Love M/M Paranormal Romance? Check out The Cub Club by Ardy Kelly (giveaway)

COVER - The Cub Club - Ardy Kelly

Ardy Kelly has a new MM paranormal mpreg book out:

What would you do if your adopted son shifted into a wolf cub before your eyes?

For single dad Steven the choice was simple – find the boy’s family and hope they had the answers.

As the alpha of Lone Wolves Ranch, Mack trusted in humans as much as he trusted in love. Not at all. But he has a soft spot for the brave man searching for his son’s relatives. When he discovers Steven is his fated mate, he’s stuck between a soft spot and a hard place.

The Cub Club is a gay wolf shifter romance containing Mpreg and knotting. A complete 65,000-word novel – no cliffhanger!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CAN


Giveaway

Ardy is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour – for a chance to win, enter via Rafflecopter:

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Excerpt

BANNER3- The Cub Club - Adry Kelly

“We got company. There’s a biker at the gate.”

Mack looked up from the paperwork, staring at the walkie-talkie. It was unusual to have visitors. It was even more unusual for Sarge not to handle it on his own. The man was an excellent head of security, but he favored shifting and playing a rabid dog every time someone approached the ranch. It was effective. There wasn’t a repairman within fifty miles who would take their calls.

Mack picked up the radio. “I didn’t hear a motorcycle.”

“He’s on a friggin’ bicycle. Dressed in khakis and a button-down shirt. Who the hell dresses business casual in the Sierra backwoods?”

“Real estate agent?” Mack switched to the security camera feed on his computer. The mystery man stood outside the gate, holding a bicycle. “What’s he want?”

“Won’t say. Says he needs to talk to whoever runs the school here. Says it’s personal.”

Mack took another long look at the screen. If someone wanted to appear non-threatening, this man had it down pat.

“But here’s the weird thing,” Sarge continued. “I can’t smell him. I mean, he had to bicycle three miles down that dirt road, and in this heat I should be able to smell something.”

Sarge was of the old guard. Paranoid about discovery. Distrusting of humans. There was always a perfectly reasonable explanation for any visit, rare as they were. “I’m coming.”

Mack walked out of his office, into the hot afternoon sun. Everybody has a scent, he reasoned. Is Sarge getting a head cold?The gate was less than fifty feet away, and he saw the man waiting patiently.

He locked eyes with the stranger. The gaze he received in return wasn’t threatening or defiant. It held an intense curiosity. Too curious. This wasn’t ranch business.

Mack didn’t need to be any closer to take in the details. His suspicion heightened his senses, and he was on the alert for any potential danger. The man was attractive. Maybe in his mid-thirties, though prematurely gray. He was dressed exactly as Sarge had described, holding a mountain bike.

The only thing odd was what Sarge had already noticed: the man didn’t have a scent. There was something, but no stronger than salty sea air. Considering there wasn’t an ocean for more than a hundred miles, it was the only unique thing about him. Maybe he’s a merman.

Mack amped up his alpha attitude, swaggering the last few steps to the gate, before slapping his hand on the metal bars. “Can I help you?”

The stranger looked exhausted and tense. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his knuckles were white where he gripped the bike. He was covered in dust, much more than was usual. By late summer, the dirt road kicked up thick clouds of the stuff, but this was still June. Where had he bicycled from?

“I need to speak to whoever is in charge,” he said. The voice attempted to sound authoritative but cracked in the middle of the sentence, displaying an undercurrent of fear. Mack thought it strange he couldn’t smell it on him. “It’s about one of your students,” the stranger said.

Great. The man was a local, dressed in his Sunday best. The policy of the ranch was to be respectful but distant from their neighbors. Sometimes it was hard to accomplish that when you had teenagers. “Have they been causing trouble?”

The man shook his head. “No. An old student. Carol Rydell.”

Carol?Mack hadn’t thought of his cousin in years. She had been a rebellious teenager, with an overbearing alpha father. Uncle Jon was the alpha, and the old man didn’t like to be questioned. Carol had been too much like her father and didn’t like to be ordered around. She ran away at sixteen, and no one spoke of her since.

As much as Mack wanted to lie and say, “Never heard of her,” he found himself asking, “What do you want to know?”

The man’s poker face slipped, and worry was written all over it. “Did she have any family?”

“Why?”

He took a breath, and then blurted out, “Because she died thirteen years ago. In childbirth. And I adopted her son.”

If this was a ploy to get Mack to admit the ranch catered to the supernatural, it was a good one. Carol’s son could have come into puberty just in time for the full moon three days ago. And Mack recognized the look in the man’s eyes. Shift-faced.The human had seen the boy change. Or had he? He looked tense. But why can’t I smell his anxiety?

Mack realized he needed to be noncommittal. Get the man to tell him everything, while revealing nothing to him. “What’s your name?”

“Steven.”

Mack didn’t bother introducing himself. He was going to give the stranger the absolute minimum until he knew who he was talking to. “So, you’re raising Carol’s thirteen-year-old boy.” He opened the gate. “I bet you have questions.”

“You have no idea. I mean, I’m hoping you do.”

He wheeled the bike inside, while Sarge closed the gate behind them.

“You can leave that here,” Mack instructed, pointing at the bike.

Sarge stood beside him but Steven hesitated, as if this were his last chance to escape. No one said a word while Mack held his gaze, signaling my turf, my rules. Steven relinquished the handlebars, and Mack’s wolf purred. It’s fun bossing around humans.

The two walked the short distance to Sarge’s shack. It was half-jokingly called the guard house because all business with outsiders was handled here. No strangers got farther than this point without Mack’s approval, and few even made it that far. However, thisconversation needed four walls around it.

Once inside, Mack sat behind the desk. He needed to be intimidating and distant. “So, Carol’s son…” Mack waited to see whether Steven would supply the name of the boy. The long pause let him know he wouldn’t. “Has he recently come into puberty?”

When Steven nodded, Mack gave him a guarded smile. “I assume you’re not here because you caught him masturbating during the full moon.”


Author Bio

Ardy Kelly is my paranormal pen name. I work for one of the top boutique event planning companies in San Francisco, and I can’t risk having our clientele (or my boss) discover my passion for aggressive, sexual, alpha men.

I started writing steamy contemporary romance in 2015 under the name Robyn Kelly. At that time, only virgins seemed to be nabbing troubled billionaires, and I thought it was time to write a book where experience counted for something. When I discovered the Omegaverse last year, I noticed a lot of stories where Omegas were weak little victims, and decided to tackle that issue as well.

Much as I love writing all types of romance I don’t mind poking fun at the genre, too. My books always have a lot of humor, and usually one character is reading or writing a particularly silly romance book.

Author Website: www.robynkellyauthor.comm/ardykellyauthor

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New Book Release Blitz for Blackwood (Perth Shifters #1) by Pia Foxhall

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK 
 
Length: 93,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Tiferet Design
 
Blurb
 

In a world that is still getting used to shifters, where everyone thinks omegas are second class citizens, nature photographer and omega Braden Payne lets everyone think he’s a beta. That way no one gives him a hard time and he doesn’t have to live a repeat of his failed relationship. But when his car breaks down in the remote Blackwood forest in Western Australia, without the medication that lets him hide who he is, he’s faced with what he fears most: an unmated alpha.


Government forest guardian and alpha Coll MacDubhar is tired of illegal loggers, foolish tourists and people who underestimate the wilds of Western Australia. He discovers Braden lost and in need of medical assistance in the forest he protects and knows something’s not right.


But there’s hidden depths to Braden that capture his interest, and no decent alpha would walk away when Braden’s unwelcome past comes to visit.

 
Author Bio



Pia Foxhall is a queer, nonbinary and disabled Australian author who lives in the most isolated major city in the world – Perth, Western Australia – with two rescue cats. Much of their time writing is spent working on the Patreon-supported Fae Tales serial, a dark fantasy BDSM erotica epic that has been in production for many years. They’ve always been fascinated with all types of trauma recovery stories, and they like their character’s comfort to be earned, and the growth to feel real, and need a happy ending after that trauma recovery!

 
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A MelanieM Review: Blackwood (Perth Shifters #1) by Pia Foxhall

 

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

 

In a world that is still getting used to shifters, where everyone thinks omegas are second class citizens, nature photographer and omega Braden Payne lets everyone think he’s a beta. That way no one gives him a hard time and he doesn’t have to live a repeat of his failed relationship. But when his car breaks down in the remote Blackwood forest in Western Australia, without the medication that lets him hide who he is, he’s faced with what he fears most: an unmated alpha.

Government forest guardian and alpha Coll MacDubhar is tired of illegal loggers, foolish tourists and people who underestimate the wilds of Western Australia. He discovers Braden lost and in need of medical assistance in the forest he protects and knows something’s not right.

But there’s hidden depths to Braden that capture his interest, and no decent alpha would walk away when Braden’s unwelcome past comes to visit

It’s not often that I get to enjoy a story that throws a different light on wolf shifter culture and the  aspect of mating but Blackwood (Perth Shifters #1) by Pia Foxhall offered me that and much more.  Pia Foxhall is a new author for me but this story guarantees that I’m seeking out not only the others that she releases in this series but anything else written by her as well.

Foxhall did several things extraordinarily well here.  She’s familiar with her setting(s) and is deeply appreciative the natural environment, its complexities, the moral decisions being made that emotional and economically divide people/beings out there, and the incredible beauty to be found in its harshness. Through her characters she is able to pull her readers into that forested land, those men and women’s lives and make us feel their tie to the land as well.  It will affect you deeply.

That’s an abiding thread throughout this story.

Foxhall has also created a backhistory that I really wanted to know more of for the  wolf shifters.  Their lineage, , the Sleeping,the great Reawaking when the majority of the shifters got together and revealed themselves to the humans, the ramifications that continue to the present day in this story.  I am hoping that further novels enlarge on this past shifter history.

Then the author folds Braden’s past trauma, how it was handled by the  police, hospital, and government neatly into an side thread on current treatment of the omegas ,Alpha misuse, human misunderstandings of the wolf physiology.  wolf culture, and the lack of real reinforcement of  the laws.  This is such an important, believable, and downright authentic part of the story that could have overwhelmed the romance, yet never does.

And finally there is the romance that starts off so badly.  It’s a rescue that becomes a slow burn by necessity and respect.  I loved how it evolved and still is moving forward at the end of the story.  They still have some of the path to tread to HEA which is exactly how the author should have ended this story.  Rushing things would have been all wrong given the past events in Braden’s life and all the ones that happen during this story that were quite scary. Coll MacDubhar is the perfect partner for Braden and a easy character to love.  You will fall in love with this couple so quickly.  Also with their friends that surround and support them.  I can’ wait for more in this series.

I love being surprised!  New elements and new aspects always do that to me and this author gave me plenty to mull over in Blackwood (Perth Shifters #1) by Pia Foxhall.  Now to wait and see what the next installment brings!  If you love shifters as much as I do, grab this one up and check out Pia Foxhall  wolf shifters! I absolutely recommend it.

Cover by Tiferet Designs..  I sort of think this is a miss.  So many story elements to choose from and none are represented here.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Edition, 1st edition, 267 pages
Expected publication: November 23rd 2018 by Pia Foxhall
ASINB07JF61DS1
Edition Language English
Series Perth Shifters #1

 

 

An Alisa Review A Fated Bond by T.L. West

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

Joseph Roth, a young member of the Rockfort Paranormal Department which is in charge of keeping vampires, shifters, fairies, and all kind of supernatural creatures in check, finds himself facing more than he bargained for when he is assigned to investigate a mysterious murder. Not only is Joseph stuck between his department and a prestigious vampire family, he’s unaware of the target on his back. With the department keeping secrets from him, Joseph decides to uncover the truth on his own, unaware that dark forces are on the rise. Will Joseph be able to find the truth in time or is his search allowing the enemy to come close enough for a kill?

I felt like I was missing something in this story.  Joseph has been working for the paranormal department and becomes the target of one bad guy.  Greg has felt like he was waiting for something for the last 25 years, he doesn’t expect that connection to Joseph to put Joseph in danger.

This story shows a lot of different points of view and different sides of the story.  Unfortunately the story seemed half completed, maybe another book will come in the future but it isn’t marked as a series.  It seems this is loosely connected to Angels and Man-Beasts that I read last year and I felt the same way with that story.  I felt that Joseph and Greg were just a small portion of the book and wish there had been some sort of conclusion by the end of the book.

I like the cover art by Natasha Snow and the visuals are connected to Joseph and Greg’s portion of the book.

Sales Links: Nine Star Press | Amazon | B&N

Book Details:

ebook, 39,800 words

Published: November 5, 2018 by Nine Star Press

ISBN: 978-1-949909-14-2

Edition Language: English

A MelanieM Release Day Review: Quenched in Blood (Asheville Arcana #3) by Ari McKay

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

 

Will love mean rebirth… or death?

Vampire Julian Schaden has been warning the Asheville Paranormal Council of an impending demonic incursion for more than two decades. Over the past two years, he and his friends have fought as hard as they can with little help, since Micah Carter, the demon hunter who should have led them, shirked his responsibility and then perished.

Desperate for anything that might aid the fight, Julian enters the Carter property and finds something he never dared hope for: young Thomas Carter, the heir to a long line of demon hunters.

Thomas knows nothing about the supernatural world. But the prospect of a real life, outside the sheltered, isolated farm where he grew up, calls to him, and the idea of fighting the Unholy feels right.

Julian agrees to train Thomas even as he struggles against an unexpected, unwanted attraction. Thomas is too young and innocent to get involved with Julian, but opposites attract, and this is one battle Julian seems fated to lose. A prophecy from a dying mage comes with a bleak warning: the upcoming battle will claim Thomas’s life. To keep his home and friends safe, Julian may have to sacrifice the only love he’s ever known.

The Asheville Arcana series/trilogy comes to an end with Quenched in Blood (Asheville Arcana #3) by Ari McKay.  Three close friends, Arden Gilmarin, Whimsey Hickes, Julian Schaden, (with former benefits) will have found  their mates/lovers and HEA and the series arc resolves with a crashing thunderous finale. 

The previous stories have introduced  the fact that there’s a major demon in the area looking for an artifact.  And to that end the demon will kill, enslave, and perform many heinous actions and be the master ordering the slaughter of many of those close to the main characters here.  It’s been a wild emotional ride watching half-elf Arden Gilmarin fall in love with alpha werewolf Eli Hammond in Out of the Ashes, the first in the series Equally so, Harlan Edgewood, possessed werewolf,  fall for mage Whimsy Hickes in Forged in Fire.  Whimsy Hickes remains still one of my all time favorite character names.  Thank you, Ari McKay!

Now it’s vampire Julian Schaden’s turn.  He has had a rough time watching his former lovers and friends find their HEA and mates.  He’s withdrawn from everyone into his castle, seemingly to conduct research but mostly to remove himself from the society of others.  Meanwhile the threat of the demon and those it is changing to help  accomplish its goals is growing stranger.

McKay is excellent at drawing out the suspense while creating anguish over the events and actions of the demon at large.  Who and what that demon is will not be revealed until late in the story.  As it should be.

The majority of the story is finding Micah Carter, his training, and relationship with Julian.  I wish that the story here was longer and maybe stronger.  I almost felt that he and Julian needed more time together for their relationship to “gell” as much as the others did.  I liked them together but for some reason never quite got as much as a emotional connection as I did the other two couples.

I think that’s because the other two stories didn’t have to carry as much a load as this  one did.  It had not only Julian and Micah’s romance but the ongoing story exposition, and then the series arc finale.  That’s a huge narrative load to carry and I think some elements had to lighten under that burden, the romance being one of them.

I thought the march towards the end and fighting scenes spectacular and heartbreaking.  I was so happy with the resolution although again, a little more explanation would have been wonderful.  That can be a dicy thing when ending a series.

When I look from the first introduction of the three men to the very last sentence, to the entire series arc, each relationship, the world building, and all the characters (quirks, cultures, and back histories), I think that Ari McKay accomplished a remarkable thing.  The Asheville Arcana series is a fun, scary, hair-raising thrill ride of a romance trilogy and this was a wonderful send off.

I definitely recommend this and  all the rest.

Cover art: Aaron Anderson.  Love the cover with it’s incorporation of an important element of the storyline.

Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 228 pages
Expected publication: November 20th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 139781640809444
Edition Language English
Series Asheville Arcana

Out of the Ashes

 

Forged in Fire

Quenched in Blood

My Thankful List? Great Editors! This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

On My Thankful List? Great Editors!

As we countdown to Thanksgiving, I start thinking about things I’m grateful for.  It’s not always the usual things on everyone else’s lists.  The oddest or not so odd things pop up every day that can make me grateful for various and sundry items that might not get mentioned around the turkey table come Thanksgiving. So I thought I might bring up a few starting with a doozy that struck me yesterday (and almost every day at this blog).

Editors!

I’m absolutely, stupendously, over the moon grateful to every great editor out there still  squinting at every submitted manuscript and soon to be released books they have before them, working furiously to make sure that what is finally accepted/or released, if that, is worthy of both the author and publisher as well as the reader’s emotional (and monetary) input.  Someone who throughout the process with their red pen/pencil/marker/sword of blood/ cuts a swath through any writer’s purple prose, dense narrative, self involved point of view (goddess help me, the “I, I, I, I, I’s”), the love of tricks over substance, and cliche over depth.  That’s without even getting a start on spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Damn why is the umlaut there?  I know wherefore art thou umlaut and it’s not  (insert curse word) there!

Don’t even get me started on word choice! Argh!  The help some writers have needed here!  There’s apparently a whole bunch of people out there with nary of clue about words and their definitions, just picking them willy nilly out of the air!  Miss Malaprops Indeed!

Poor overworked editors!  In the larger publishing houses, jobs are broken down into smaller sections, some of which I listed below:

Developmental editor—As detailed above, the developmental editor helps the writer from the idea stage through the final draft. He may suggest topics, help with research, verify facts, and plan the structure of the manuscript. He works through successive drafts with the writer. He’s as concerned with the structure of a manuscript as much as he is the words and meaning.*

Substantive editor—Helps a writer improve his fiction manuscript by focusing on story elements, plot, characterization, dialogue, order of scenes, point of view, voice, setting, word choice, sentence construction and syntax, and pace—anything that could improve the strength of the manuscript.

And Copy Editors that do fact checking as well as all the other things I listed above, line item elements such as spelling, etc..

But for smaller publishers and Editing services (proofreaders and copy editors), how many of those are rolled into one or two people?

I sometimes cringe when I read an acknowledgement or forward from a writer that talks about friends that read the manuscript and told them to publish it.  The writer thanks them for their loving support and encouragement.  I mentally think “that’s terrific”, and then hope that author also found a editor too.   Sigh.  Oh the perils of self publishing.  Or even a publishing house as well.  A editor doesn’t always mean a good or great editor.  Again my kudos to all you great ones out there!

Some err towards being a friend and  middling copy checker.  Nuh uh.  And trust me, that can do far more harm once that book hits release time.

How many reviews have you all read that said needed a editor or better editor?  Yep! So true.  There’s a reason for that.

What exactly is the role of an editor anyway?  Well, here is a definition I found repeated several blogs:

An editor polishes and refines, [they] direct the focus of the story or article or movie along a particular course. [They] cut out what doesn’t fit, what is nonessential to the purpose of the story. They enhance the major points, drawing attention to places where the audience should focus.

Some of that is almost guaranteed to make a writer gnash their teeth, weep tears, and pull out some hairs.  No one wants to cut words, sentences, characters, or even whole parts of plots to have a book make sense. Yet that’s an editor’s job if that’s what it takes to make the story cleaner, polished, and substantially a finer story. And the author a better writer.  It’s a process.

Again, when you say you hired a editor, what did you hire?  Or did you hire a Proofreader?  Not the same as any good or great editor will tell you.  Each and everyone has a job to do.  Hire the right one for the right job.

Really someone should have stopped these headers, right? Or placement?

One of my favorite blogs is called the Blood Red Pencil which focus’ on writing and, of course, editing.   If you are as fond of the subject as I am  check out the link below:

Blood-Red Pencil: Do Editors Use Red Pencils?

 

As to what launched this week’s post, well, it’s Thanksgiving.  I’m just going to say I’m so grateful to each and everyone one of you  overworked, gorgeous, and absolutely fabulous editors who have provided such incredible help to the authors and their stories I’ve read all through the years!  I appreciate your hard work, I hope if you’re in the States you have a great Thanksgiving, or weekend if you’re abroad.  Kudos to you all!  A big Mwah!

Thoughts anyone?

Now onto this week’s books and tours.

This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

 Sunday, November 18:

  • RELEASE BLITZ – Comply by Lee Manarte
  • Review Tour and Giveaway for  Heat For Sale by Blake Moreno
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review:  Heat for Sale by Blake Moreno
  • My Thankful List? Great Editors!
  • This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Monday, November 19:

  • Release Blitz To Be Honest by S. M. James
  • Sale Blitz for 2 Robert Winter Titles
  • BLOG TOUR Secrets Revealed (Dragon War Chronicles Book 2) by AG Carothers
  • An Alisa Review: Date from Hell by Gareth Vaughn
  • An Alisa Review: Lost and Found (Dave&Carter) by Quin Perin
  • A Free Dreamer Review:  Secrets Revealed (Dragon War Chronicles #2) by A.G. Carothers
  • A Chaos Moondrawn Review: Finn by Angel Martinez

Tuesday, November 20:

  • Kaje Harper on Fair Isn’t Life
  • BLOG TOUR The Billionaire’s Wish by Geoffrey Knight
  • Release Blitz – Garrett Leigh – Crossroads (Skins #4)
  • A MelanieM Review The Burning Magus (Blue Unicorn #3) by Don Allmon
  • A MelanieM Release Day Review: Quenched in Blood (Asheville Arcana #3) by Ari McKay
  • A Caryn Review:Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3) by Angel Martinez
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Release Day Review:  His Consort by Mary Calmes

Wednesday, November 21:

  • Review Tour Leta Blake – Alpha Heat
  • BLOG TOUR Broken Halos by Aimee Nicole Walker
  • Release Blitz – Joanna Chambers – Mr Winterbourne’s
  • A Lucy Review: His Christmas Sweater by CM VAlencourt
  • An Ashlez Review : Walking In A Winter Wonderland by Claire Castle
  • A Stella Review: Accidentally On Purpose by JM Snyder
  • An Alisa Audio Review: Alpha Heat (Heat of Love #2) by Leta Blake and Michael Ferraiuolo (Narrator)

Thursday, November 22: Happy Thanksgiving!

  • Book Blast – Polyamory on Trial by Jude Tresswell
  • In the Spotlight Tour and Giveaway: The Burning Magus by Don Allmon
  • An Alisa Review: A Fated Bond by T.L. West
  • A MelanieM Review:  Blackwood (Perth Shifters #1) by Pia Foxhall
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Rabi and Matthew by L.A. Witt

Friday, November 23:

  • Review Tour – LA Witt – The Husband Gambit
  • Release Blitz – Pia Foxhall – Blackwood (Perth Shifters #1)
  • Release Blitz Tour – Jay Northcote – Stuck With You
  • An Ali Release Day Review: My Regelence Rake (The Sci-Regency #3) by J.L. Langley
  • A MelanieM Review:  The Husband Gambit by L.A. Witt
  • A Chaos Moondrawn Review: Diego (Endangered Fae #2) by Angel Martinez

Saturday, November 24:

  • Tour The Cub Club by Ardy Kelly
  • Release Blitz with ARC Reviews – Lost and Found by Quin Perin
  • Judith/Oz by Lily Morton Release Blitz and Review
  • A MelanieM Review: Best in Show by Kelly Jensen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*The Editor’s Blog

Thoughts on Holiday Movies and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Thoughts on Holiday Movies

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I grew up with the tradition that at a certain time of the year, our tv screens at home were constantly filled with holiday movies.  A quick check of the TV Guide (oh yes, that bible of channels back then) to see when to watch such traditional fare  like Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas, Holiday Inn, A Charlie Brown Christmas (cartoon), Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (cartoon), Santa Claus is Coming to Town (cartoon), and of course the classic of all classics It’s a Wonderful Life.

I got older and the movies graduated to The Grinch, A Christmas Story, The Santa Claus, Elf, Home Alone, and Love Actually.  And the Hallmark movies.  Oodles of them!

You leave home but somehow the traditions made growing up during the holidays follow you, especially when your mother calls to see if you are watching the movies (you are), she’s sniffling (as she always does) because, hey, holiday movies.  Hallmark has this down pat.  And after Thanksgiving they start running Christmas movies 24/7 (2 channels) which makes my mother giddy with seasonal bliss.  All the movies have a similar look and comforting feel, nothing too out of the ordinary to upset its viewing audience. Snow, adorable couple which has always looked the same movie after movie (often the same actors) and picturesque small towns in New England or lately the Northwest, ala islands in the Puget Sound. Similar scripts with heartwarming happy endings, usually with the snow starting to swirl about the couple’s head as they kiss (under the mistletoe, under a star, skating rink, etc.).

And almost always the couple is  white and hetrosexual. Very homogeneous right down to the religion. Which shouldn’t be surprising given Hallmark’s years in business, background, and, yes, audience.

Now that has started to change as people of color have appeared in roles as main characters, not just as the person running through the scene or the best friend you never see again. But something happened last week that made me wonder if Hallmark is thinking of making another tentative step forward again.  Hence this blog today.

There I was trying,once more to get involved in a story that just refused to contain my interest, my RPG laid closeby calling my name, the dogs were on the bed, and I had the new Hallmark Christmas movie playing on the tv, Road to Christmas.  I was only half heartedly paying attention to it when I heard some dialog like “you and your partner have your own Christmas traditions”….and boom! Interest engaged!

So story about a tv chef named Wise, her 3 adopted estranged sons (the Wise men ,get it?), and the young woman who works for her who reunited  them at Christmas time during a tv special.  She gets a boyfriend out of it too. Well, it turns out that one, (sweater, black rim glasses, perfectly coiffed hair) runs a animal rescue with his partner where it seems they live as well.  They have developed their own holiday traditions for themselves.  I blink.  They, uh, seem to be a couple. Huh. No touching, no indication of that really, cause Hallmark.  And at the end when the brothers are reunited at their mother’s home in the lovely picturesque mountains, guess who is watching it happen on live tv, adoringly, from their pet rescue/home?  Yep, it’s the partner. Home alone.

But it made me think. Was it a step forward?  Or was I reading too much into it?  Classic gay guy(s)?  Or Hallmark’s version of nerdy pet rescuer? Hmmmm.  Don’t know excerpt I’ve read that guy over and over again in countless M/M novels. So yes, I recognized him.  I think you all would too.  Thoughts, anyone?  Did anyone else see that movie?

Hallmark isn’t the only cable channel with holiday movies on it.  There’s Lifetime (Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever is one in case you were wondering), ABC Family, Oxygen, and a couple whose names escape me at the moment.  The amount of diversity in the movies varies, from none to, well, let’s say getting better.  Holiday movies really seem like the last frontier in my mind that remains to be (and needs to be) broken.  I’m hoping what I saw is the first baby steps taken by a major player in the holiday movie industry.  I can always hope.  Tis the season after all.3+

Until then I will have Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys, Charlie Brown and that woeful tree in A Charlie Brown Christmas, Love Actually and Colin, God of Sex, White Christmas with “Sisters”,Miracle on 34th Street and that cane, and of course, Clarence and his bell in It’s a Wonderful Life.  And all the other countless movies and memories that mean the holidays to me.  How did I forget A Christmas Carol, every single version?  Oh my!

So yes, my tv is full of holiday movies, my Kindle getting primed with holiday stories, of which the reviews are just now starting to be posted.

And it’s not even Thanksgiving yet.

 

 

This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, November 11:

  • Thoughts on Holiday Movies
  • This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Monday, November 12:

  • Beat of Their Own Drum by KM Neuhold Release Blitz
  • Release Blitz,for Lucky Town by Morgan Brice
  • Promo for Rick R. Reed
  • A MelanieM Review: Mary, Queen of Scotch by Rob Rosen
  • A Lila Review: Death Benefits by William Holden
  • A Free Dreamer Review:  A Vampire’s Heart by Kayleigh Sky
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Loving Loch by Kris Jacen

Tuesday, November 13:

  • In The Spotlight Tour and Giveaway:Renewing Forever by Kelly Jensen
  • Release Blitz A Kiss Before Christmas by A E Ryecart
  • On Tour with Rob Rosen on Mary, Queen of Scotch
  • An Alisa Release Day Review: Heart of a Redneck by Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga
  • A MelanieM Review: Renewing Forever by Kelly Jensen
  • A Lucy Review: A Kiss Before Christmas by A E Ryecart

Wednesday, November 14:

  • In the Spotlight Tour for Heart of a Redneck by Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga
  • Release Blitz – A Vampire’s Heart – Kayleigh Sky
  • Alan Semrow Ripe: Letters *Author Tour*
  • A Chaos Moondrawn Review: The Art of Hero Worship by Mia Kerick
  • A Jeri Review: Pay It Forward (Giving Back #1) by Nic Starr (
  • An Ali Release Day Review: Blood Red Roulette by Jana Denardo

Thursday, November 15:

  • DSP Promo Z.A. Maxfield
  • Pay It Forward by Nic Starr Author Promo Tour
  • Release Blitz Tour – LA Witt – The Husband Gambit
  • Release Blitz & Review Tour – Mr Frosty Pants by Leta Blake
  • An Ashlez Review Kinky Pride Collection by Shannon West, TS McKinney, Sara York, Susan E Scott
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Nova Praetorian by N.R. Walker
  • A Stella Review: Bishop Ridge (Sawyer’s Ferry #2) by Cate Ashwood

Friday, November 16:

  • HARMONY INK GUEST POST Gene Gant
  • Release Blitz – Irresistible Indigo (D’Vaire, Book 9) by Jessamyn Kingley
  • Review Tour – Ari McKay’s Seeking Solace (The Walker Boys #3)
  • A MelanieM Release Day Review: Fair Isn’t Life by Kaje Harper
  • A MelanieM Release Day Review: Cops and Comix (Murder and Mayhem) by Rhys Ford
  • A Lucy Review: Seeking Solace (The Walker Boys #3) by Ari McKay

Saturday, November 17:

  • Release Blitz – Walking In A Winter Wonderland – Claire Castle
  • A MelanieM Review:  Best in Show by Kelly Jensen

 

An Alisa Release Day Review: Fangs for the Memories ( A Dead and Breakfast #2) by Julia Talbot

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

 

One wolf lost his memory, but they’ll both lose their hearts.

 

Bitten werewolf Tom owes the folks at the Dead and Breakfast big for saving his life. So when they ask for help with a rogue wolf on the premises, he’s happy to do his part….

 

Though he isn’t quite prepared for what he’ll find.

 

Werewolf Nathan lost everything to a sadistic kidnapper—his freedom, his memories, and maybe even his ability to be human. But as soon as he meets Tom, he knows he might be able to reclaim his life. And even a turned wolf like Tom feels the mating call. The trouble is, Tom isn’t the only one who wants Nathan, and they’ll need help from all their supernatural friends at the D & B to defeat a powerful enemy and keep their love—and themselves—alive.

 

This was another cute story in this series.  Tom doesn’t think he will ever have a mate and is even more surprised when he finds him at the D and B.  Nathan is struggling to survive and find how he can trust, he feels a pull to Tom and the safety he provides.

 

There are many more at the D and B now, which gives the hope of more stories to come.  Once Nathan regains himself he is the bouncy one in this relationship, with the help of Ed, but I think it also helps Tom to unwind and let go a bit too.

 

We get to see the story from both characters’ points of view and it helps to understand them both.  Though we don’t see as much into Nathan’s past probably because it would be painful for him we find out what has happened which made me so happy that he has found love and a new family.  Tom will carry everything on his shoulders if he can and I love that his friends won’t let him do that.  I continue to love how the characters give into their animal’s basic instincts so much, it is so entertaining.

 

Cover art by Aaron Anderson is great and I love how it goes with the series.

 

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 222 pages

Published: November 6, 2018 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN-13: 978-1-64080-835-5

Edition Language: English

Series: A Dead and Breakfast #2, Dreamsun Beyond

It’s November and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

 

It’s November

November has finally arrived here.  It came with blustery winds and a drop in temperatures!  Almost overnight the leaves changed in color and our Indian summer vanished and fall arrived with a crispness to the air and that greyness in the skies.   All those trick or treaters just got in under the weather wire here and had a wonderful time.  Yes the  hoards descended!

But now its quiet, the winds howling and snatching the falls leaves up and away.  Again, a wonderful night to be reading. Only the foxes, raccoons, deer, and owls at play.

We had some great comments and recommendations for scary titles and  books so  lets finish up and get the winners names out.  As I  happily scarf down leftover Halloween candy (always buy the good stuff), the winners of the What Books go Boo for You Giveaway are H.B. and Purple Reader!  Congratulations to you both!  Contact Stella, Principessa of the Giftcards for yours.  We will finish up with some last minute recs for scary stories from P.R.:I’ve got a few left over recs that I enjoyed and thought others might too:

From Purple Reader:

Did I mention spirits? How about a couple series about paranormal investigators:
HELLSINGER series (FISH & GHOSTS, DUCK DUCK GHOSTS) by Rhys Ford
– and this one starts off in a Charming way:
A CHARM OF MAGPIES series by K.J. Charles
– On the other end, a shadowy, savage dystopia:
FALLOCAUST series by Quil Carter
– If necrophiliacs are your thing, or aren’t:
COLD FINGERS by Amy Spector
– I haven’t read them all, and not all are queer themed, but the author is iconic:
THE BOOKS OF BLOOD Vols. 1-6 by Clive Barker

 

Now for this week, an old favorite of mine and maybe yours is back.  I’m reviewing their third book in Ethan Day’s Summit City series called Life In Union (Summit City #3) by Ethan Day. Yep! Boone is back!  It’s hilarious! Sno ho’s and all.  If you aren’t familiar, grab up the first two and get ready for this one.  It’s a doozy.  A terrific M/M Historical from Eli Easton, The Lion and the Crow, that I read a long time ago, came alive again, in the audio version.  Never heard that narrator before.  He’s amazing.  Plus I have to mention that I’m also reviewing the next in the Pinx Video series from Marshall Thornton, Late Fees, a must read too.

There is also hockey, shifters, holiday stories and more coming up this  week so  don’t miss a day of it.  The countdown begins.

Happy November everyone!  Happy Reading.

 

 

This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday,  November 4:

  • It’s November
  • This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
  • Book Blast with Reviews – Boy Next Door (Hot Off the Ice #5) by A. E. Wasp
  • A MelanieM Review:  Boy Next Door (Hot Off the Ice #5) by A. E. Wasp
  • A Chaos Moondrawn Review: One Step Back by Edie Danford
  • A Stella Releases Day Review: Strays by A.J. Thomas

Monday, November 5:

  • BLOG TOUR Better Not Pout by Annabeth Albert
  • Release Day Blast Mama, Me, and the Holiday Tree Author: Jeanne
  • REVIEW TOUR – False Flag (The Phisher King, #2) Clancy Nacht & Thursday Euclid
  • A Lucy Review: Bump by Matthew J. Metzger
  • A VVivacious Review: Spare Parts by T.J.Land
  • A MelanieM Release Day Review: Better Not Pout by Annabeth Albert

Tuesday, November 6:

  • In the Spotlight Tour and Giveaway: Surreal Estate by Jesi Lea Ryan
  • Release Blitz Ari McKay – Seeking Solace
  • An Alisa Release Day Review: Fangs for the Memories by Julia Talbot
  • A MelanieM Review: Life In Union (Summit City #3) by Ethan Day
  • A Free Dreamer Review: In the Name of Magic by Chris Bedell
  • A Chaos Moondrawn Release Day Review: Bad Habit (Bad in Baltimore #6) by  K.A. Mitchell

Wednesday, November 7:

  • Promo Andrew Grey
  • Release Blitz – His Two Leading Men by Aidan Wayne
  • Blog Tour – Why I… series by Colette Davison
  • An Ashez Review: Capital Assets  (Rattle on Wall Street #1)  by Cecelia Storm
  • An Alisa Review:  Fling by Baylin Crow
  • A MelanieM Release Day Review: Seeking Solace (The Walker Boys 3) by Ari McKay

Thursday, November 8:

  • Promo -Sean Michael
  • Book Blast – The Signal Box by Lazlo Thorn
  • An Alisa Review Carnival Cowboy by Temple Madison
  • A Chaos Moondrawn Review: Trusted (Until You #3) by Karrie Roman
  • An Ali Audio Review: No Tears for Darcy by Vicki Reese and Brock Hatton (Narrator)
  • A MelanieM Audiobook Review:The Lion and the Crow by Eli Easton and Scott Richard Ehredt

Friday, November 9:

  • TOUR Rabi and Matthew by L.A. Witt
  • Release Blitz – Leta Blake – Alpha Heat
  • do you think we should’ve glued it first? by Bobbie Rayne Book Blast
  • An Alisa Review: Sugar Cookies & Mistletoe by Kay Doherty
  • A Lucy Release Day Review: The Kinsey Scale (Campus Connections #1) by CJane Elliott
  • A Lila Review To Tame an Omega by Lisa Gray
  • A MelanieM Audio Review:Love You so Madly (Love You So Stories #2by Tara Lain and Ry Forest (Narrator)

Saturday, November 10:

A MelanieM Recent Release Review: Late Fees (Pinx Video Mysteries, #3) by Marshall Thornton

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audio Review: Acceptance (Forbes Mates #3) by Grace R. Duncan and Chistopher Boucher (Narrator)

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Dr. Miles Grant acknowledges that his destined mate could be either gender even though his bisexuality cost him his family and his pack. Luckily he found the Forbes Pack, who happily accepts him just as he is. What he never counted on was finding his mate in Pittsburgh or for his mate to be another species entirely—a cat!

Quincy Archer isn’t just any jaguar shifter. He is the heir to the leadership of his pride. Destined mates are nothing but legend to the nearly extinct and generally solitary jaguars, and Quincy certainly never expected to find one for himself, much less a male… or a wolf.

However, finding each other and coming to terms with their species is the least of their worries. Quincy is expected to select a proper female mate, father a cub, and take his place as heir to the pride. Except Quincy refuses, having no interest in women or leadership and knowing he isn’t right for it. But his father will stop at nothing—not even attempting to kill Miles—to get his way. Quincy and Miles must overcome many obstacles to stay together as the destined mates they’re meant to be.

Unfortunately, I was put off by the narrator’s voice for jaguar shifter, Quincy Archer, from the beginning. He gave Quincy a French accent that came off very campy—and somewhat creepy. Miles, on the other hand, had a nice voice, one I’d find typical of a sweet doctor who happens to be a wolf shifter.

As the blurb states, Quincy is heir to leadership of his pride, though he doesn’t want it. Most of the story centers around the uniqueness of a jaguar and wolf shifter couple and the attempts on Quincy’s and Miles’s life. Quincy doesn’t speak to his father, who wants Quincy to come back, marry a woman, and sire several cubs. They suspect his father must be involved in the problems they’ve been having, but when they eventually capture several of the men, they learn that it’s a much more complex plot than they originally thought.

While all this is going on, Miles and Quincy are growing closer in their relationship. Appearances by MCs from the two previous books in the series are frequent and the men provide the help—the muscle— needed to win the fight for their lives and come to the truth of what’s been happening. It appears to be a complex plot, and yet turned out to be quite simple. However, to be honest, I had difficulty following the action and I kept expecting something more than what eventually occurred. Added to the fact I couldn’t stand Quincy’s voice, and my pleasure rating on this is quite low. Though I enjoyed the others in the series, I wouldn’t recommend this one in audio.

On a positive note, the epilogue takes place eight years later and there are lots of pups and cubs running around with fathers and uncles chasing them. That alone pushed my rating up to 3 stars.

The cover by Reese Dante depicts the two young men, faces nose-to-nose, with their animals in the foreground. Similar to the covers on the first books, it’s very attractive and perfect for the story.

Sales Links:   Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | Audible

Audiobook Details:

Audible Audio,Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
Published September 13th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press LLC (first published July 8th 2016)
Original Title Acceptance
ASIN B07H8QXTFQ
Edition Language English