Category: Publishers

RIPTIDE TOUR: Assassins: Nemesis by Erica Cameron (giveaway)

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Assassins: Nemesis (Assassins #2) by Erica Cameron

Riptide Publishing
Cover by: Damonza

Read an Excerpt/Purchase it Here

 

About Assassins: Nemesis

Being orphaned and almost kidnapped in the space of a week sent Blake Marks into hiding. For months, Blake tries to help the Calvers—a family of vigilante bodyguards—investigate the people behind the hit on Blake’s father, Isaac, but then the safe house is compromised. Just as hired thugs storm the house to grab Blake, Daelan Calver dives into the fight, getting them both out alive.

Hiding isn’t an option anymore, but hit squads, under-the-table deals, and international espionage? Blake has no idea how to handle any of it, not even with Daelan’s family there to play teachers. The one thing Blake knows for sure is that there are only two options: keep up with the Calvers or get out of their way.

But even with the Calvers’ help and the glimmer of a possible future with Daelan giving Blake hope, chances of survival keep shrinking. The man who ordered the hit on Isaac may be dead, but his partner is viciously cold-blooded, and her plans could change the course of history. Blake wants to finish what Isaac started, but it’s looking like someone is going to die before this is over. And that someone might be Blake.

Now available at Riptide: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/assassins-nemesis

About Erica Cameron

After a lifelong obsession with books, Erica Cameron spent her college years getting credit for reading and learning how to make stories of her own. Erica graduated with a double major in psychology and creative writing from Florida State University and began pursuing a career as an author.

Erica is many things but most notably the following: writer, reader, editor, dance fan, choreographer, singer, lover of musical theater, movie obsessed, sucker for romance, ex-Florida resident, and quasi-recluse. She loves the beach but hates the heat, has equal passion for the art of Salvador Dali and Venetian Carnival masks, has a penchant for unique jewelry and sun/moon décor pieces, and a desire to travel the entire world on a cruise ship. Or a private yacht. You know, whatever works.

Connect with Erica:

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Assassins: Nemesis, one lucky winner will receive $30 in Riptide Publishing credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 14, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

This title is #2 of the Assassins series.

An Ali Audiobook Review: Between Ghosts by Garrett Leigh and Narrated by Craig Beck

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
betweenghosts_audiobook2400In 2003, journalist Connor Regan marched through London to add his voice to a million others, decrying the imminent invasion of Iraq. Eight months later, his brother, James, was killed in action in Mosul.

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

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

But Connor proves far from hapless, and too compelling to ignore for long. He walks straight through the steel wall Nat’s built around his heart, and when their mission puts him in mortal danger, Nat must lay old ghosts to rest and fight to the death for the only man he’s ever truly loved.
I first read this around this time last year.  I was excited to get the opportunity to try this on audio because I had loved the story so much when I read it.  I’m happy to say that it was just as good on audio.  Connor is a journalist who has been an anti-war protester in the past. After his soldier brother dies Connor feels that he never really knew James and he fears James didn’t know how much he loved and respected him. Trying to find some peace in regards to his feelings about his brother Connor finds himself on a mission to Iraq with a SAS team. He’s going to do a series of articles showcasing what it is that the soldiers do and how they feel about their jobs.

Nat is the leader of that team and he’s been in war zones for years. He’s lost a lot of friends, as well as big pieces of his heart. He’s not happy about being stuck with a journalist but he quickly finds himself drawn to Connor and he’s challenged to start opening up the emotional parts of himself that he thought were long gone. Nat’s lost men in his command before that he feels responsible for and he’s consumed with fear that something might happen to Connor on his watch and that’s something he can’t live with.

The story is mostly set in Iraq so there is fighting and bloodshed. I didn’t find especially violent though and I do not think it will be an issue for most. There are some social and political issues raised but nothing that makes it preachy in either pro or con views. The war as a back drop to a budding romance just served to highlight the beauty of these two men’s relationship.

The highlight of this book are the relationships. Not just between Connor and Nat but between each of them and the other men in the group. Also important are the “ghosts” in their pasts. The brother that Connor lost and the best friend who’s death Nat feels responsible for. I loved both Connor and Nat and found them to be great MC’s. I empathized with what both of them were going through in the course of the story.
This is narrated by Craig Beck and I thought he did an excellent job.  There are a number of voices in this story and it was never difficult to tell them apart.  Also, there are a lot of emotions in this story and I think he did a great good making them all come through.  It added an extra level to what was already a poignant story.
This is an audio that I would highly recommend.  Everything about it is good.  It’s a unique story with an emotional plot and great characters and it is extremely well narrated.
The cover by Garrett Leigh:  I think this is a great cover and it fits the story very well.
Sales Links
Audiobook Details:
N/A

A Caryn Review: Boyfriend Goals by Clancy Nacht and Thursday Euclid

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

boyfriend-goals-by-clancy-nachtI really, really enjoyed this book.

Even though the reason for the fake boyfriend charade was, frankly, stupid.  The book was saved by the wonderfully human and vulnerable MCs that I just fell in love with.

Trey is 21 years old, finishing his junior year at a liberal east coast college, and majoring in social justice and everything about as far left as you can get.  He has points to prove, and a world to change (and kudos to the authors for capturing that youthful passion and idealism so well!).  He comes from privilege, with wealthy conservative parents, who just don’t quite get him.  For instance, when he announces to his parents that he is bisexual, they are a little disconcerted, but not upset and are pretty sure that he’s just going through a phase, and start encouraging him to settle down with a nice girl because he’s old enough for that now.  Although he is quite passionate about all the social issues he embraces and active in groups and clubs that support them, he is personally a little awkward and insecure, and has trouble connecting with people.  His only long term relationship was with a girl in high school, and throughout college he has limited himself to drunken hookups with men.  Now that he’s getting closer to graduation, he wants to prove to his parents that he is really serious, really into guys, and in a move endearingly reminiscent of college age hubris and immaturity, decides that having someone pose as his boyfriend when he goes home for the summer is a great way to accomplish that.

Lee is also a junior at this college, but he is much less sure of what he is doing and where he is going with his life.  He’s on the swim team, and his friends are mostly other jocks.  He needs somewhere to stay for the summer (his scholarship only covers the dorms during the regular school year), so a mutual friend of his and Trey’s suggests they spend the summer together as a way to solve both of their problems.  It’s not said explicitly at this point, but it’s pretty obvious that he is homeless because he’s gay.  And it’s equally obvious that he is closeted because he fears other people will react equally negatively.  Spending the summer with Trey’s family, posing as his boyfriend, seems like a great idea not only because he will be fed and housed, but also because he can drop the pretense of being straight.

The backgrounds these young men come from couldn’t be more different, and both of them come to realize how little of the world they know by being exposed to each other.  Trey knew that he was privileged, but didn’t realize just how much that privilege protected him and allowed him to challenge the status quo without worry of repercussions.  He thought he was oppressed because his parents wanted him to pursue a different career and were not 100% supportive of his bisexuality.  Seeing that Lee has become, quite literally, homeless, disowned, and without any safety net solely because he is gay, was something of a shock to Trey.  Hearing about Lee’s situation growing up in a large, blue-collar, Catholic family with alcoholic parents, and watching how Lee tried to reconcile the differences between who he is, what he believes, and what he wants to become despite this background is also an eye-opener.  Lee, on the other hand, saw what life could be like without hiding who he is or trying to conform to narrow-minded expectations.  That conflict and growth in both characters was far and away the best part of the book.

As the summer progressed, both of the men found more and more to admire about the other, and they fell in love for real, though they tried to hide it from each other, thinking there was no way it could ever work because they were just so different.  In the meantime, keeping up the pretense of being boyfriends in front of the family, with all the little affectionate touches and endearments, led to a level of sexual tension that was just delicious.  There wasn’t much sex in the book because of this, but it had a captivating slow burn that I just adored.

The crisis that finally led them to acknowledge their love was pretty artificial, but I wanted them to proclaim that love so much, I was willing to accept almost anything at that point.  The book ended with a pretty firm HFN – this is, after all, college and people change – but Trey and Lee were right where they should be, smarter, more compassionate, and more confident from being together.

Cover art by April Martinez is lovely, and perfect for the book.

Sales Links

Loose id LLC

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Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 175 pages
Published October 10th 2016 by Loose Id LLC
ASINB01MFX3H9D
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Paul B Review: Breaker (Exile #1) by Kelly Wyre and A.F. Henley

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

exile-breaker-coverIn a world of unintended effects, what was supposed to be The Cure, has given a portion of the population side effects.  The government, or what’s left of it, gathers these people.  Either they use them for their own purposes (human lie detectors among others) or keep them locked up for “the public good.”  However, there is this mythical island where the Estranged as they are called can escape to and life free from fear of capture.  But does this island really exist?

Kaeva knows that this island exists.  He’s been living there for the past eight years after twelve years on the streets.  Now thirty-six, he lives a solitary life on the island, away from the city.   When emotional, Kaeva has a tendency to short out electrical equipment.   His touch has even short circuited the brains of fellow humans as Kaeva points out that the brain is a bunch of cells tied together by water and electricity.  He is upset when the island leaders tell him to retrieve the newest “intake” who should be washing ashore soon.

Eddie has been scared of being detected for the past 22 years.  A recent college graduate who majored in English Literature focusing on ancient 20th century comic books.  However, after receiving the Cure, he has been hearing voices in his head.  These voices are of various people who are about to commit a crime.  However, Eddie never knows where these voices come from nor is he able to help any of the victims before it is too late.  Thinking silence is better than these voices he can’t control, Eddie decides to go to his uncle’s place to end his life.  However, on the way to the airport, he believes he’s been scanned and runs.  He meets a stranger who tells him of Exile, a sanctuary for Estranged.  As his original plans are impossible, Eddie figures he might as well go there.  If things don’t work out he can end his life there just as easily.  When he reaches the island, he does not quite know how to deal with the man who has been assigned to transition him into life on Exile.

I liked the combination of Kaeve and Eddie together.  Kaeve is anti-social in part because he wants to be but primarily because he HAS to be.  Eddie is a young, rich (which is unusual for the times) and naïve college graduate who majored in what most of today’s ten year old boys do today—comic books.  Other than the disappearance of his friend (who would be called a horse whisperer), Eddie has not seen life as tough as Kaeve has lived.  Kaeve is scared to death of accidentally killing someone while Eddie doesn’t know whether or not he wants to live.  Eddie wants Kaeve but Kaeve knows that to get close to him is a death sentence.  When Eddie finally touches Kaeve and nothing happens, hope abounds on both sides.  But without a purpose, Eddie still doesn’t know if he wants to live or not.  This is an intriguing opening book to this new series.

The cover art Aisha Akeju is perfect for the book.  It shows the beach where Kaeve is sent to meet Eddie when he first washes ashore on the island.

Sales Link

Purchasing Link to Less Than Three Press

Book Details

EBook, 340 pages

Published:  January 10, 2017 by Less Than Three Press

Edition Language:  English

ISBN:  9781620049334

Series:  Exile

Breaker (Exile, Volume 1) Blog Tour and Giveaway by AF Henley and Kelly Wyre (excerpt and giveaway)

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Breaker (Exile #1) by Kelly Wyre and A.F. Henley
Less Than Three Press

Welcome to the Breaker (Exile, Volume 1) Blog Tour and Giveaway! We’re both super excited about this new release and thrilled to be able to share it with you. Throughout this tour, we’re going to be introducing many of the characters within, and associated with, Exile’s bizarre shores, as well as introducing Exile itself. Then we’re going to top that off with a quick little teaser.

However, before we get into any of that we wanted to remind you that we’ve got a couple of awesome giveaways going along with the tour so be sure to read through to the end to find out how you could win either a Silver-plated Starfish Anklet (just by leaving a single comment!), or the grand prize of a signed, print copy of Breaker, a coordinates bracelet with the Believe. Seek. Prove. reminder so you can always find your way back to the island of Exile, and a $20 gift certificate to the Less Than Three Press book market.

The Character Discussion

Kelly Wyre: Let’s just dive right on in… What are we doing again?

AFH: But I hate diving.

KW: I hate water. But hey, we all make sacrifices so we don’t stink up public transit. So. Right. THE ISLAND! This post is about the ENTIRE ISLAND. So if Exile could talk… and tell us something… what WOULD it say?

AFH: Get off my lawn! (The number of times Kelly facepalms while we write these is AWESOME.)

KW: (Yes. The perma-hand-print on the forehead look is SO in…) It might, in fact, say that. The get off my lawn schtick. It might also say, “Feed me.” Or maybe… “Thanks for the Barrier!” or “Never a dull moment!” or “Why me?”

AFH: Or, “Did you SEE what those two were DOING up there?! RAWR.”

KW: Oh, there’d be a fair amount of THAT too. Like, a lot of it. And also, “Damn, son, stop wearing the pointy heels.”

The Teaser

The farther into the ocean they went, the darker the water got, giving up the gray undertones for a deeper blue. Clouds, stretched wide and thin, clung to the horizon and gave the illusion that they had settled onto the water instead of in the sky, and brilliant prisms of light caught every ripple of the water’s surface. Eddie was intrigued, more by the fact that the boat seemingly had a destination than by anything else. Did the fisherman really know of an island? Not Exile, for sure, but an island; something the man probably figured he could pass off as Exile and get himself a few new wardrobe additions along the way. It would be nothing more than a clever ruse, a very clever one that had even managed to fool Rivet, but he had to give the guy kudos for coming up with such a scheme. Find an island, send out word that it was the fabled island of Exile, and dump a few dozen or so passengers on it. The best that could happen, for the fisherman, anyway, was that the island was abandoned and the people he dropped there would be stuck with no way to pass on the info that the scheme existed. After all, the island had to be a hell of a way’s out. There was nothing around them but cold, blue water. In all honesty, if someone could find their way back, they’d be too embarrassed to say anything about their ill-fated trip to get the fisherman in any serious trouble. And if they weren’t embarrassed and did speak up, who the hell would believe them?

When the boat’s engine died some time later, Eddie’s mind suddenly began to come up with a new idea on how the man could get away with his ruse. It had a far more sinister premise. He looked across the boat, swallowed hard, and watched the fisherman pull from behind his post at the wheel.

“This is where you get off, boy,” the fisherman drawled. He stopped several feet away from Eddie, stuck both hands in the deep pockets of his pants, and rocked back on his heels. “Good luck.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. He looked from man to water, from water to man, and huffed a dry laugh. “I don’t understand.”

The man nodded at the railing. “You do the rest from in there. I don’t go any farther than this.”

“You mean you want me to…”

The man nodded.

“Like… swim?”

The man nodded again.

Eddie gestured in the general direction of anywhere but the boat. “There’s no island, though. Just water. And…” He paused, swallowing again. He said, “Fish,” but he thought, sharks. Stingrays, water snakes, things with teeth and spikes, oh my.

“Come on, man.” Eddie’s voice was nothing more than a whisper, but the fear and the plea in his tone was obvious. “Don’t do this.”

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Breaker (Exile Volume 1)

Copyright © 2017 by Kelly Wyre and A.F. Henley

Purchasing Link


Blurb

Breaker

In the wake of several near-cataclysmic events, humanity created the Cure, a DNA-altering antidote to death by disease and old age. But all cures come with side effects: a small percentage of the population develops a wide range of powers, some of which are lethal to others, and some which are lethal to the wielder.

These people are called the Estranged, hunted and shunned, safe only on the Island of Exile. It is here that Kaeva and Eddie meet—and where they set a prophecy in motion, quite possibly sealing their own demise, and even the end of Exile.

Genre: Gay, Urban Fantasy

Notes: contains some explicit content and includes thoughts and discussions of past and potential suicide

The Giveaway

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On behalf of the tour, please join one, or both of our giveaways.

Simply leave a comment below to be entered into a random giveaway for a silver-plated starfish anklet (and whatever else we can stuff into the envelope). Winner will be selected by random number at the close of the grand prize giveaway, one winner per blog post.

Also, enter the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win a signed, print copy of Breaker, a coordinates and message bracelet, and a $20 gift certificate to the Less Than Three Press book market.

For all the terms and conditions, please check out the t’s and c’s posted on the Rafflecopter.

** Please note the grand prize giveaway is being offered tour-wide and there will be one winner awarded for the entire event.

ENTER RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY HERE:

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A great big thank you to Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for hosting us today, and another to you for joining in on the fun. Best of luck with the giveaway and we hope you enjoyed the post!

Until next time,

Kelly Wyre and AF Henley ❤

About the Authors

Kelly Wyre enjoys reading and writing all manner of fiction, ranging from horror to romance. She used to work in advertising but is now happily chained to her writing desk and laptop. Kelly relishes the soft and cuddly and the sharp and bloody with equal amounts of enthusiasm. She’s a coffee addict, a workaholic, a chronic night owl, and loves a good thunderstorm. Currently Kelly resides in the southeastern United States.

Connect with Kelly!

❧ Website ❧ Blog  ❧ Twitter ❧ Facebook ❧ Fan Page ❧ Google Plus
❧ Tumblr – NSFW! ❧ Pinterest ❧ Amazon Author Page ❧ Goodreads

Henley was born with a full-blown passion for run-on sentences, a zealous indulgence in all words descriptive, and the endearing tendency to overuse punctuation. Since the early years Henley has been an enthusiastic writer, from the first few I-love-my-dog stories to the current leap into erotica. A self-professed Google genius, Henley lives for the hours spent digging through the Internet for ‘research purposes’ which, more often than not, lead seven thousand miles away from first intentions but bring Henley to new discoveries and ideas that, once seeded, tend to flourish. Henley has been proudly publishing with Less Than Three Press since 2012.

Connect with Henley

♥ Website  ♥ Twitter  ♥ Facebook  ♥ Amazon Author Page

♥ Google Plus  ♥ Tumblr – NSFW!  ♥ Instagram  ♥ Goodreads

A VVivacious 2 Review in 1: Dare To (Dare #1) by A.K.M. Miles +Dare’s Christmas Gift (Dare #2) by A.K.M. Miles – Bonus short story

dare-to-dare-1-by-a-k-m-milesDare To by A.K.M. Miles
Rating – 3.5 Stars out of 5
 
Dare works as a youth counsellor, a vocation he is very passionate about. He and Ryan meet at a time of loss for both of them but they are unable to deny their intense chemistry. But just as Dare is finding his footing in his life with Ryan and Ryan’s nephew JC, he ends up as front page news for a heroic act of his which also ends up outing him as gay. What follows is an upheaval in his professional life that tests the bonds between Ryan and Dare.
 
I believe this story would have been so much better if just a few details were tinkered with till they were perfect.
 
It is a slice-of-life fiction, so basically a lot of things happen but the events don’t culminate into a climax, it’s just life as usual. At a few, very few, times I was hesitant at believing that such calamities would befall one person in such a short span of time but I have made peace with that aspect of this story. Overall the plot and the story make for a fairly interesting read.
 
There are a lot of side characters in this one but having read the story in its entirety I don’t feel like I know these characters well enough like Melanie, Jackie, Brandon, Linc and JC. I particularly felt this lack of development for JC’s character because no matter how you slice it he was always going to be a big part of Ryan and Dare’s life together and I would have loved more scenes with the trio of Ryan, Dare and JC. While we are on the topic of side characters, I would like to mention Ben Tyler who had just such an amazing personality.
 
This book is entirely from Dare’s perspective which kind of made the story very one-sided almost everything that happens, happens in Dare’s life it’s about his problems, his troubles and in the bargain we miss out on a lot of backstory on Ryan and his life and his friends.
 
The single most amazing thing about this book that pretty much carried this book for me was Ryan and Dare and their chemistry. It was sizzling hot. It really has me believing that if Ryan and Dare were real people they would be perfect for each other because oh my God! It was actually unbelievable how well these two characters played off of each other.
 
Personally this book is an interesting read with an awesome couple and it holds a lot of potential to be better.
Dare’s Christmas Gift by A.K.M. Miles
Rating – 3.75 to 4 Stars out of 5
 
Dare and Ryan are ready to celebrate their first Christmas together. But things get complicated when both JC and Brandon report spotting the mean guy. Now Christmas feels like a minefield for Dare, Ryan and Jackie to traverse, keeping the boys safety and happiness in mind at all times.
 
First of all I must confess that this story would have read much better if I wasn’t reading it right at the end of “Dare To” and that is reason for my variable rating. I feel like I didn’t enjoy it as much because I had just met these characters and I already knew their story and in some ways this felt like a rehash of “Dare To” but I’m pretty sure I would have liked it much better had there been a gap.
 
Okay so the ‘mean guy’ turns out to be Mitch not Phil and don’t worry this isn’t much of a spoiler because apparently all the characters knew who ‘mean guy’ referred to. I don’t know why I was expecting Phil, maybe because Dare To was very Dare-centric and I kind of thought this story would be too but in hindsight how would the kids know about Phil, that truly doesn’t seem like information to share with kids.
 
Okay yeah so the whole Mitch – thing felt like a rehash, I kept getting the ‘been there, done that’ feeling all throughout that story-line playing out and I was kind of expecting a sweet-Christmas story not a catch-the-bad-guy story. So yeah that was a bit repetitive.
 
But there are a lot of things to like about “Dare’s Christmas Gift” with the first thing being Dare’s Christmas Gift. It was truly inspired and I loved the gift so much and it just proved to me that Dare and Ryan were going to go long-term. I mean seriously I couldn’t wait for Ryan to see it.
 
Also this story has Ryan’s and JC’s perspectives the lack of which I felt very acutely in “Dare To”, so I loved their POVs and I loved that we got to spend time in their heads. Ditto scenes between Ryan, Dare and JC, we got a nice sweet helping of those too.
 
It was a great short story, I loved how we got to meet everyone and I am positive I would have enjoyed this story a lot more had I been reading it after a little break between reading “Dare To” and reading this. So everyone who loved the book be sure to pick up this short because “Dare’s Christmas Gift” is truly inspired, literally.
 
Cover Art by Kris Jacen. I love the cover with its background of blue at the top and the snowflakes at the bottom and how they transform from one into the other. Also I loved Dare’s expression on the cover; it feels very Dare-ish and like something he would actually do.
Sales Links
Book Details:
Kindle Edition
Published December 16th 2016 by MLR Press (first published July 1st 2008)
Original TitleDare To
ASINB01N9IS02Z
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesDare #1
CharactersDare Wilson, Ryan Spencer
Bonus story included