In the Syfy Spotlight: Murder Once Seen (The Oddities #1) by J.T. Hall (giveaway)

Murder Once Seen (The Oddities #1) by J.T. Hall
Riptide Publishing
Cover by: Kanaxa

About Murder Once Seen

In the city of Nis, things often aren’t what they seem.

Derwin is a bounty hunter gifted with the Oddity of superhuman strength and agility—perfect for hunting down fugitives and demons who roam the streets. One killed his boyfriend two years ago, and Derwin won’t stop until he finds out who. Police suspect it was someone he sent to prison, but he can’t shake the idea that they’re missing something.

Elliot is a rentboy who’s been living on the streets since his parents disowned him. He mistrusts everyone and, given his uncontrolled ability to Read Objects and a client list that includes a major gang boss, despairs of ever having a normal life.

Derwin and Elliot meet in a storm of lust. Derwin’s Oddity is fed by the pain of others, but he only wants what’s freely given. Elliot loves pain, but needs safety and a way off the streets before he can allow it. They may be able to solve each other’s problems . . . if they can survive long enough to work together.

Available now at Riptide Publishing. http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/murder-once-seen

About JT Hall

J.T. Hall has been writing for many years under this name and others, and has appeared in magazines, anthologies, and online books. She earned her BA in creative writing from the University of Arizona, her master’s in education from Argosy University, and works as an independent technical writer for state and federal programs. In her free time, she volunteers for the LGBT community and is active in the leather scene. She has a teenage daughter and a partner of over ten years. They live in sunny Arizona with three adorably cute dogs, three black cats, and a hamster who loves peanuts.

Connect with J.T.:

Blog: jthallwriting.wordpress.com
Twitter: @JTHall7
Tumblr: www.tumblr.com/blog/jthallwriting
GoodReads

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Murder Once Seen, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 17, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A MelanieM Release Day Review: Striking Sparks by Ari McKay

Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5

The stakes are high and the heat is on.

Beau Walker, owner of the Barbecue Shack, needs the help of Jake Parnell, his one-time rival and secret crush, in a televised barbecue competition. Beau is a proud man, but the stakes are high, and smart, sexy Jake is his only hope, even if being around Jake reawakens the attraction he’s fought for years.

Jake left his hometown, determined to build a life somewhere his sexuality wouldn’t hurt his family’s restaurant business—and far away from hunky, obstinate Beau Walker. Then his twin, Josh, is killed, and Jake returns to support his brother’s wife and children. Despite his reservations, he agrees to go head-to-head against Beau on national television. Between stress and grief, as well as pride and determination, only one thing is certain—the heat between Beau and Jake extends well beyond the kitchen.

Striking Sparks was a fun romance for me on severa levels. A lover of bbq and cooking shows, I enjoyed the storyline of a bbq competition between two family owned restaurants known for their brisket and all things smoked, two men who’ve been rivals in some way from their high school years brought back together by tragedy and bbq. And I have to say, Ari McKay pulled it off.

The authors known as Ari McKay did an excellent job with the location, making both the small town and the townspeople believable. And that cooking and receipes? Mouthwatering. Between the different ingredients each added to make their briskets or bbq a standout, I wanted to dash into the kitchen and try them out myself. I got the feeling that McKay knows the differences between a KC sauce and a Carolina one, and that love of their subject matter shines through here.

Then there’s the tragedy that brings Jake home, the death of his twin brother. This aspect of the story is poignant and real. Jake’s pain over his deep loss of both his brother, the life he’s worked so hard to establish in the city? That translates into real emotion on the pages here. You are able to easily connect with Jake as he shoulder’s his responsiblities to his brother’s widow and children, regardless of his feelings and grief.

Beau Walker took a little more work. Not because he wasn’t likable as a character. He is but because some of his ‘flaws” became tired after a point. As did his language. In other hands, his collogualisms might have sounded natural. Here they didn’t always come off as such. I liked the “local boy” pride they built into his character but for all his belief in his restaurant and cooking, that seemed to disappear when faced with Jake and his college degree even though Jake didn’t have the cooking experience.

Finally, I guess that other thing that I had some issues with is their relationship. Jake had to have been strong to have done all he did in high school, break away, make a new life for himself elsewhere. Then come back and take over his brother’s restaurant. Yet all that melts away for Beau. It comes back for the competition and then he seems to become , I don’t know, someone less. Maybe its me, but out of all of this book, it was the romance that didn’t really do it for me. I loved everything else.

I thought the writing was excellent, the plot was great, even the characters, alone, worked. I’m just not sure I thought they worked together as well as I had hoped.

Maybe you will find you don’t see that at all. Striking Sparks has plenty of bbq, great plot and sweet romance to sway you. Its another lovely story in the Dreamspun Desires series from Dreamspinner Press.

Cover art by Paul Richmond works perfectly for the story and plot. Love it!

Sales Links

Book Details:

ebook, 214 pages
Expected publication: December 15th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781634771542
Edition LanguageEnglish

An Ali Audiobook Review: Sweet Young Thang by Anne Tenino and Nick J. Russo (Narrator)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Thanks to Collin Montes, Theta Alpha Gamma now welcomes gay and bisexual students. Persuading his Uncle Monty, president of the TAG Alumni Association, that the open approach won’t adversely affect TAG’s reputation is Collin’s own first step toward coming out. As long as there are no repercussions, he’ll escape the closet by graduation.

Enter repercussions, stage left: someone rigs the TAG House water heater to launch through the ceiling, then plants a bomb—thankfully unsuccessful—in the fraternity’s basement. Now Collin has his hands full not only trying to convince his uncle that this might not be the work of homophobes, but also dealing with a fratful of brothers worried about their kegger fridge.

Paramedic Eric Dixon can’t stop thinking about the kid he met during a call at his former college fraternity house. The age gap between them is trumped by sexy eyes, so when Eric sees Collin again at the bomb scene, he pursues him. Soon, Eric is dreaming of being a househusband, fighting to keep Collin safe from whoever’s trying to destroy the fraternity, and helping his sweet young thang realize that repercussions sometimes have silver linings.

Sweet Young Thang is a May-December story with a New Adult twist. The age gap between the main characters is only fifteen years, allowing them to have more things in common than differences. At the same time, it’s easy for Eric to identify with the changes and challenges of Collin’s life. We get to see both troupes move the plot forward without one taking over the other.

The story arc, not the romance, seems a bit over the top at times—as well as Eric’s involvement in the investigation. All the events contributed in bringing them together, but after that were irrelevant. I like the author’s effort to bring more to the table than a simple romance, but sometimes those work too.

And that’s what we see here. A love story that started from a far-fetch circumstance, but that, in the end, was strong enough to carry the MCs to their HEA. I’m glad the age difference didn’t turn into a daddy fetish. Eric and Collin were great together. Their chemistry wasn’t limited to the bedroom. Their sense of humor and corky personalities made them a lovely couple.

I like how independent each main character was. Even after all the things that were happening around them, they stayed as equals and made an effort to work in their developing relationship. They were also great with their friends and families. Some aspects might have been a little too cliché, but in the end, they worked.

Overall, a nice addition to the series. Great characters and a romance story with a long lasting happily ever after.

As always, Nick J. Russo can read the yellow pages and make them shine. The voices for the characters carry over from previous books, making it easy to go back into the Theta Alpha Gamma world. All the new characters are as well-rendered.

The cover by L.C. Chase matches the style of Frat Boy and Toppy and depicts an important scene in the story.

Sales Links: Riptide | Audible, Amazon, iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Length: 10 hours and 9 minutes
Published: October 28, 2016 (Audio Edition), by Riptide Publishing
ASIN: B01M6934ZA
Edition Language: English

Series: Theta Alpha Gamma

Book #1: Frat Boy and Toppy
Book #2: Love, Hypothetically
Book #3: Sweet Young Thang

An Alisa Advent Calendar Review Day 15: All I Want for Christmas… Is No Christmas by Colton Aalto

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Alec Ryder’s arrest in Aspen, early on the morning of December twenty-fifth, is the latest disaster in his series of unhappy Christmases. He’s dreaded the holiday since being subjected to endless church services as a child. Being kicked out on Christmas Day after he came out to his parents, followed by an improbable series of yearly yuletide trips to the emergency room, haven’t made his Christmases any merrier. But getting busted for prostitution is the worst catastrophe; it means Alec’s dream of a college degree is gone, replaced by the specter of jail time.

Just when Alec thinks things can’t get worse, Hayden Adler shows up to interrogate him. Hayden is a glamorous attorney who also happens to be Alec’s college roommate’s cousin. Alec’s had a crush on Hayden for years, but whatever miniscule chance Alec might’ve had is now history—just like the life he’s been trying to build for himself.

But things aren’t quite what they seem. In a long line of miserable Christmases, Alec will never forget this one, although not for the reasons he suspects.

This was a nice short story. Alec has been supporting himself since he was kicked out of his house for being gay in his teens. After he is arrested he is even more humiliated when Hayden is the one to question him, they have both been dancing around each other for years.

Alec is so defeated from his arrest you couldn’t help but hope everything would work out for him. Hayden opens his eyes to what they could have and makes it clear he isn’t afraid of them being together. It takes a not so wonderful experience, but it ends in the best Christmas Alec has ever had.

Cover art by Paul Richmond is the Bah Humbug brand cover.

Sales Links

Book Details:

ebook, 35 pages

Published: December 15, 2016 by Dreamspinner Press

Edition Language: English

In the New Release Spotlight: Noble Intentions by Andrew Grey (guest blog and excerpt)

Noble Intentions by Andrew Grey
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: Dec 2016

Available for Purchase at

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Andrew Grey here today to share his thoughts on writing and his latest novel, Nobel Intentions. Welcome, Andrew.

I really love a good story. When I first started writing, my goal was to be a storyteller. Growing up my dad didn’t read us stories, he told us ones he made up and I think I got some of my skills from him. I feel its important not to write a book, but to tell the story and I have the best job because I get to tell stories about people falling in love. What job could be better than that? Sometimes I write stories about farmers and other times about movie stars and old loves. I love it all. I recently finished a story called Setting the Hook about a charter boat captain on the Gulf of Mexico. I got to go to many different places with my stories and with Noble Intentions I was able to travel to England and visit one of its great country estates. In books we got to go places we might never get a chance to visit otherwise. As an author I like to think we get to make an extended stay. Happy holidays and I hope you enjoy your visit to the country estate where I got to stay for a while.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Robert Ashton is in for the surprise of a lifetime. His mother, a bit of a rebel, raised him away from the rest of the family, and it’s not until he’s contacted by his lawyer about an inheritance that he learns who he truly is: the new Earl of Hantford. His legacy includes ownership of the historic Ashton Park Estate—which needs repairs Robert cannot afford. He’ll simply do what the nobility has done for centuries when in need of money. He’ll marry it.

Tech wizard Daniel Fabian is wealthy and successful. In fact, he has almost everything—except a title to make him worthy in the eyes of the old-money snobs he went to prep school with. His high school reunion is looming, and he’s determined to attend it as a member of the aristocracy.

That’s where Robert comes in.

Daniel has the money, Robert has the name, and both of them know they can help each other out. But their marriage of convenience has the potential to become a real love match—unless a threat to Daniel’s business ruins everything.

Series: Currently a Standalone
Genre: M/M Contemporary/ LBGTQ
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & PrintBook Links

Amazon/Barnes and Noble

Excerpt

“It’s your fifteenth class reunion and you’re a real success. Of course you’re going to go.”

Daniel shook his head. “I have no interest.”

She came in and sat in one of the chairs. Daniel had built all of his business teams on the philosophy of openness and communication. So while he had an office because he dealt with private matters, his door was almost always open and his walls were glass. He had nothing to hide from the people on his team, and he expected the same from them. That also meant people tended to offer advice and speak their mind—sometimes whether Daniel wanted it or not.

“I didn’t know you went to Lipton. That must have been exciting.” She looked at him strangely. “I always thought your background was more… humble than that.”

Daniel closed the lid on his laptop. “It is.” He didn’t want to get into that right now. There were some things he felt were private, and Joanne was skating very close to them at the moment. “I was on a scholarship.”

She watched him closely for a minute. “I see.”

Sometimes she scared the hell out of him with the way she could grasp the deeper meaning from just a few words. He should have said nothing at all.

“What does that look mean?”

“Nothing. Just that no matter what happened then, you’re extremely successful and you can hold your own with those people.”

Daniel leaned forward. “Those people…,” he began, and swore at himself for taking the bait, “they only cared about where their parents came from. They were all old money, as though that made them better than everyone else. It wasn’t about what you did or how well you did, but how far back you could trace the money in your family. There was a Vanderbilt relative in my class, for God’s sake. And the parents were just as shallow as their children. Yes, I got a good education that gave me a good start into college and beyond, but it was hell, and the last thing I want to do is—”

Joanne scoffed. “There is only one thing that gets you pissy like this, and that’s when you say you don’t want to do something but you really do. You’d love nothing more than to go to that reunion, sitting at the top of the heap in every way possible. You want to go to this shindig real bad and show them just the kind of success you’ve become.”

“Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “These guys are not going to be impressed or care that I have a big Internet company. They have more money than you can imagine.”

“Like I was going to say. You’re a success, but you have to go with someone.”

“God, I haven’t had the time to date anyone in, what? Three years?”

“Three years, two months, and twelve days, but who’s counting? The thing is, you need to find someone so you can go to this reunion and hold your head high. Hell, you can take the place by storm.” Joanne came around his desk, opened the lid of his computer, and brought up a web page. “This is exactly what you need.”

“A matchmaker?” Daniel figured he’d finally sent Joanne around the bend. Maybe she needed a vacation.

“Why not? This is a discreet, expensive agency with high-class clientele. Lots of guys like you spend all their time working and building their dream, and they forget about a personal life and have no time to date. So the old-fashioned matchmaker has a modern application. I’ll call them and make an appointment for you. They’ll talk to you and get the ball rolling.” She worked through the website. “They don’t discriminate and work with men and women, gay or straight. They even have aristocrats.” She turned the computer so Daniel could see the screen. “Here’s Count Gregor of Villovia and his new wife, Diana. Think about it. A title would certainly burn their asses at the reunion.”

Daniel groaned. “I suppose you aren’t going to leave me alone until I agree to do this.” He could just see the puppy-dog looks he’d get until he complied—like the one she was giving him now. “Sometimes I really hate you.”

About the Author

Andrew grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout the country and traveled throughout the world. He has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works in information systems for a large corporation.

Andrew’s hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing) He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Author Links

Amazon Author Page

Barnes and Noble Page

Dreamspinner Press

Facebook

Facebook Group All the Way with Andrew Grey

Goodreads

Twitter @andrewgreybooks

Website

For Other Works by Andrew

(Please Be Sure To Stop by His Website to See All of His Works)

A Release Highlight: Love Letters by Kris Ripper and One Life to Lose (Queers of La Vista #4) (giveaway)

One Life to Lose (Queers of La Vista #4) by Kris Ripper
Riptide Publishing
Cover art by L.C. Chase

Read an Excerpt/Buy it Here

Kris Ripper has brought a special conversation to Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words from the author’s characters in zir’s latest release, One Life to Lose (Queers of La Vista #4). Thank you, Kris and welcome.

Love Letters

by Kris Ripper

My phone dinged with a message: You have been invited to join the following conversation: JCK. Click to join.

I clicked.

Keith: Yay! Cam’s here! Hi, Cam! (^_^)/ (That’s me waving at you, but I actually had to look it up, ha ha ha ha.)

Josh: He literally googled until he found one he liked. You can’t imagine how many waving text things there are, seriously.

Cameron: Hello. What is this? I had to install something.

Keith: It’s a group chat! So we can all talk to each other!

Cameron: Aren’t we going out to dinner?

Keith: *sigh*

Josh: Yep. Still going to dinner at The Grill. You’re gonna wear a waistcoat, right, Cam?

Keith: …

Keith: This is what you’re looking for, Cam: *blush*

I blushed just looking at the word blush. I shook my head.

Cameron: I can’t type that.

Josh: Is it true, though?

Keith: …

Keith: Your silence speaks volumes.

Keith: I’m just saying.

Josh: I’m going to picture Cam in that waistcoat with gold thread. You know the one, Keith?

Keith: Oh yeah. The black one, with all that intricate gold details. God, that’s so hot.

Josh: So. Hot.

I took slow breaths and glanced around. Maybe to make sure no one was watching me (no one was; I might as well have been in an invisible bubble in the booth). Maybe just to clear my blush.

More messages dinged.

Keith: Yeah, wear that one.

Keith: Cam?

Keith: Okay, okay, we’ll stop rubbing one out thinking about you in that waistcoat.

Josh: He’s never going to come back if you say things like “rubbing one out”.

Keith: Sorry. We aren’t rubbing one out. I mean, obviously it’d realistically be rubbing TWO out.

Josh: Unless it’s me in control of exactly who’s rubbing what, babe. Don’t press your luck.

Now I kind of hoped Keith pressed his luck.

Keith: *googling*

Keith: Oh my god, never mind. I have to scrub my brain now.

Keith: People are perverted.

Keith: Like…I can’t unsee what I have seen.

Keith: You guys, seriously, there are some really disturbing emoji sets.

Cameron: What’s an emoji set?

Josh: Welcome back, Cam. And don’t think too much about emoji sets.

Josh: Anyway.

Josh: We’re going to dinner. Keith and I are dressing up.

Keith: We are?

Keith: I mean…yeah, we are.

Keith: I’m already planning what we’re gonna wear.

Josh: And we look forward to spending the night with you, Cam. Your place or ours?

I swallowed hard, thinking about the two of them dressed up. Thinking about sleeping next to them. I loved their apartment, but my thumb hovered over the Y and hesitated.

Keith: My spidey sense tells me Cam wants to be at home tonight.

Josh: Sounds good. Plus, we can bring over the stuff we were planning to bring over.

Cameron: Stuff?

Josh: We picked up some your-place pajamas. Nothing big.

Keith: And slippers. Got you a pair, too.

Josh: I forgot. And bathrobes.

I stared at the messages and my heart rate sped up. I stared so long the screen went black.

They’d bought things specifically to keep at my apartment for when they spent the night. The thought filled me with a fizzy floating sensation.

My phone vibrated.

Josh: We don’t have to, Cam. If you don’t want us to.

I fumbled the phone in my haste to reassure them.

Cameron: No, no. Please. Yes.

Cameron: I mean, yes, of course.

Cameron: *blush*

Keith: ❤ ❤ ❤ Love you, Cam.

Josh: All those hearts are from me, too.

Cameron: ❤ ❤ One for each of you.

Cameron: I look forward to seeing the slippers.

Keith: We’re gonna match. It’ll be great.

Josh: We’ll see you later, Cam.

Cameron: I’ll see you both tonight.

I put my phone face down on my desk and realized my hands were shaking.

They had brought so much beauty, and grace, and warmth into my life. But I’d never expected to love them. And I certainly never expected them to return the sentiment.

Heart, heart, heart.

About One Life to Lose

Cameron Rheingold is the kind of guy who takes a book to a bar. He’s a loner by nature, but he has to engage with the community to keep his movie theater business afloat. When two young men stay after a Cary Grant film showing to chat, Cameron thinks he might have made some new friends—but their interest is more than friendly.

Josh is charismatic, and every smile is a little bit seductive. Keith is sweet and kind, with a core of steel Cameron can sense even when Keith’s on his knees. Cameron is willing to be the couple’s kinky third, but that’s it. He refuses to risk complicating things with his growing devotion, even if being with Josh and Keith feels more right than anything else ever has.

When the three of them are attacked by the killer roaming La Vista, Cameron must decide what’s more important: pretending the assault never happened and he’s the same loner he used to be, or coming clean to Josh and Keith about how much he loves them, even if they can never return his feelings.

Now available at Riptide Publishing. http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/one-life-to-lose

About Kris Ripper

Kris Ripper lives in the great state of California and hails from the San Francisco Bay Area. Kris shares a converted garage with a toddler, can do two pull-ups in a row, and can write backwards. (No, really.) Kris is genderqueer and prefers the z-based pronouns because they’re freaking sweet. Ze has been writing fiction since ze learned how to write, and boring zir stuffed animals with stories long before that.

Connect with Kris:

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of One Life to Lose, one lucky winner will receive an ebook from Kris’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 17, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

An Alisa Review: French Kissing Vampires for Beginners by L.M. Brown

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

When a dentist meets an average suburban vampire, it may just be a match made in heaven.

Tom is your typical modern vampire. He lives in a detached house in the suburbs, pays his taxes, and bemoans the price of bottled blood. He doesn’t usually tell people what he is, but sometimes it can’t be helped, like now, when he has toothache and needs the assistance of a dentist.

Martyn’s night isn’t going too well at all. He’s working late, his patient is a vampire, and now they’re being mugged. But what sort of a vampire is Tom if he can’t leap to the rescue and use his superpowers to save them?

There’s only one way to find out and Martyn, a self-confessed geek with a love for all things vampire, intends to get to know Tom better, despite the bloodsucker’s fear of dentists.

This story takes a different view of vampires than usual. Tom finally gives in and goes to the dentist to have his aching tooth removed. Martyn has never met a vampire before, but can’t deny that’s what Tom is, despite the fangs, after his tooth immediately grows back when he removes it.

Martyn and Tom connect after being mugged on their way to their vehicles after Tom’s appointment. Martyn is attracted to Tom and the mystery of Tom being a vampire makes him even more appealing. We see both of the characters points of view which helps us connect with the characters. Martyn is determined to be the right person for Tom and his family’s easy acceptance of Tom’s nature is wonderful. Tom is adorable and won’t push Martyn for anything more than he knows he is willing to give. I can see them together for a long time.

The cover art is nice and gives a visual of Tom.

Sales Links: MLR Press | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 79 pages

Published: October 26, 2016 by MLR Press

ISBN: 9781634861700

Edition Language: English

An Alisa Release Day Review: His Needs by Kris T. Bethke

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

When State Trooper Travis Kinslow is injured right before Thanksgiving, the only positive is that for once he won’t be working during the holidays. Since he has no family, Travis was absorbed into his best friend, Joe’s, and he considers them as good as his own. Everyone except Joe’s brother Noah. Travis has been in love with the younger man for much of his life, but he’s always kept his distance.

As an ER nurse, Noah is a caretaker by nature. When his brother’s best friend is hurt, he’s happy to help Travis while he heals. He’s only ever allowed himself to think of Travis as the next best thing to an older brother, but by the light of the Christmas tree, Noah finally sees Travis’s true feelings. And in that moment, everything changes.

When faced with opposition and a Christmas nothing like they imagined, will their hopes for the future be enough to carry them through?

I really enjoyed this story. Travis has loved Noah for over twenty years without the younger man’s knowledge, but the time he’s spending with Noah during his recovery is constantly pushing his restraint. When Noah catches a glimpse of Travis’ real feelings he is forced to come clean to the man, who surprisingly doesn’t have any objections. These characters work well together and though their sexual relationship grows fast they have known each other so long it doesn’t feel so rushed.

I do have to say that although Travis is considered part of Noah’s family by them, he doesn’t seem to fully consider himself part of the family and doesn’t feel comfortable with some things. This truly broke my heart reading how much Travis wasn’t comfortable with. We only see Noah’s thoughts from Travis’ point of view, but that doesn’t make it hard to understand him as Noah is very open and honest about his emotions. I did think it was a bit strange that all of Noah’s siblings and spouses knew how Travis felt for years, but only Noah and his parents did not.

Cover art by AngstyG is beautiful and I love the connection models seem to have.

Sales Links

Book Details:

ebook, 113 pages

Published: December 14, 2016 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN-13: 9781634777292

Edition Language: Englis

A Lila Advent Calendar Review Day 14: Cursed Miracles by Meg Harding

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Two hundred years ago on Christmas Eve, William Mashinter was frozen in time, cursed by his wife to roam the world on his own, waiting for the love of his life to find him. The love of his life, whom she killed. Time hasn’t healed this wound, and William is tired of the happy holiday and the constant reminders of a love that’s been taken from him. But then the impossible happens, and maybe… maybe he can get a new Christmas perspective.

Brady Gallagher has lived three different lives, always aware of the first and most important, yet unable to find the man who will fill in the missing pieces and let him know he’s not crazy. He encounters him at a work event, of all places, but is he willing to throw everything else to the wind and embrace the miracle laid out before him?

Cursed Miracles is a lovely short story. One, I hope the author re-writes into a full-length novel. It has all the elements to keep the reader’s attention longer and brings questions of what ifs? The fast pace and those open-ended questions were the only reason this wasn’t a perfect five for me.

I love the idea of two lovers having to find each other to get their happily ever after. William is a strong narrator. We get to experience his pain over his marriage and the resulting separation from Brady. Plus, their love when they get reunited and through the epilogue.

I like the secondary and supporting characters. The author did an excellent job giving the story a nostalgic feel, setting the historic time frame, and bringing them into the future. The real reason behind the cursed isn’t revealed until later in the story, but it makes sense. Overall, this is a great little story to get you in the mood for the holiday season.

Catt Ford did a beautiful cover. It goes with the period in which Brady and William first met and fall in love. The color scheme also matches the dark feeling of the cursed.

Sale Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 48 pages
Published: December 1, 2016, Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781635331769
Edition Language: English

McKay on Writing in Tandem and their latest release Striking Sparks by Ari McKay (author guest blog)

Striking Sparks by Ari McKay
Dreamspinner Press

Cover by Paul Richmond
Purchase it Here

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have one of the authors that are Ari McKay here today answering questions and talking about their latest release, Striking Sparks, a Dreamspun Desire title from Dreamspinner Press. Welcome McKay!

Hi, everyone! I’m the McKay half of Ari McKay, and I’m happy to be here with a guest post at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words in honor of our upcoming release from Dreamspinner Press, Striking Sparks.

I’ve got a few interview questions I’d like to answer, and while I’ll mostly be answering from my own perspective, I’ve known Ari long enough (twelve years and counting) that I can speak for her on some things as well.

Are you a planner or a pantzer when writing a story? And why?

We’re a mix of both. When we begin a new book, we develop the characters first and then flesh out the plot. We start with the characters since their motives and relationship will drive the action, and we figure out what their dynamic is going to be. For example, Beau and Jake start out as rivals in Striking Sparks. An argument they had in high school shaped the men they’ve become, and the words they said to each other in anger color their interactions at first. So our main goal was to figure out how we were going to move them past the old hurts and into a new understanding.

For less action-heavy books, we tend to create a loose outline and then dive in and see where the story takes us. A lot of times, the characters will throw in wrenches we didn’t expect, and we have to reshape the story to accommodate that. Ari and I both agree that listening to what the characters want is better than trying to force them to fit our preconceived ideas of what the story “should” be. Inevitably, the finished story is stronger if we let the story develop in the way that feels most right and natural for the characters.

But there are some books that require more rigorous planning. Several of our Herc’s Mercs books were plotted out in advance, and while we did leave wiggle room for changes, we knew where we were going to start, where we were going to end up, and (more or less) how we were going to get there before we started writing. That series has more action-adventure elements, so we needed to decide on the main plot points beforehand in order to work toward each one in a way that would make sense and develop the characters’ relationship along the way.

Can an author have favorites among their characters and do you have them?

I think it’s fine for an author to have favorite characters. I’d be surprised if there were many authors who didn’t! Maybe a character is a favorite because they were easy to write or because the book was written during a time in the author’s life that they have fond memories of in general, so there’s this positive association. Maybe the character embodies what the author would like to be themselves. Maybe the character is just plain likable, flaws and all. Whatever the reason, I think most of us do have characters that we enjoy(ed) writing more than others.

As you can probably tell from my answer to the previous question, Ari and I view our characters more as muses than as toys in a sandbox. We don’t pick them up and move them around exactly the way we want; we get in their heads to figure out who they are, and we listen to their voices.

Sometimes, their voices are really, really loud.

For us, the loudest characters are often our favorites. They make their desires clear and tell us exactly what they want to do and say, which makes writing them more like taking dictation than pulling teeth.

Some of my favorite characters are also the ones I had fun writing, often because they were funny or because they were significantly different from me, and I had fun slipping inside their skin and being outrageous in ways I’m not in real life.

Ari and I have a few favorite characters and couples out of our body of work, but I think if we had to choose an ultimate favorite, it would be Daryl and Emerson from Herc’s Mercs: Bloody But Unbowed. They’re an “opposites attract” couple, but they clicked so well, and we had fun writing them snarking at each other.

If you were to be stranded on a small demi-planet, island, or god forbid LaGuardia in a snow storm, what books would you take to read or authors on your comfort list?

Jane Eyre is my first choice. I’ve loved that book since I was thirteen years old, and I’ve read it many times over the years. To this day, I admire Jane’s fierce independence. The line “Reader, I married him” tells you everything you need to know about her and her strong sense of agency – and why I love her.

I’d take my complete collection of Jane Austen’s novels. Who doesn’t love a delicate skewering of 19^th century social conventions? If I could take Stephen King’s entire body of work, I would. If not, I’d go with Carrie, The Stand, and his short story/novella collections. I’d have to throw in some Gail Carriger, Jaqueline Carey, and Kelly Link too. There are others (there are always “oh, and—!” books and authors when talking to a bookworm), but those are the ones I’d pick today. Tomorrow, it might be different! Except for Jane Eyre. That one is always first.

Where do you normally draw your inspiration for a book from? A memory, a myth, a place or journey, or something far more personal?

Oh, we draw inspiration from just about anything! We refer to being inspired as having a plot bunny gnawing on our ankles. We’ve gotten inspiration from real life events, books, movies, song lyrics, art… you name it! With Striking Sparks, we were inspired by photos of Paul Newman and Robert Redford as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Those two men were ruggedly hot together, and we wanted to write a couple of cowboys based on them. In the end, our characters grilled the beef instead of herded it, but they’re both macho Texans. Jake is based on Newman and Beau is based on Redford (without the mustache).

Striking Sparks will be released by Dreamspinner Press on December 15^th. We hope you enjoy it! Happy holidays from both of us to all of you!

About Striking Sparks

The stakes are high and the heat is on.

About the Authors

Ari McKay is the professional pseudonym for Arionrhod and McKay, who have been writing together for over a decade. Their collaborations encompass a wide variety of romance genres, including contemporary, fantasy, science fiction, gothic, and action/adventure. Their work includes the Blood Bathory series of paranormal novels, the Herc’s Mercs series, as well as two historical Westerns: Heart of Stone and Finding Forgiveness. When not writing, they can often be found scheming over costume designs or binge watching TV shows together.

Arionrhod is a systems engineer by day who is eagerly looking forward to (hopefully) becoming a full time writer in the not-too-distant future. Now that she is an empty-nester, she has turned her attentions to finding the perfect piece of land to build a fortress in preparation for the zombie apocalypse, and baking (and eating) far too many cakes.

McKay is an English teacher who has been writing for one reason or another most of her life. She also enjoys knitting, reading, cooking, and playing video games. She has been known to knit in public. Given she has the survival skills of a gnat, she’s relying on Arionrhod to help her survive the zombie apocalypse.

Arionrhod and McKay

CONTACTS:

Website: http://arimckay.wordpress.com

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ari-Mckay/266185570179748

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ari.mckay.7

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AriMcKay1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6153630.Ari_McKay

Murder Once Seen (The Oddities #1) by J.T. Hall Riptide Publishing Cover by: Kanaxa

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Noble Intentions by Andrew Grey Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Release Date: Dec 2016

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One Life to Lose (Queers of La Vista #4) by Kris Ripper Riptide Publishing Cover art by L.C. Chase

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Striking Sparks by Ari McKay Dreamspinner Press

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Murder Once Seen (The Oddities #1) by J.T. Hall
Riptide Publishing
Cover by: Kanaxa

Noble Intentions by Andrew Grey
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: Dec 2016

One Life to Lose (Queers of La Vista #4) by Kris Ripper
Riptide Publishing
Cover art by L.C. Chase

Striking Sparks by Ari McKay
Dreamspinner Press

Cover by Paul Richmond
Purchase it Here