who plays Jimmy Durmondy from Boardwalk Empire. It’s very beautiful and eye catching. I like the natural light as well it’s the shifts of shapes as Tommy is reclaiming his life back.

Sales Links: Wayward Ink Publishing | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

eKindle Edition, 176 pages
Published July 24th 2015 by Wayward Ink Publishing
original titleBeyond the Scars
ASINB011H33IOS
edition languageEnglish

A MelanieM Review: Lovers Entwined by Lillian Francis

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Ewan is one of Boston’s leading genealogy experts. When a would-be bridegroom comes looking for confirmation that there are no skeletons in his ancestral closet, Ewan considers turning the job down. Trey is a jerk of the highest order and yet Ewan experiences an infuriating attraction that’s easy to justify. Trey’s exactly his type—a carbon copy of the man Ewan’s been looking for his entire life.

Harder to explain is the sense of recognition that leaves Ewan speechless the moment Trey steps into his office. Or the stomach-churning sensation at the thought of casting the job aside.

Trey gets more appealing by the day, leaving Ewan struggling with forbidden desire for his client. Desire not helped by strange voyeuristic dreams that have started to haunt his sleep. Dreams that appear to be an echo of the past…

Lovers Entwined by Lillian Francis is a moving, romantic story, one that I loved. Based on the belief that true love has no boundaries, even that of time, it follows the deep love of Ewan/Owen and Trey/Tristan through centuries of tragedies until we find their latest reincarnations in Ewan, a leading genealogist, and surfer/playboy Trey, a groom whose future father in law is looking for reasons for his daughter to dump him. Ewan has been hired to look into Trey’s family background for anything that could embarrass Trey’s fiance along with her father and his huge political aspirations. But what Ewan finds soon starts to bind Trey and Ewan together, as odd facts, places and names trigger nightmares and recollections they should not be having.

As Trey spends more time with Ewan, it ignites the flashbacks to the other couples they once were and the tragedies that ended their lives but never their love for each other. As each follow the other through death and time, the names change only slightly as does the location and Francis connects them all in a manner that is logical and meaningful. And heartbreaking. Prepare to have the tissues close by when each one meets their death once more. I was sobbing like mad several times in this story, even though I knew it was coming. But the power of the descriptions and the emotional strength of those moments won through and I was lost.

There are some important, believable secondary characters too. Trey’s grandfather, Pops, for one. I adored him. And his nurse. Much harder to understand was Trey’s fiance who was more of a one-note character. Her transformation from someone who Trey could love to the cold woman we met was never fully explained so she came off as just too one dimensional in a story with characters you believed in and a love that lasted through time.

Flashbacks can be a tricky thing, especially when going back not just one era but several. But Francis handles each flashback and couple almost as a separate story, giving them the attention each is due. She gives us a real connection to every reincarnation, and as that love is lost, all that affection and hope is transferred to the most recent couple…Ewan and Trey.

Lillian Francis is quickly becoming a “must read” for me. I loved her “Theory Unproven“, and now her “Lovers Entwined”. I highly recommend both of these stories and author Lillian Francis!

Cover art by Meredith Russell. This cover really works. It establishes the characters of Ewan and Trey as well as their counterparts of Owen and Tristan. I loved it.

Sales Links: All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 2nd edition
Published August 3rd 2015 by Smashwords Edition
(first published December 6th 2012)
ISBN139781310580345

A Jeri Review: Undercover Lovers (Bodyguards Inc. #4) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Even if Ross and Kyle make it out of this alive, will the secrets in Kyle’s heart stay safe?

Kyle gets caught up in a case that is entirely unrelated to Bodyguards Inc. Not only does he abruptly need time off, but he has to have absolute trust and complete support from Ross without being able to tell Ross a thing.

CIA Agent Stefan Mortimer needs Kyle’s help with a case of a geneticist and a missing formula. Trouble is being led right to Kyle’s door, endangering the life of the team he has built and the man that he loves.

Going undercover, with Ross as his fiance, is the worst kind of torture in so many ways, but it is the only answer. Kyle and Ross may well live through this but Kyle is convinced his heart won’t survive.

Kyle is ex Army Ranger who owns Bodyguards, Inc. Ross is his PA and office manager. Although they have worked together in the same office for several years, each harbors hidden feelings for the other. So when one of Kyle’s friends needs a client “babysat” while he is in the hospital recovering, he calls in a favor to Kyle.

For Kyle to do this job undercover, he needs a spouse. Preferably a husband because they will be staying in the Honeymoon Suite of a charming artsy B&B. With all of his other employees either on the job or injured, he has no choice but to ask Ross to step up. Both are incredibly nervous about this job. Not because it is dangerous, but because their cover story is secretly what they both want.

I love watching two guys who are pretty oblivious to each other’s feelings. The sidelong glances, the kicked up heartbeat, the not so innocent touches. And when it has gone on as long as Kyle and Ross have been dancing around each other, it makes for a pretty hot moment when they finally get together.

The romance between these two is fun. They’ve known each other in work for so long, but doing this undercover job lends them to learn more personal things about each other. And even with that, they keep up the humor that has always been between them. Because if love and sex aren’t fun. Why bother?

The story is definitely a little “fluffy”, pretty low on the angst scale overall. There is a bit of action at the end which was welcome. The sex scenes were definitely hot and I really liked these two guys together. I also appreciated that, even though this is book four in a series, I was able to read it as a stand alone. But it also made me want to go out and read the first three.
A fairly light, quick, but hot read with some real feelings and humor. Put this on your list to read!

Cover art by Meredith Russell. It’s ok but says nothing about the story inside or the characters.

Sales Links: Love Lane Books | All Romance ARe | Amazon (other links to come)

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: July 31st 2015 by Love Lane Books Limited
url RJ Scott’s website
seriesBodyguards Inc. #4

Bodyguards Series in the order they were written:

Bodyguard To A Sex God (Bodyguards Inc. #1)
The Ex Factor (Bodyguards Inc. #2)
Max and the Prince (Bodyguards Inc. #3)
Bodyguards Inc Volume 1
Undercover Lovers

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Redesigning Max (Foothills Pride #2) by Pat Henshaw Release Date: July 29, 2015

Goodreads Link Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Cover Artist: AngstyG

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Author Interview

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Title: Strength to Let Go Series: Tales of the Werewolf Tribes, Book One Author: Alina Popescu Genre: gay romance, paranormal, werewolves, paranormal romance, supernatural Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing

Tribes over Packs by Alina Popescu

Synopsis

Excerpt (NSFW click on over 18 link to keep reading)

Book Trailer

Buy Links

Giveaway

About the author

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Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2) by Anna Butler Release Date: July 22, 2015

Goodreads Link Publisher: Wilde City Press Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas

Blurb:

Excerpt:

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Agate: Then and Now (The Stones of Power #4) by M.D. Grimm Release Date: August 5, 2015

Goodreads Link Publisher: Torquere Press Cover Artist: Shardel_4251

Sales Links: Torquere Books

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Redesigning Max  (Foothills Pride #2) by Pat Henshaw
Release Date: July 29, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: AngstyG

Title: Strength to Let Go
Series: Tales of the Werewolf Tribes, Book One
Author: Alina Popescu
Genre: gay romance, paranormal, werewolves, paranormal romance, supernatural
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing

Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2) by Anna Butler
Release Date: July 22, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas

Agate: Then and Now (The Stones of Power #4) by M.D. Grimm
Release Date: August 5, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Torquere Press
Cover Artist: Shardel_4251