Category: M/M Romance

On Tour with Ansleigh’s Grotto by JT Cheyanne (contest)

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Synopsis

Dylan Matthews lives in a world of fantasy. As a video game designer, there are no limits on how far or wide his imagination could stretch. He loves his work and excels at bringing the visions in his head to a game console. The luck of his Irish heritage seems to touch him when his prototype Zombie ApoXalypse is bought days after he inherits a mansion in the heart of the Appalachian mountains. Life is indeed magical.

Ansleigh has waited centuries for one man, only to find him and then lose him due to his own inability to trust in their burgeoning love. The magick of Mother Earth flows within him and through him allowing him to nourish the Grotto where he makes his home. Yet, he yearns for the male that nurtures his soul. When the whims of Fate bring his Cosantoir back into his life, does he have the courage to accept his heritage?

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As the fantasies in his head become reality and the monsters of nightmares crawl through the forest, can Dylan forgive broken promises to protect the Croi? There is no pause button when the Fae and human worlds collide. Will Dylan have what it takes to master the maze and win Ansleighís freedom?

Excerpt

Moonlight streamed through the leaf canopy. Silence met his ears. No animal noises skittered through the underbrush, even the leaves seemed frozen as if in anticipation. Was someone out there? He spun on his heel slowly. Something about this place tugged at him. There was something he was missing, but what?

“Hello?” He called, feeling foolish. When no answer came back, he rolled his eyes, shrugged at his own silliness and turned back in the direction of the house.

“Are you looking for someone in particular?” The low melodious voice stopped him in his tracks. Discreetly, Dylan pinched himself and the sharp sting confirmed he was definitely awake and someone had just spoken to him in the middle of the forest. Slowly, he twisted back around. The eyes from the earlier fleeting memory captured him. The ache in his chest intensified as they stared at each other.

His memory had been dead on about the eyes. They were so blue they seemed to glow in the moonlight. Laugh lines bracketed them and slim eyebrows arched perfectly above them. Cheekbones any male model would appreciate gave way to lean cheeks. His face was longish with a squared, firm jaw. Full lips curved into a half smile. Reddish brown dark hair fell past his shoulders and brushed the top of his ass.

The bare chest gave Dylan pause; beautifully sculpted muscle and lots of bare tan skin. Broad shoulders topped smooth and well defined pecs, a perfect six pack and the most magnificent oblique vee he’d seen in a long time. Bare feet peeked from beneath loose fitting cotton pants. Dylan’s body stirred. The man’s head tilted to the side just a fraction, but enough to pull Dylan’s gaze back up. He’d guess six-four or six-five. The man had asked a question. Dylan’s brain slowly kicked into gear.

“Uh, no. Just taking a walk. I thought someone…” was watching me. He didn’t finish the sentence aloud. “Are you lost? The National Park is in the other direction.” The intense gaze didn’t falter, but Dylan swore a pained look crossed the other man’s face.

“How have you been, Dylan? It’s been a long time.” While the voice seemed to sink inside of his skin and soothe, the use of his name set off all kinds of alarms.

“I’ve been…how do you know my name? Have we met before?” Dylan took a step back. Of course they’d met. He remembered the guy’s eyes, the hair. “Do you work up at the house?”

He’d been there for two days; albeit, stuck in his room most all of that time. Maybe he’d passed the room where Dylan was working. “You seem familiar.”

Buy Links

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SPHC5OE/

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SPHC5OE/

Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00SPHC5OE/

Barned & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ansleighs-grotto-jt-cheyanne/1121152861?ean=2940046551877

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/ansleighs-grotto/id963959627?mt=11

Giveaway

4 ecopies of Ansleigh’s Grotto by JT Cheyanne.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Contest and link provided by Eyes On Books tour.  Prizes will be awarded by them.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author

100#1 Best Selling Author of Grand Slam, J.T. Cheyanne is a genre crosser who writes romance and paranormal in the m/m and m/f genres. J.T. Cheyanne resides in the beautiful state of Alabama. J.T. lives with her two sons and daughter. An avid reader since fourth grade, she has only just started writing her own stories. She also has several works published with her co-author, V.L. Moon.

Social Links

A Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Alpha Delta by RJ Scott (part of the Alpha collection from ARe)

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Alpha Delta coverFinn Hallan is a member of the elite Norwegian Emergency Response Unit, code name Delta. As part of his mandatory training, he needs to sit through a series of lectures on decommissioning oil platforms, a time when the platforms have only a skeleton crew and are in greater danger of terrorist activity. Scottish engineer Niall Faulkner is one of the guest lecturers and it’s his slim, sexy physique, rather than the topic of the lecture, that immediately captures Finn’s attention.

Over the next few months, the two become lovers, though with both their jobs demanding so much travel, they don’t get to see each other often. And, though Niall now knows that he loves Finn, Finn has been focusing on keeping their relationship casual.

But when Niall is sent out to the Forseti platform to begin the decommissioning process, something goes terribly wrong, and he finds himself running for his life. Apparently the security team who accompanied him to the platform is not security at all, but a team of terrorists. When Delta team is sent to respond to the situation, and Finn realizes that his man is onboard, he has to face the fact that he may lose him, just when he was ready to finally declare his love.

The story is fast-paced, complex, and full of nail-biting tension. Can Finn rescue Niall? And will Niall and Finn finally have a chance to declare their love before it’s too late? Readers will enjoy this M/M romance adventure.

The only thing that caused me to downgrade my rating from 4 stars to 3 stars is the very sloppy (if any) editing. There were several instances of character confusion, and they weren’t minor. It’s almost as if the publishers took the first draft and printed it without an editor or proofreader review. These errors were so obvious that I can’t possibly overlook them, and though I hate to downgrade an author’s work, in this case, the errors affected my enjoyment of the story so strongly that I feel I have no choice.

So, if you are looking for a quick read that’s full of adventure, with a gorgeous alpha MC, and editorial errors don’t bug you, you should enjoy this one.

Cover artist:

Available only at  All Romance (ARe)

Book Details:

Published By: OmniLit / All Romance eBooks, LLC
Published: Feb 02, 2015
ISBN # 9781936387793
Word Count: 20,500

Alpha the Series

 

 

 

 

 

The Alpha Series includes M/F as well as M/M Stories.
STRW will be reading and reviewing only the LGBTQ novels, including:

  • Two Howls by Sean Michael
  • Midnight Run by Bailey Bradford
  • Jumping In by C Cardeno
  • Seducing Rain by Amber Kell
  • Alpha, Delta by RJ Scott

A Mika Review: A Restored Man (The Men of Halfway House #3) by Jaime Reese

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

4abc2-a2brestored2bman-426Cole Renzo thinks his greatest challenge is to behave for the remainder of his term at Halfway House. Until he meets his new boss, Ty Calloway, a man who ticks off every box on Cole’s list of interests.

 A sought-after restorer and customizer of exotic and collectible cars, Ty had enough confidence to command what he wanted in life, until one fateful night changed everything. Almost two years later, he’s slowly rebuilding his life with great control. He’s defied the odds and works tirelessly to be the man he once was—but he still feels broken.

Cole’s candor and unfiltered personality awaken Ty’s barely-remembered desire to greet each new day with a smile, while Ty’s unwavering acceptance of Cole’s quirks and brash humor makes Cole feel as if he fits in for the first time in far too long.

When a nemesis threatens Ty’s personal restoration and the things he holds dear, Cole is determined to protect their relationship, even if that means sacrificing everything he’s worked so hard to achieve.

But Ty will have to let his guard down, surrender control, and admit he needs Cole first, even if that puts himself at risk of breaking beyond repair.

It took me 8 days to read this book. It’s under 500 pages and it’s something I’ll usually get through in 2 days max. I was super excited when I found out the author was releasing a third in the series and it was Cole’s book. He was so funny, and good spirited in book 2. He literally grew on me. Well after reading this I’m surely disappointed. The two mc’s in the book didn’t connect for me. I felt no passion, no love, no connection or anything.

Another issue for me was the writing it seemed so choppy and different from books 1 & 2. I don’t need the emotional connection from the previous two, but I do need the style and efficiency from the other to be involved in the third. I was bored reading this it, I found myself wanting to DNF at 38%. It took a lot for me to finish. I liked reading about Matt & Julian more than Cole & Ty. Cole had this whole split personality thing going on and I just couldn’t connect with at all. Ty was a whole entire story by himself. It was guilt, on top of guilt on top of self disinclination that I despise in my characters. I like Cole’s parents, I loved seeing Julian & Cole’s moment of bonding, but it wasn’t enough for me to fall in love with.
Cover Art by Reese Dante. The cover model is an exact replica of Cole for me. I do like it, and the car in the backroom is all him.

Sales Links:            Amazon          Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Published February 17th 2015 by Romandeavor (first published February 15th 2015)
edition languageEnglish
url http://jaimereese.com/a-restored-man/
seriesThe Men of Halfway House #3

The Men of Halfway House series:

  • A Better Man (The Men of Halfway House, #1)
  • A Hunted Man (The Men of Halfway House, #2)
  • A Restored Man (The Men of Halfway House #3)

 

A Stella Review: The Pride of Amsterdam (Lionhearts #1) by Elizabeth Coldwell

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

The Pride of Amsterdam coverLionhearts series: 

For centuries, lion shifters have lived among men, their prides scattered around the world. Fear and superstition has led man to fear them, and to seek to bring about their destruction.

When fate draws a shifter to a human mate, two very different worlds are brought together, for good or ill. But nothing can stand in the way of passion, and whatever it takes these lovers will fight tooth and claw to be together.

The Pride of Amsterdam by Elizabeth Coldwell

,  Book One in the Lionhearts series. 

When an ancient enemy is summoned to destroy his pride, a lion shifter must fight to protect the man he loves.

Kees van der Veer has never forgotten the mysterious stranger who seduced him on Millennium Eve and who promised that when the time was right, they would be together again. Returning to Amsterdam after fifteen years away, he is reunited with that stranger, entering into a world of love and danger he could never have imagined.

Arjan is a lion shifter, part of a pride who has lived in Amsterdam since its Golden Age. He has spent fifteen years regretting the need to drive his destined mate away after one night of blissful passion. But only once they meet again can he reveal to Kees the truth of his heritage.

When an old enemy is summoned to destroy the pride, Arjan must act to protect not only his family but also the man he loves.

The Pride of Amsterdam is the first book in the Lion Hearts series by Elizabeth Coldwell, a new and really interesting series. I think it has great potential but in my opinion it wasn’t well developed in this book. This is one of the reasons I gave it only 3.5 stars but I’m waiting (not so) patiently for the next one.

This is a “second chance at love” story featuring destined mates, two of my absolute favourite themes to read about.

At the Millenium Eve night party Kees meets a stranger with blond hair and amber eyes. Kees is a shy eighteen years old, he’s soon attracted to the guy who will be his first. But the guy with no name takes his virginity and leaves him five seconds after the sex with a promise.

“I need to know— Will I see you again?”
“When the time is right. You are meant to be mine, but only when you are ready to learn what I really am.”

Kees comes back home to Amsterdam, his home, after fifteen years of being away, for the biggest job in his carrier. What he doesn’t know is that the azienda he will have to help is Arjan’s.

Arjan de Wit is a lion shifter. He waited for his mate to come back to him since the first time he lost his heart to that all too young man he met at a party. Now it’s time for them to start their life together but De Jager (the Hunter) is back in town to track the shifters down and to kill every member of the pride.

I liked a lot of things in this book. First of all the sex was really hot, maybe a little too much sometimes, but I found it well written and in the right places in the story so I didn’t care if I read one scene too much. There were some very light BDSM elements that will not bother you if you’re not a BDSM stories fan. I liked the character of Arjan, he isn’t the usual alpha shifter I’m used to read about, he is insecure and rightly so, cause even if he knew Kees was his destined mate since the first time they met, the young man is still hurt from the way Arjan left him and he is scared of the man who already left him one time. He needs to win Kees’ trust and they still need to know each other.

One thing “ruined” me the ending, the fact that I realized pretty soon who the hunter was, so I was a little disappointed to know I was right. I’d have preferred to be surprise.

If you like a book well written and well paced, with some suspense and a lot of passion, this book is what you’re looking for. I can’t wait for the next one to come out and hopefully know more about Arjan’s pride.

Cover Art by Posh Gosh. Love this cover, especially the choice of the colors. It catched my eyes, really well done.

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

Book Details:

Published January 16th 2015 by Totally Bound
ebook, 142 pages
ISBN 1784303682
Edition language English

 

 

A MelanieM Review: Kimo & Mike (Storming Love: Blizzard #2) by Neil S. Plakcy

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Storming Love- Kimo and MikeFormer competitive surfer and Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is in his element in his home state of Hawaii. However, his partner, fire investigator Mike Riccardi, wants to head to the mainland for a ski trip and reunion with some old buddies of his. As a bitter storm rages outside the condo where they’re staying, one of Mike’s college buddies is feuding with his wife and the other is making sexy overtures to Kimo. Will these tensions ruin the vacation and perhaps even drive a wedge between Kimo and Mike?

Just those words Kimo and Mike, ok just Kimo, can make my heart flutter!  I have been in love with Kimo Kanapa’aka when I first met him in Neil S. Plakcy’s Natural Predators (Mahu #7) and started working my way back to the beginning of the series.  And with each story I fell deeper and deeper in love with this complicated, nuanced man.  Kimo is Hawaiian not just by blood but in the depth of his feelings and emotions. He has a large, extended family he interacts with daily, sometimes hourly depending upon the situation at hand.   Hawaii is at his center, it’s his heart and in a sense his stability.  Kimo heads into the surf when things get too painful or complicated, needing that to bring him peace and refocus him once more.

But here, Neil S. Plakcy removes Kimo from his safety zone and support system and takes him into the cold mountains in the mainland. In  Kimo and Mike,  the plot isolates Kimo and Mike from all but their vacation companions due to blizzard conditions.  Between the cold, Kimo’s inability to ski (which also removes him from the group), and the stressful couples they are with, things start to get shaky immediately.

I am such a Kimo fan that nothing can detract from any story he is a part of. But for readers new to Kimo and Mike, this short story conveys none of the enormous hurdles and obstacles (many of their own making) they had to overcome to become the couple they are when this story opens.  It happened over a number of books, not scenes and their relationship was borne out of enormous pain and anguish each caused the other.  Each man is gorgeous in his own multiracial way and people are always hitting on them but never with the history (ok almost never) of one of the  couples here.  Plus the stress is pushed to overload when the couples disagreements turn physical and Mike and Kimo must balance their professions with their partner’s needs.

This story ended too quickly for me.  Of course, I feel that way about all Kimo Kanapa’aka and his Mahu stories (Mahu is Hawaiian for homosexual).  This will give you just enough of a taste of this tantalizing couple to want more and send you to the first story Mahu (Mahu #1).  It’s a swift read yet it is sturdy in plot and strong in characterizations.  Add it to your TBR list today along with the other Storming Love: Blizzard stories.  If I was the type to say I ♥heart this book, well, then this is where it would happen. I ♥ this book!  Normally I wouldn’t do that. See what Neil S. Plakcy and Kimo make me do?

 

Cover artist: Kris Jacen does a nice job of branding the series although I could wish for a little more individualization as far as the couples go.

Sales Links:  MLR Books          All Romance (ARe)         Amazon         Buy It here

Book Details:

ebook, 35 pages
Published January 30th 2015 by MLR Press
ISBN13MLR1020140367
seriesStorming Love: Blizzard #2

Books in the Storming Love: Blizzard series are:

  • Jens & Elliot (Storming Love: Blizzard #1)
    Kimo & Mike (Storming Love: Blizzard #2)
    Seth and Casey (Storming Love, Blizzard #3)
    Layne, River & Damion (Storming Love: Blizzard #4) by Vicktor Alexander (release date: 2/13/15)
    Gavin & Morgan (Storming Love: Blizzard #5) by Nicole Dennis (release date: 2/20/15)
    Stokes & Ford (Storming Love: Blizzard #6) by Jackie Nacht (release date: 2/27/15)

Release Day Quickie! Mnevermind 3: Life is Awesome by Jordan Castillo Price

It’s  Release Day for Jordan Castillo Price!

Life is Awesome-1

 

 

The highly anticipated third and final book in the Mnevermind Trilogy is now available! Mnevermind 3: Life is Awesome by Jordan Castillo Price.

About the Author:

Author and artist Jordan Castillo Price is the owner of JCP Books LLC. Her paranormal thrillers are colored by her time in the midwest, from inner city Chicago, to small town Wisconsin, to liberal Madison.

Jordan is best known as the author of the PsyCop series, an unfolding tale of paranormal mystery and suspense starring Victor Bayne, a gay medium who’s plagued by ghostly visitations. Also check out her new series, Mnevermind, where memories are made…one client at a time.

With her education in fine arts and practical experience as a graphic designer, Jordan set out to create high quality ebooks with lavish cover art, quality editing and gripping content. The result is JCP Books, offering stories you’ll want to read again and again.  You can find her at Goodreads Author Page or her website.

About the Book!

This mind-bending trilogy follows Daniel Schroeder, an expert in the cutting edge field of recreational memory called mnemography. His independent shop on the south side of Madison was the hottest memory palace in town, until one day something went horribly wrong….

Sales Links:  Amazon  ITunes  Kobo Life is Awesome-1

Series Information (3 books) here at Goodreads.

 

LIFE IS AWESOME …

I headed for the kitchenette—it was crucial that I got to the coffee maker before the rest of the staff. I’m not sure why, but my aunt made terrible coffee. Two ingredients: water and ground coffee, and still, hers tasted like mud. I was busy ruminating over the notion that Big Dan thought I would actually sell out to Recollections when I turned to grab the carafe, and nearly had a heart attack. Elijah was splayed up against the kitchenette window, pressed up against the dingy pane so hard, his palms, fingertips and nose were all flattened against the glass.

When I think about Elijah, his spectrum disorder isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. But then I see him…and he does something.

A normal person would’ve knocked on the door, or maybe called my cell.

Normal. Or, more accurately, neurotypical. I supposed that was the technical term I wanted.

The more I tried not to notice how weird he was, the more it hit me over the head. Then I felt guilty for the way my heart sank when I saw Elijah pressed there like a bug on a slide. Talk about being an ingrate. Who cared about his lack of even the most basic social skills? This was the guy I was trusting to help me clean up my mess—the only one who seemed to have any grasp at all on the scope of the persistent mnem and the potential for fixing it. I forced myself to look at him and act natural…not that I knew if the way I acted even registered with him. “Hi,” I called out.

“Hello.” The muffled word fogged the glass.

“Go ’round back.” I gestured with broad arm sweeps and pointing. “I’ll let you in.”

I met him at the back door. A blast of frigid Wisconsin air hit me when I let him inside. “Be careful what you touch. If it was any colder out, you’d stick.”

“No. Thermal conductivity would be an issue with metal. Not glass.”

So much for lightening the mood with a little humor. The awkwardness was thick enough to cut with a fork. Still, it seemed important to treat him like any other guy I might be dating. “Can I kiss you?”

“You don’t need to ask.” Part of me enjoyed the way he leaned in for the kiss this time, instead of waiting for me to come to him. Part of me noticed he tasted like window.

A Stella Review: A Healing Man (Men of Manhattan #5) by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

Rating 4 stars out of 5

A Healing Man coverDario Ramos thought he’d left the fighting behind in the war zone when a life-threatening injury sent him home. But a certain Irishman crossing his path everywhere he went convinced him that his biggest battle might be ahead. Tiernan Callahan is a bigoted jerk. Ramos finds himself constantly in the man’s orbit, even in a city as big as New York. The wounded warrior knows all about pain and loss — and that sometimes anger is the only form of release. When Tiernan once again crowds Ramos’ space, his eyes are opened to the possibility of other forms of release.

Tough NYC cop Tiernan Callahan is still mourning the death of his beloved youngest brother, Mason.

Fearing his close-minded family’s reaction, the young soldier never got to tell them his secret — that he was gay and engaged to the love of his life. Tiernan is surviving on anger and guilt. When he continues to run into Dario Ramos, who continues to push his buttons, something inside him snaps. Suddenly, anger isn’t the only emotion he feels.

Two very different men, still trying to heal: Can they come to an understanding and heal each other?

A Healing Man is the fifth book in the Men of Manhattan series by Sandrine Gasq-Dion and so far my favourite. It was sweet funny and sexy. I loved every single word. It’s a beautiful story about loss.

Tiernan is a cop in the NYPD, he lost his brother in war four years ago. Mason was in the closet and when he died Tiernan discovered he was gay and engaged to Casper. He feels betrayed by Mason cause he didn’t trust him to know the most important thing about his life. He’s so angry he is becoming distracted at work and an homophobic asshole. Since his brother died, Tiernan has put his carrier in danger one time too much. His captain decides to assigned him a new partner, Danny, a gay man. Danny is the first one to think Tiernan could be gay, or at least bi.

“Oh God, you’re one of those.”

“What?”

“A paranoid penis. A guy who thinks each and every one of us gays wants in your ass. Trust me, Callahan—I don’t want your ass.”

Dario loses his leg in duty and he is still recovering for alcohol abuse too. He drank to forget all about the years he spent on the field. Now he’s been sober from years and he’s working for the Wounded Warrior Project and as a model. He lives with his girlfriend Maria, until one day he goes home and finds her packing, tired of being with him just for pity.

Tiernan and Dario keep running into each other and what was “hate at first sight” in time become lust/love.
I loved these characters so much, they are amazing, I liked how in the story they grow to be better men, especially Tiernan. He was really hateful in the previous books and I was so proud of him for admit and make up for his mistakes. Of course his parents really sucked but he’ll have a great cast of second characters to support and love him no matter who he’s chosen to love.

There are some very funny scenes, for example when Dario asked gay sex tips to Danny, it was hilarious. And really? Bacon lube? No idea it existed, I’m already hungry.

There are some guys I really want to know more about. I’m hoping in a couple more of books at least in this series. They deserve to have their own HEA.

Highly recommended, this book and the whole series.

COVERT ART by Wilde City Press. I don’t like this series’ covers. They are pretty much the same with a different model for each book. They are good to look at but nothing more.

Sales Links:  Wilde City Press    All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 137 pages
Published January 21st 2015 by Wilde City
edition languageEnglish
url https://www.facebook.com/authorsandrine.g.dion
seriesMen of Manhattan #5

The Men of Manhattan Series:

A Betting Man (Men of Manhattan, #1)
A Marrying Man (Men of Manhattan, #2)
A Fighting Man (Men of Manhattan, #3)
A Working Man (Men of Manhattan, #4)
A Healing Man (Men of Manhattan, #5)

A MelanieM Review: Creature Comfort by Rob Rosen

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Creature ComfortThree hundred years into the apocalypse, centuries-old zombie queen, Creature Comfort, and the love of her afterlife, Dara Licked, see a plane land near their salt factory in Utah.  Its the same plane that carried her friends and fellow drag queens, Destiny St. James, Kit Kat, and Blondella Bombshell off to New York City.  Now that same plane has landed 300 years later and out pop some drag queens asking for their help!  How could they refuse?

Soon Creature and her beloved, Dara, find themselves beneath a gussied-up Lady Liberty, surrounded by a race of fabulous drag queens. Humanity (what’s left of it) is in dire trouble, attacked by unseen menacing forces. Can Creature and Dara and a host of new friends possibly save the day?

Last year Rob Rosen published a story, Queens of the Apocalypse, featuring drag queens, zombies and, of course, an apocalypse.  I loved it.  It had humor, a whole lot of heart, and spunk!  Lots and lots of spunk!  Now at least one of the queens is back, the zombie one of course, in Rob Rosen’s Creature Comfort, and I admit I was a little leery about diving back into a universe and revisiting characters that I adored.

When you give a book 5 stars and love the ending, having a sequel can be a mixed blessing.  What if you don’t like what happens after the first book ended?  What if the magic and sparkle that made the first story so special is missing in the sequel? Yikes!  But I am happy to report that I  don’t see that happened here…mostly.

Creature Comfort picks up 300 years after Creature’s fellow and still human drag queens, Destiny St. James, Kit Kat, and Blondella, left her behind in a salt factory in Salt Lake City, along with a  small group of humans to find (hopefully) safety and sanctuary in New York City.  Creature had been brought back to a sort of living dead (yet totally fabulous) existence by the means of iodized salt so what better place to live than surrounded by salt!  Even better, Creature finds her soulmate in another gay zombie, drag queen Dara!  So far so good.

But Rob Rosen makes it clear that Creature and Dara’s existence has been pretty drab for a long, long time.  When the plane arrives (“da plane, da plane”), and three pretty young and human people pop out dressed like drag queens asking for help, its clear a road trip of apocalyptic proportions  is in the works.  By then I realized how much I had missed this quixotic, kind of horrible yet wonderful universe.  And Creature of course.

From the beginning Rosen starts building in the mystery and suspense.  The plane?  It’s exactly the one that Creature’s friends left in.  And why is everyone wearing drag when they aren’t gay?  And in one of the books funnier moments, when the Statue of Liberty comes into view, Creature and Dara notice (how  can they not) that she has been given a drag queen makeover too, complete with lipstick and glitter.  How fabulous!

But Rosen’s stories don’t shine on humor alone.  No, there is plenty of pathos and pain to go around and soon clues are falling into place that nothing is as it seems.  And we find out what happened to my favorite drag queens.

Soon it is up to Creature and her love, Dara to save humanity one more time and from a most unexpected source!  To do so, Rosen has created two more memorable characters, songstress Lola Fontaine (“winner of two Tony’s”) and her husband Lester aka Ricky, whose love for each other can’t be denied.  Between the four of them, the power of love and some fabulous zombie queens and their partners save the world once more.  Its fun, snarky, full of glitter and high-heels (Jimmy Cho’s), some laughter and tears.  Ok, not so much that as zombies can’t cry.  But you get what I’m aiming for.  Rosen brings real feelings and substance to zombies in love in a post apocalyptic world.  And even with two elements that made me less than happy (Rob, you know what they are), I  found myself falling back in love all over again.

If you are unfamiliar with the first story, some of Creature Comfort might be a little slow going and confusing at first.  Rob Rosen will fill in the blanks about the universe he built in Queens of the Apocalypse here but it takes time.  Much better to have read the first story and be well prepared for this one.  It gives you a ready made base for the humor inherent in the House of Bombshell and the House of St. James now so much a part of society on Liberty Island, to say nothing of Saint Creature!

And the ending leaves open the possibility of yet another story for Creature, Dara, Lola and Lester.  I hope so.  I would love to see what happens when they all get back to Utah.  It should be a doozy!  In the meantime, if you love zombies, drag queens and some wild action/adventure, well, then, Creature Comfort is the story for you!  Its fast paced, funny, sometimes a litle sad but always, always entertaining.  I highly recommend it as well as Queens of the Apocalypse, along with author Rob Rosen.  Don’t pass them up!

Cover artist?  Like the cover but its a little simplistic.  I far prefer the cover of the first story, Queens of the Apocalypse!

Sales Links:  Amazon        Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 238 pages
Published February 12th 2015 by Fierce Publishing
ASINB00PMHZOSY
edition languageEnglish

In the Book Spotlight: The Librarian by Lee Brazil (tour, excerpt and contest)

 magnifying glass and bookThe Librarian by Lee Brazil
Re-release February 24, 2015

LBRC

Author Lee Brazil Bio:

Somewhere in a small town in up-state New York are a librarian and a second grade teacher to whom I owe my life. That might be a touch dramatic, but it’s nevertheless one hundred percent true.

Because they taught me the joy of reading, of escaping into worlds crafted of words.
Have you ever been nine years old and sure of nothing so much as that you don’t belong? Looked at the world from behind glasses, and wondered why you don’t fit?

Someone hands you a book, and then you turn the page and see… There you are, running from Injun Joe in a dark graveyard; there you are fencing with Athos; there you are…beneath the deep blue sea- marveling at exotic creatures with Captain Nemo.

I found myself between the pages of books, and that is why I write now. It’s why I taught English and literature for so many years, and it’s why my house contains more pounds of books than furniture.

If I’d had my way, I’d have been a fencer…or a starship captain, or a lawyer, or a detective solving crimes. But instead, I am a writer, and I’ve come to realize that’s the best thing in the world to be, because as a writer, I can be all those things and more.

If I hadn’t learned to value the stories between the pages, who knows what would have happened? Certainly not college…teaching…or writing.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.brazil
Twitter: @leebrazil
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/leebrazil/

Publisher: Lime Time Press
Cover Artist: Laura Harner

Sales Links: Amazon  Smashwords  All Romance
Direct From Author Via Payhip : https://payhip.com/b/tz3n

More about The Librarian…TheLibrarian-800x1200

A rash vow of celibacy puts Valentine Michaels in the path of seduction.

Val is at a crossroads in his life. A college dropout, he’s gone as far as he can in his career as a cosmetologist, owning his own style salon. He no longer finds satisfaction in it, though he’s put years into proving to his bigoted parents that a college degree and the veneer of straightness aren’t the only roads to success. They’d turned their backs on him, and he proved he didn’t need them to make it.

His love life is no better than his working life. His relationships always start with a bang and fizzle into boredom, or worse, anger.

Adrian Grey has his own agenda for helping Val: he’s been in love with Val since they were freshmen. The intervening years of listening to Val’s gossip about his lovers and relationships have taught Adrian just what it was he did wrong all those years ago, and he thinks this time around he now knows exactly how to get—and keep—his man.
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance

Excerpt:

Impatiently, Val flipped his powder-blue locks over his shoulder, tapping the little whisk broom against the counter where his supplies were arranged neatly. “Derek, you left me standing around at Paul’s for an hour, a place I totally hate by the way, without even a phone call to say you weren’t coming, and then I walk past you playing ball in the park with your friends on the way back here. I’m not overreacting!”

He ran a swift eye over his supplies. Scissors, combs, spray bottle with water, gel, mousse. Everything in order. While he prepared his workstation, he listened with half an ear to the deep voice on the other end of the phone, trying to explain or rationalize or whatever, but he wasn’t into hearing what Derek had to say. The guy was an immature jerk who put his own wants ahead of everything, even if it meant leaving Val standing in a group of young college kids he barely knew, in a bar he usually avoided like the plague. He’d gone to the party in the first place for Derek. Being stood up while doing something so selfless pissed him off. Just once in a relationship, Val wanted to find a guy who put him first, who loved him more than sports, friends, and all the other temptations the wicked world offered. “Just forget it, Derek. You don’t get it. It’s not just last night; it’s the whole last few months.”

More rumbling and babbling in his ear. He ran a dust cloth over the client’s chair and then adjusted its height. Prepping his station at the salon was second nature and required little of his attention. Kind of like listening to Derek. Why the fuck do I listen to this shit? Derek had all the emotional understanding of a two-ton truck. Cute as hell, but clueless about what would melt Val’s heart. In fact, Derek might accurately be called dense altogether. A little consideration, a romantic gesture or two, would go a long way. Hell, an apology instead of an excuse would probably have gotten him a second chance even this morning. Eh. Who are you kidding? Derek is a symptom, not the illness itself. “Fuck off, Derek. It’s over. Do me a favor and lose my number, okay?”

Flipping the phone shut, he shoved it into the pocket of his smock and busied himself cleaning up his workspace. A quick spray of glass cleaner to the mirror, a swipe or two with a rag, and he was done. Done with Derek, done with men, done with romance and love and sex, and fuck it all. He could be celibate. Masturbation didn’t count as sex, did it? He’d need something if he wasn’t getting any.

Pages or Words: 22,000 Words


Tour Dates: February 24, 2015

LBBadgeTour Stops:

Parker Williams, Havan Fellows, Divine Magazine, Amanda C. Stone, Molly Lolly, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, My Fiction Nook, Bayou Book Junkie, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Kimi-Chan, Inked Rainbow Reads, Bike Book Reviews, MM Good Book Reviews, BFD Book Blog, The Hat Party, Cate Ashwood, It’s Raining Men, Michael Mandrake, Andrew Q. Gordon, Velvet Panic, Iyana Jenna, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Fallen Angel Reviews, Dawn’s Reading Nook

Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: $5.00 ARe gift card or copy of the book. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Rafflecopter Code:
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A MelanieM Review: My Cowboy Homecoming (The Cowboys #3) by Z.A. Maxfield

Rating:   4 stars out of 5

Love can heal the deepest wounds…

My Homecoming CowboyThe death of a brother and a father in prison bring a soldier home.  Sgt. Calvin Tripplehorn had every intention of making the army his career and never returning home.   But duty and obligation calls when he  receives notice that his brother has died, leaving his mother unable to cope.  However, returning home brings up all the old problems and issues that sent Tripp into the Army in the first place.

Tripp hates returning to his New Mexican home, a place where the name Tripplehorn means hate, pain, and general ill will, mostly due to his crazy father who burned people’s homes and businesses to the ground and destroyed lives all around him. It doesn’t help that one of the people who picks him up at the airport is gorgeous and flirty…that is until Tripp’s last name is mentioned.

Cowboy Lucho Reyes is returning to work at the J-Bar Ranch after an injury sent him to the town’s clinic.  On the way back they pick up a soldier returning home and Lucho thinks the gorgeous vet is everything he has been looking for.  Until he hears the soldier’s name.  Tripplehorn.  The family of drug dealing bigots who burned his family’s restaurant to the ground causing the death of the his grandfather.  He hates the Tripplehorns, they are nothing but trouble.  But there’s something different about Calvin.

In need of employment, Tripp is hired at the J-Bar Ranch, a dream he had as a child and now the home of a man Tripp finds irresistable, if only Lucho will give him a chance to prove he’s not his father’s son.

My Cowboy Homecoming is the third book in Z. A. Maxfield’s The Cowboys series.  And while it was the first I have read of the three books published, My Cowboy Homecoming was so endearing and enjoyable that it will send me back to read the first two stories to see what I have missed.

Having started here at the third book, I liked that I didn’t feel that I was lacking anything as far as background or information.  Z. A. Maxfield nicely filled in all the important details from the  previous stories and series foundation, so I was able to read and delve into the plot as it unfolded without feeling there were gaps missing in everyone’s back history.

There is so much to love here starting with the J-Bar Ranch itself, owned and operated by a gay couple, Speed Malloy and Crispin Carrasco, and another gay pairing, Jimmy Rafferty and Eddie as ranch hands.  It’s truly a different sort of place, complete with three-legged dogs and rescue horses in need of therapy and retraining.   That’s where Lucho’s injury comes in, while trying to help a newly arrived abused horse.  Element upon delightful element is added to help add dimension and realism to a story that has go much heart and pain packed into it.

The beginning is simple enough. A soldier arrives home after leaving the service so he can help out his family. But what follows is anything but simple.

Tripp is arriving home to see his mother, his brother has died, his father in prison and there is no one at the airport to welcome him or pick him up.  Immediately the atmosphere changes into something dark. He’s picked up by two ranch hands from the J-Bar as a favor but what starts off as a welcome helping hand turns bitter as soon as Tripp’s name is revealed.  From then on out, Z.A. Maxfield’s cowboy drama rolls out a series of past abuses and terrors delivered by the Tripplehorn men (Tripp excluded) upon the community.

It’s a horrific little journey into everyone’s past, including Lucho’s, and we start to see two different perspective on Tripp’s family and the dynamics that caused Tripp to flee into the Army.  Maxfield doesn’t dump all the pain and angst on the reader at once, instead it is doled out, the facts and emotions building up to a painful picture of an abusive, racist father who did his best to control his brood and wife and is still trying to do so from his prison  cell.

Tripp’s mother is a character most if not all readers will love to hate.  Her weakness is frustrating, her actions lamentable, and her inability to act on her own behalf or her son’s removes most of the compassion a reader is inclined to award her.  Men are her backbone and she has found another support system in her husband’s sleazy lawyer.  I think most of the reader’s frustration will stem from Tripp’s actions towards his mother.  A war seasoned veteran who turns so passive and ineffectual when it comes to interacting with his past and his mother.  This section of the story could easily turn off the reader if the author had not done such a great job in laying the foundation for this mother/son dynamic and using it for further actions down the road.  Great job all around.

The highlight of this story, of course, is the hot, sexy and actually sweet romance that springs up between Lucho and Tripp.  It’s one tough road to romance for both men, and the joy and heart of this story is watching them fall into love and work hard to make their relationship work.  It will involve Lucho’s family, one abused horse, and the support of those around them at the J-Bar Ranch.  Maxfield brought the characters from the previous stories (Malloy and Crispin, Jimmy and Eddie) into My Homecoming Cowboy so I am hopeful that any future stories will bring us up to date on Lucho and Tripp’ relationship.  Plus I want to know if Crispin succeeds in bringing ostriches onto the ranch!

Did I love this story?  You betcha!  Tripp and Lucho were so easy to take to heart and from the small interactions I saw between the other characters were enough to make me want to know their stories as well.

If you love your cowboys and romance, this is the story for you.  It’s probably even the series for you.   It has drama, angst, romance and animals whose characters are as quirky and endearing as the people they live with!  It’s one of my recommended reads!

Cover artist did a great job.  I love this cover.

Sales Links:  All Romance (ARe)         Amazon             Buy It here

Book Details:

ebook, InterMix eBook, 272 pages
Published December 2014 by Penguin Group (USA) LLC
ISBN139780698175020
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Cowboys #3