Category: Publishers

Get Into the Halloween Spirit with VL Locey ‘An Erie Halloween’ (excerpt and giveaway)

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An Erie Halloween (Lake Erie Shifters #1) by V.L. Locey
 Release Date: October 20, 2013

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Torquere Press

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Blurb

Templeton Reed has been hiding his inner polecat since he was a child. Keeping his animal secreted is hard for a shifter, especially when one is living in a secret community of mystical beings. It`s the wolf shifters that cause Templeton the most trouble with their darned sensitive noses.

Templeton has a run-in with the Lake Erie pack and their alpha, Mikel Lupei, at the Office for Transmogrification Registration (OTTER). Templeton has a desk job checking registration papers and dealing with wolf shifters is not part of his job description. After that upsetting meeting the meek and mild office worker suddenly finds himself in the center of not only civil unrest among the shifter community, but a violent plan for a coup aimed at rousting Mikel.

Templeton and Mikel, a skilled tracker of rogue shifters, are soon not only fighting for their lives, they`re also fighting the rigidly archaic rules of their kind, as well as the person responsible for trying to take over Mikel`s pack from the inside. Can this magical odd couple turn a passionate attraction into a full-fledged love affair?

 

Pages or Words: 65 pages
 Categories: M/M Romance, Paranormal

Excerpt

As I walked, I rolled odd change around inside my coat pockets. The streets were busy as last minute shoppers ran to get their candy and costumes for the big night tomorrow. Head down and mind running a mile a minute, I never saw the brick wall disguised as a man I ran into. Face into the wind, I never smelled him either. The amber eyes and brindle hair were all that stopped me from either screaming or shifting. Mikel pulled me into a small bookstore. I went along because I really had no choice, but once inside the quaint bookery, I jerked my arm from his grasp. Several patrons glanced at us. Mikel muscled me into a row holding non-fiction and historical. He grabbed a book and opened it, his sharp gaze flitting between me and a fascinating how-to grow-your-own-beets book.

“Is there a reason you abducted me from the street?” I asked, moving back slightly when his big body pressed closer to allow a woman to pass behind him. His proximity was beyond distressing. It was arousing. Now that he had me cornered, there was no getting away from the heady scent that he exuded: Part sin, part warm fur, part earthy pine, wholly distracting.

“I`ve been trying to contact you for days. Why didn`t you return my calls?” he whispered, keeping his big chest plastered to my left arm. My spine was firmly against a bookshelf.

“There are several reasons,” I replied trying to sound snooty but sounding meagerly twitterpated. “One is that our classes don`t mix. . .”

“That`s a paltry reason, Templeton,” Mikel said gruffly, snapping his beet book closed.

“Well, it may be for you, but when one`s boss tells one to keep his distance and – hey!” I grabbed for my glasses when he plucked them off the bridge of my nose. Folding my arms over my pea coat, I glowered at the oaf. There would be no leaping up and down. Those days ended when I left high school. The touch of his fingers on my chin brought out an age-old response. I jerked back hard. The bookcase behind me wobbled dangerously. Mikel dropped his book to steady the shelving unit. My heart was trying to explode through my chest like an alien baby. The lycan inhaled several times then gave me a dark look.

“Calm yourself, Templeton, your odor is growing stronger.”

“Sorry, it`s just this is all too – too much,” I gasped, working to calm myself before the tingling at the base of my spine began. The bells over the front door tinkled melodiously. Soft conversation bounced off the spines of books. Mikel tipped my head back and kissed me. Right there in the middle of the non-fiction. His lips were soft. Sinfully soft. It took my lashes a moment after his mouth left mine to flutter upward. Squinting skyward, I tried to read his face but it was a blur. My glasses were placed back onto my face, albeit crookedly, and then I could see the glow of golden eyes. Oh my . .

Buy the book: Torquere Books

SAVE 50% by using this code: eriehalloween at checkout.

 

Meet the Author

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, two dogs, two cats, a flock of assorted domestic fowl, and three Jersey steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in hand. She can also be found online on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and GoodReads.

 

Where to find the author:

 


BannerTemplateTour Dates & Stops: October 30 & 31, 2015

October 30, 2015

SiK Reviews, The Hat Party, Havan Fellows, Bayou Book Junkie, Happily Ever Chapter, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Jessie G. Books, 3 Chicks After Dark, Inked Rainbow Reads, Charley Descoteaux, MM Good Book Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, BFD Book Blog, Sassygirl Books, Cathy Brockman Romances, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews, Mikky’s World of Books, Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My

31-Oct

Molly Lolly, Parker Williams

Final

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘An Erie Halloween’ by V.L. Locey.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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A Scary Review Redux: Sand and Ruin and Gold by Alexis Hall (A MelanieM Review)

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 (for story and cover)   ★★★★★

Once upon a time . . . that’s how the old stories always begin.

And so this one begins, in a land both foreign and familiar, it’s a tale of princes, and merfolk and love…of a sort.

Once upon a time there was a king of a fallen kingdom. He was just and he was beloved. Or so the numbers said. One day, he gathered together the greatest, wisest minds in all the land—not sorcerers, but scientists—and he bade them fashion him a son. A prince. A perfect prince to embody his father’s legacy. 

Sand and Gold and RuinBut as fate would have it, nothing ever turns out as planned and the golden perfect prince had other ideas for his future. After gazing upon the dances of the mer in a performance, our prince runs off to join the circus, the Cirque de la Mer.  Once there the prince trained the merfolk,  he performed with them, and  thought he was happy…for a year.

Time brought strange thoughts and emotions to the prince the closer he got to the merfolk. Then Nerites arrives, a mesmerizing merman who refused to be trained or tamed.  Nerites was something far more than the prince ever expected.  Nerites was savage and unknown.

How does the tale end?  Ah, there’s the rub.  For every prince, there exists a beast, and for every love, there exists a forever heartbreak.  Sand and Ruin and Gold has them all.

Sand and Ruin and Gold hearkens back to the olden stories.  Not the comforting ” Disneyfied” fairytales but those of Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson.  Here the darkness and unknown reign supreme, not happy endings or light.  Less a tale of romance, this beautifully written short story builds an atmosphere of  creeping foreboding, a sense that not everything is as it seems.  The poetic nature of the narrative combined with an imagery that will enchant, then leave you haunted by the possibilities, make Sand and Ruin and Gold by Alexis Hall a short story that refuses to be limited by category or trope.

The feeling of something just off kilter is already present at the beginning.  Hall’s prince isn’t born, he’s a genetically perfected young man, created to be the ideal heir to a “good” king who resides over a fallen land.  The clues and telling phrases are slipped in sparingly at first, then in ever increasing numbers. As new descriptions of the circus and the shows appear, a far different picture emerges from our original assumptions of the merfolk and the circumstances at the Circus.  And along with it comes the feeling one gets when the hairs rise off your arm when frightened or the queasiness that originates in your stomach when it dawns on you that something you thought was happily normal or ordinary turns out to be fearfully, horrifically wrong.

Alexis Hall understands how to build a powerfully evocative story, one that runs more along the lines of those classics passed from bard to bard, told around fires in great halls and forests alike.  Whether those bards be from the past or perhaps even our future, that is but one more chilling aspect of this story, a tale that exists in the mists and ocean eddies of the dark seas of this unknown world. But its Hall’s stylistically vivid and powerful narrative with its lush descriptions that makes this story so stunning, so poignant.  This is how it starts out:

“I must have been very young when I saw the mermaids at the Cirque de la Mer because it was the nurse who took me and her place in my life was soon surrendered to tutors. I don’t think my father ever found out.  He would not have approved.

The day is little more than a sensory haze, of pastel children, the laughter of strangers, and the burn of salt and chemicals at the back of my throat.

The mermaids, though.  They are as vivid as stained glass, even now.”

Told from the prince’s pov, we feel his assumptions of his life and the circus fall slowly away as comprehension and understanding arrive building block by building block as events unfold around him.  It is a tale of deep love faced amidst horrifying truths.  One reading will not be enough to capture all the incredible and terrifying moments as sudden realization, and insight sets in.

And then there is that ending, the one that will refuse to let you go.  Its in the words and feelings that emerge, and the tears that will run down your face as you try to decide the implications of words strung like pearls, luminescent and beyond value.  An ending that will send you back to the beginning of the story and start this tale once more.

I highly recommend this story to all readers.  This is a story that should be on everyones shelf, whether it be made of wood or eReader.  This is one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2014 as is its cover.

Cover Artist:  Simone.  The artwork for Sand and Ruin and Gold is every bit as lush and haunting as the story itself. One of the best covers of the year.

Sales Links:    Riptide Publishing           All Romance (ARe)        amazon          Sand and Ruin and Gold

Book Details:

ebook, 39 pages
Published September 22nd 2014 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626492318
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://riptidepublishing.com/title

Get All Types of Supernatural Fun with Katey Hawthorne and Jenna Rose’s Kanaan & Tilney: The Case of the Arms Dealers (authors interview and giveaway)

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Kanaan & Tilney: The Case of the Arms Dealers
by  Jenna Rose and Katey Hawthorne

Published by Loose id LLC
Cover artist: Dar Albert

Buy it at Loose id LLC | Amazon | All Romance (ARe)

blog tour

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Katey Hawthorne and Jenna Rose stopping by today to talk  about their new novel, Kanaan & Tilney: The Case of the Arms Dealers.  We decided to switch things up and asked them to interview each other for a change.  Hmmmm, can the unexpected be far  behind?

~ Katey Hawthorne and Jenna Rose Interview Each Other~

Hello, hello, and welcome to our Release Week blog tour for Kanaan & Tilney: The Case of the Arms Dealers. Thanks for having us, STaRW crew.  We’re Jenna Rose and Katey Hawthorne, and we’re here to interview each other. Let’s see where this goes…

☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠

Katey: So, Jenna. We had the characters of Lowell Kanaan and John Tilney already, you and I, but do you remember the moment when we were inspired to actually write a book together about them?

Jenna: I do! We were close to done writing them and realized how much we were going to miss them. Then you suggested to keep them going and turn their adventures into a book. It kinda exploded from there.

Katey: Yyyeah ‘exploded’ is a good word for it. I remember we were talking about them just investigating stuff, since that was Lowell’s thing all along. I think we were watching Supernatural soon after, too. Not that it’s at all like Supernatural, just that there are, uh, supernatural small-s elements. It’s a lot more… I can’t think of a good TV show comparison…

Jenna: Haha, neither can I, really. I guess it takes inspiration from everywhere, but I do remember us watching Supernatural at the time. And probably complaining about the lack of lbtqia+ and poc characters…

Katey: As we are wont to do, yes.

Jenna: What about Lowell and John made you feel they’d translate well into a book?

Katey: They’re so different. Like, on the surface, they have nothing in common, but at the same time their main interests fit together like puzzle pieces. Lowell solving mysteries to help people, John writing mysteries that require skills of observation and organization.

Jenna: I could never get over how well they hit it off. Like, right from the start.

Katey: Right? Lowell is all survival instinct, too, and John has like, none.

Jenna: And Lowell is so not a people person, whereas John is. They balance each other out.

Katey: Also true. So in that way they supply each other’s weaknesses, and that’s a really good thing to have in a couple you’re writing. Just the opportunity to show them making each other stronger and better people–which all my favorite couples do.

Jenna: Mine too! As you already know very well.

Katey: Do I ever, darling! Okay so John was sort of initially my creation, but by the end of the novel you knew him and how to write him as well as I did, certainly. What’s your favorite thing about being in the driver’s seat with him, when it’s your turn?

Jenna: That’s a good question! The tone of the writing. I love my grouchy Lowell, but John is much more, uh, colorful? and it is a lot of fun. It means getting to write so many crazy and clever things.

Katey: Colorful, that’s a word he’d like, too! Putting it, uh, nicely.

Jenna: I love that weirdo, okay.

As someone who is demisexual, it was great having my hand in helping develop a demisexual character too. I want to see more ace-spectrum characters out there.

Katey: Yeah that was really important to me, too, and I was so pleased you were into it, with John. That’s one of my favorite things about the book in general.

Jenna: Mine too. I was really happy when you mentioned you were considering writing John as demi. Representation for ace people is hard to find. I know I, for one, went a very long time not even knowing asexuality was a thing. So, it’s important to me to, I dunno, put characters out there that someone might be able to relate to, I guess.

But, enough about me! What about writing Lowell was your favorite?

Katey: I am glad you asked that! What I love about Lowell is that his actions show more than his words say, always. So writing him is a lot of fun in that way. He’s pretty clammed up, but also his every little move or thought says volumes.

Jenna: And is just one more thing about them that is so different! Lowell is more show than tell, and John, who wears his heart on his brightly-colored sleeve, is the other way around. It works really well for them.

Katey: Also true. That stuff really does make it so much fun when writing–and even more when writing back and forth with  you. Then there’s always a slight element of surprise, even though we know where the scene is going in general.

Jenna: That’s one of my favorite things about co-writing. As is, characters tend to surprise you when you’re writing on your own, but throw another person in the mix and the results are even better. You end up with dialogue or perspective you may never would have otherwise.

Katey: Totally. It’s more of an adventure that way.

Okay so my last question: We’ve got Necromorphs, Terrans, Elementalists, Beasts, and Psychogenics, in terms of powers. John is an Elementalist, in particular, he’s pyrokinetic. Lowell is a Beast, a wolf-shifter. But what’s your actual favorite kind of power in the praeternatural community Kanaan & Tilney inhabit?

Jenna: That’s a tough one. They all have cool aspects to them, but I’d probably have to say Beast. Being able to turn into something like a wolf is awesome. Or maybe a Terran? My least favorite, or, rather, the one I’d never want to have, is Psychogenic. I sooo want nothing to do with telepathy or mind-control or talking to ghosts.

What about you?

Katey: Yeah as much as I’d love to be able to throw fire or rocks or whatever like an Elementalist, I have way too much of a temper to be trusted with that, sorry to say. I’d probably go Terran. I like the idea of being sort of interlinked with nature in a more explicit way than humanity is even now, you know? Also I am apparently a big old hippie on the inside… the vegetarianism was a giveaway, maybe…

Jenna: That’s what I like about Terrans too.

So, last question from me! What’s something in the Kanaan & Tilney world that we haven’t written about yet that you would like to?

Katey: Oh man, that’s good. This now officially a plotting session! Now I think of it, I’d like to deal with how the non-praeternaturals explain away a lot of the things that go on. Like, we kinda go into Cryptids being their explanation for shifted Beast sightings. Having a non-praeternatural perspective could be entertaining. What do you think?

Jenna: That’d be awesome! I’d love to see more of how the two worlds collide, or for a human to become of a world they had no idea existed. It would be fun to see how much is because humans just convince themselves of something, and how much is because praeternaturals actively cover things up too.

Katey: Yeah it’s a thing we’re kind of skirting, waiting for it to become plot relevant so we can delve in, really. We should totally find an excuse to go there.

Jenna: I agree. And I’m sure we’ll find one. We always do. Haha!

Katey: Just like we always find a way to make puns relevant.

Jenna: It’s true. Any excuse, really.

Thanks, Jenna and Katey, that was spectacular.  Now for more about Kanaan & Tilney: The Case of the Arms Dealers, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post.

–Blurb–

JR_KW_kanaan and tilney_coverinJohn Tilney–praeternatural pyrokinetic and mystery author–has noticed the bottom dropping out of the market for his usual gothic fare, so he goes to Lowell Kanaan, PI, for a crash course in noir. Lowell, the cranky wolf-shifter detective, isn’t sure why he agrees to let John shadow him–though it might have something to do with John’s weirdly endearing honesty… and pretty lips. John thinks he’s found the perfect detective novel hero in Lowell, but it isn’t long before he realizes he doesn’t want Lowell for his book, but for himself.

As they become entangled in a supernatural whodunnit involving the Zombie Mafia, black market body parts, and shady insurance deals, their partnership grows closer–and hotter. But when it comes down to the wire, Lowell’s wolfy protective side threatens to drive John around the bend, or at least out of the office. Good thing John’s as much sunshine as he is fire; hopefully it’s enough to help them catch a murderer before they end up in literal pieces, too.

 

Author Bios

 Jenna Rose is an avid reader and writer, particularly when it comes to science-fiction and fantasy.  Currently, she works as a receptionist, but her real love is writing. In her free time, she likes to read comic books, play video games, and waste time on the internet. She currently lives in Massachusetts with her dog, Harley.
Katey Hawthorne is a reader and writer of superpowered romance, even though the only degree she holds is in the history of art. (Or, possibly, because the only degree she holds is in the history of art.) Originally from the Appalachian foothills of West Virginia, she currently lives in Ohio. In her spare time she enjoys comic books, B-movies, loud music, Epiphones, and Bushmills.

Both authors can be contacted at:

Katey Hawthorne:

Website: http://www.kateyhawthorne.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hawthornetaylor
Tumblr: http://hawthornetaylor.tumblr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katey.hawthorne.33

Jenna Rose:

Website:http://www.jennarosewrites.com/
Tumblr:http://jennarosewrites.tumblr.com/

Giveaway

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the authors.  Good luck everyone!

GIVEAWAY: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/MzEwNTUzNWQxNzFmNmFhYmFmNTkxNGFhNTJjNjlkOjI=/?

A Stella Review: DEAD RINGER by Heidi Belleau and Sam Schooler

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

DeadRinger_600x900Brandon Ringer has a dead man’s face. His grandfather, silver-screen heartthrob James Ringer, died tragically at twenty-one, and Brandon looks exactly like him. But that’s where the resemblance ends. Brandon is unknown, unemployed, and up to his ears in bills after inheriting his grandparents’ Hollywood mansion. He refuses to sell it—it’s his last connection to his grandmother—so to raise the cash he needs, he joins a celebrity look-alike escort agency.

Percy Charles is chronically ill, isolated, and lonely. His only company is his meddlesome caregiver and his collection of James Ringer memorabilia. When he finds “Jim Ringer” on Hollywood Doubles’ website, he books an appointment, hoping to meet someone who shares his passion for his idol.

Brandon? Not that person.

But despite their differences, they connect, and Percy’s fanboy love for James shows Brandon a side of his grandfather he never knew. Soon they want time together off the clock, but Percy is losing his battle for independence, and Brandon feels trapped in James’s long shadow. Their struggle to love each other is the stuff of classic Hollywood. Too bad Brandon knows how those stories end.

Don’t let you be misled by the old cliche rentboy plus rich boy equals HEA. There are all of these three elements in Dead Ringer ( and I admit I wanted to read it just for this), but so much more too.

I heard a lot of things about Heidi Belleau but I haven’t read anything by her and Sam Schooler was totally new to me. Since I’m always looking for new authors I was so ready to rush through it. Of course what caught my attention first was the cover, I was pretty much drooling in front of the PC.

What I particularly liked in this book were the characters, Brandon and Percy both took my heart because they are too young to be already so broken.

Brandon is 19 years old, he has just inherited his grandmother Dahlia’s mansion and having no job, he’s swamped with bills to pay. Point is Dahlia was the only person in Brandon life to care for him, she took him into her house when he was thrown out by his parents and living on the streets for some time. He’s ready to do anything to keep her house. He’s not new to the rent boy job so when he finds out about an escort service called Hollywood Double, being the spitting image of his famous grandfather, he soon decides to join them as the James Ringer doppelganger. This will be nothing as what he was used to be on the street and with the help of great people he will try to save himself and his new pricey home. And his job will take him to the lonely life of a sweet young man.

Percy is 21 years old, he is affected by a juvenile type of arthritis that forces him to live as a recluse in his parents’ big house, steadily under control of his caretaker. He has no friends because he believes no one would stick with his struggles with his disease. He feels he’s a burden for his parents who pretty much ignore him and he is totally resigned to be alone with people who treat him as a disabled person, forbidding Percy to do even the easiest daily things. He’s sick of being obedient and in a moment of rebellion, he hires his favorite actor’s double, unaware his choice will give his lonely life an unbelievable turning point.

Brandon and Percy’s is a beautiful story, thoughtful and crowded with emotions. But it’s not just theirs, it’s James Ringer’s story too. It’s a believable journey in the discovery of a undisclosed past, essential to Brandon to start his new life.

I liked Dead Ringer a lot, it kept me glued to my kindle till the end but my rating stops at just 4 stars because at first I found it a little hard to get into the book, even if later I was able to appreciate the initial slower pace as a way to know the MCs better. Moreover I was left with some doubts about Percy’s caretaker and her behaviour.

I want to talk a little about the double point of view Heidi and Sam chose to use. I’m not sure if each author wrote a specific character or if they simply mixed ideas and words but what it came out, what I felt and loved, was a real difference in the writing that amazed me. Maybe it was intentional, maybe it was just my feeling, both Brandon and Percy were very delineated and characterized, each of them with a specific writing style. It’s not easy to find point of views so well done, moreover with a co-authored book, it was a surprise because often it happens that the characters sound the same. Not in this case.

Last thing, I want suggest the authors to please consider the idea of a “spinoff ” about Nolan, he brought peace into the chaos that was Brandon’s life. I’d love to read his story!

Cover art by L.C. Chase and COVER PHOTO by Dion Marc and Marisha Dudek. Really really good!

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

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 453 pages
Published October 26th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626493375
Edition Language English

Its Back to Science Fiction with Lisa Henry’s Darker Space (author guest post and giveaway)

Darker Space cover

Darker Space (Dark Space #2) by Lisa Henry
Published by Loose id LLC
Cover art by Mina Carter
Purchase it at Loose id | Amazon | ARe

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Lisa Henry here today to talk about her latest series and release, Darker Space. Welcome, Lisa, tell us a little about the writing the characters and the sequel to Dark Space, Darker Space.

When it came to writing Darker Space, the sequel to Dark Space, it meant getting back into Brady’s head which, although always an entertaining place to explore, isn’t exactly filled with rainbows and sunshine. Brady is probably one of my favourite characters to write, but he’s a challenge. In Dark Space he was unhappy, afraid, and filled with anger and self-loathing. In Darker Space he’s grown a little, but he’s still very much a work in progress.

It was important for me to show that Brady’s grown in the sequel, and that he’s trying to put the past behind him. Obviously the past, in the form of Kai Ren, shows up again, but Brady’s also haunted by the past in more insidious ways. At the beginning of Darker Space he’s back on Earth, and he and Cam are raising his sister Lucy together. Lucy was Brady’s main focus in Dark Space. His knowledge that she wouldn’t survive if he was stuck in space for the rest of the term of his military service was what made him so angry, and so hopeless. So living with Cam and Lucy should make him happy, right? Right? Well, not exactly.

It’s not so easy for Brady to let go of the anger and despair that were once big enough to define his existence. Lucy is alive and safe and that should be enough, but every day Brady is forced to deal with prejudice, whether overt or imagined, that he doesn’t fit into the life he shares with Cam. He’s not from the right background. He’s not from the right people. Something as simple as holding a birthday party for Lucy is excruciating for Brady. He doesn’t know how to socialize with the parents of Lucy’s friends. He grew up hungry and poor. He has very little formal education, and his job in the military is on the lowest possible level. He’s got nothing in common with these people at all. More worrying for him, he feels he’s got nothing in common with Cam.

It’s a fine line for a character to walk. I wanted readers to empathise with Brady and his struggles, without making Brady seem like he’s ungrateful or a whiner. And maybe if sometimes he does whine just a little, I hope readers will remember he’s twenty. He’s still a kid in so many ways, who was forced to grow up too quickly and is doing the best he can.

And Darker Space is the book where Brady really does grow. He’s a character who was defined by his fears in the first book. In the second book, he has to not only face those fears, but embrace them. And I think, like always, Brady is braver than he thinks, especially when the people he loves are threatened.

You can find out more about Darker Space at Loose Id.

Blurb

Brady Garrett is back on Earth. He’s living with his partner Cam and they’re raising his sister Lucy together. Life is better than some feral reffo from Kopa has any right to hope, and Brady knows it. He’s even grateful for it, most of the time. He loves Cam, even though he’s afraid that he’s not good enough for him, and he’s still having nightmares about the alien Faceless.

Cameron Rushton loved being a pilot once, and he still feels the pull of the starlight. He’s building a life with Brady now, and with Lucy. Life is good, even if it’s not without its complications. Both Brady and Cam are dealing with the endless cycle of interviews, tests, and questions that the military hierarchy hopes will reveal the secrets of the aliens who could very easily destroy humanity. They have each other though, and together they’re making it work.

But from out in the black, Kai-Ren is still watching and everything Brady and Cam think they’ve won, they stand to lose all over again

About the Author

Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

Connect with Lisa: Blog | Twitter | Goodreads

Dark Space Series:

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter prize of a book from Lisa Henry’s  backlist, your choice (not Darker Space).  You must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

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In Our Spotlight: Angora Shade’s ‘Cat Games’ book blast and contest

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Cat Games ( Cat Games #1) by Angora Shade
 Release Date: October 28, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Torquere Press
Cover Artist: Kris Norris

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Blurb

She was quiet—an introvert, a thinker. They called her Mouse. But beneath her veneer was a passionate hunger and desire for those around her, and a longing to act out fantasies she didn’t even know she had. After a brutal betrayal by her former lover, Mouse’s journey toward sexual fulfillment begins with a justified revenge led by Rayne—a dominant and more knowledgeable goddess—where Mouse experiences her first female sexual encounter and develops a taste for non-vanilla sex.

But just a taste of something new isn’t enough for Mouse. Longing for a more satisfying lifestyle and sexual education, Mouse engages in sexual exploits with Rayne and her openly sexual friends. With the absence of traditional relationship rules, Mouse falls into confusion, desperately trying to find a way to prove she is a capable woman worthy of Rayne’s attentions. Through Rayne’s patient guidance, Mouse is pushed to take charge of her sexuality and learn what it is she truly desires, allowing her to transform from a shy, timid creature to one with claws. Tables turn unexpectedly and suddenly the pupil becomes the teacher.

 

Pages or Words: 25,500 words
 Categories: BDSM, Bisexual, Contemporary, Erotica, Fiction, Lesbian Romance, Ménage/Poly, New Adult, Romance

 

Excerpt

“Hey, Mouse!” I hear one of the girls call. I turn to look over my shoulder and see Chrystal holding the package of gummy bears I stashed in my pocket earlier. “You dropped something.”

“Woohoo!” Rayne howls, obnoxiously. “I’ve got an idea for a game.” She snatches the package from Crystal and sizes me up, almost eating me with her eyes.

“You read my mind,” Jasper quickly adds, licking his lips.

I have no idea what they’re thinking, but all the faces in the living room are looking me over and grinning in a wicked way. I feel exposed, on display, and very self-conscious. A heat begins to crawl up the back of my thighs, stir in my belly and catch in my chest. I’m suddenly thankful I’m not the type to blush. Standing up a bit straighter, I walk to the fridge, grab another six-pack, and return to my seat with as much confidence as the simple movements of my body will allow.

Rayne makes a yummy noise as she opens my package of sweets. “I just love gummy bears.” She pops one into her mouth with an overemphasized gesture, sucking a bit on the end before using the tip of her index finger to push the bottom the remainder of the way past her thick lips.
Jasper stands up and grabs Crystal by the hand. She trails willingly after him over to Rayne. Holding out his hand for the package she holds, I watch Rayne dump a few gummy bears into Jasper’s open hand.

“Best. Game. Ever,” Justin mutters from his seat on the couch in exaggerated staccato.

The whole room watches as Jasper pops the gummy bears into his mouth and begins peeling Crystal’s tight, white shirt over her head. Without any protest, Crystal raises her arms and slips out with an easy smile. Pulling a wet gummy bear out of his mouth, Jasper sticks it into the curve of Crystal’s neck, and then sticks a second securely upon her collarbone. To my surprise, the gummy bears are held fast, not slipping or sliding from the pull of gravity.

Rayne grins and stands from her chair. While trailing her fingers through the tight, red curls on the top of Crystal’s head, Rayne licks the back of a red gummy bear and sets it atop Crystal’s left shoulder. I watch Crystal shiver, and then I turn to look at Justin and Anna on the couch. They’re watching with deep interest. Grabbing two beers from the pack I set on the table, Justin opens them without taking his eyes from the scene, and hands one blindly to Anna.

I’m not sure what’s going on. I thought Justin and Crystal were together but another man—and Rayne—are undressing her in front of everyone. Why is Anna so into watching? They grabbed her attention with that kiss from earlier.

I clear my throat and blink several times as I try to take in what’s happening. Sugar’s great, and a nice pairing with beer, but I don’t understand why they’re sticking gummy bears to Crystal. If this is really a game, I wonder what the point is.

My mouth hangs open slightly as I watch Rayne expertly unhook Crystal’s bra and slide the white straps down over her shoulders, kissing her gently as she goes. I physically push my jaw shut as I rest my face uneasily in my hand, watching Jasper pull two more bears from his mouth. He gently squeezes Crystal’s small, naked breast, pushes his gummy bears to her skin, and audibly blows his breath over the top of them. Crystal giggles and looks over to me, where I’m unable to take my gaze away.

“Oh, Mouse,” she laughs. “Look at your face!”

I get it now. Wow.

 

Buy the book: Torquere Books

 

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Meet the Author

Angora Shade is an American author living in what she lovingly refers to as “Sheep Shit Nowhere” Europe. In an attempt to add some spice to her small town life, Ms. Shade began writing explicit erotica as a form of self-entertainment. Exploring the boundaries of acceptable sexual literature, she often seeks to create stories that not only entertain others, but also expose and push against the negative stigma surrounding sex in modern day society. She believes that sex in literature, art, personal thought, and physical nature, should be celebrated and expressed openly and as easily as any God-given freedom. Her favorite themes in writing include revenge, self-discovery, alternative materials for love play/bdsm, as well as anything that produces a good tingle, sizzle, or laugh. When not writing, Ms Shade enjoys red wine, travel, dancing, classic cartoons, baking, and creating fine art.

Where to find the author:

 

 

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Tour Dates & Stops:

Parker Williams, BFD Book Blog, SA McAuley, The Hat Party, Jessie G. Books, Happily Ever Chapter, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Havan Fellows, Bayou Book Junkie, Inked Rainbow Reads, Molly Lolly, Charley Descoteaux, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews, Three Books Over The Rainbow, Velvet Panic

 

Final

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: eBook copy of ‘Cat Games’ by Angora Shade.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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A MelanieM Review: Winter Oranges by Marie Sexton

Rating:  5 stars out of 5    ★★★★★

Winter Oranges coverJason Walker is a child star turned teen heartthrob turned reluctant B-movie regular who’s sick of his failing career. So he gives up Hollywood for northern Idaho, far away from the press, the drama of LA, and the best friend he’s secretly been in love with for years.

There’s only one problem with his new life: a strange young man only he can see is haunting his guesthouse. Except Benjamin Ward isn’t a ghost. He’s a man caught out of time, trapped since the Civil War in a magical prison where he can only watch the lives of those around him. He’s also sweet, funny, and cute as hell, with an affinity for cheesy ’80s TV shows. And he’s thrilled to finally have someone to talk to.

But Jason quickly discovers that spending all his time with a man nobody else can see or hear isn’t without its problems—especially when the tabloids find him again and make him front-page news. The local sheriff thinks he’s on drugs, and his best friend thinks he’s crazy. But Jason knows he hasn’t lost his mind. Too bad he can’t say the same thing about his heart.

Ever looked at a cover, read a blurb and just known, known that the book had a story you just needed to read?  Winter Oranges by Marie Sexton did that for me.  I’ve long held a fascination with snow globes, especially the idea that the people and things  inside them were alive, existing in a world we could only look at.  Add to that the elements of love and a man trapped out of time and I was hooked. Plus it was Marie Sexton writing the story!

Marie Sexton’s character of Jason comes across as believably real and lost,  his old career dying or maybe its Jason who tired of dealing with being a Hollywood actor and the problems that comes with it.  We feel his weariness, his loss, and his uncertainty now that he’s fled to the backwoods and this peculiar house.  Because quite frankly we are wondering if he made the right choice too.  As charming as Sexton makes the house seem on first appearances, she also manages to bring a air of eeriness and oddity with it as well.

With those elements flowing through the narrative from the beginning, when Jason’s actor friend with benefits, Dylan, makes his appearances into the scene, its acts as a jarring, albeit lively,  interruption into Jason’s new isolated life.  Just as I suspect Sexton meant it to be.  At first we welcome Dylan short visits into Jason’s new life, and then slowly everything changes when Ben and the globe enters the story.

Such a magical element.  A snow globe. All those possibilities of what could lie inside.  Here they contain a young man, trapped outside of  time, the reason why I will let the story explain for itself.  The romance that develops between Ben and Jason is so real, so heartfelt and fragile that each moment they are together in the story is one you  treasure as much as they do.

How does it end?  With stunning danger, heartbreak, tears and laughter.  And love, so much love.  I adored this story.  Winter Oranges by Marie Sexton is its own delightful treasure.  One to be taken out, reread for its magic and romance, and love against all odds relationship.  Perfect for the holidays no matter what holiday that would be.  I highly recommend this story and this author.

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Twenty percent of the proceeds from this title will be donated to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) National Help Center. Love for the Holidays: A Charity Bundle Benefiting the GLBT National Help Center – See more at:  Riptide Publishing

Cover design by L. C. Chase  is  perfect, just perfect for this story.  I loved it because it drew me in and made me need to see what  was inside.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing  preorder  Other links to follow closer to  release  date

Book Details:

ebook, 325 pages
Expected publication: November 30th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
original title Winter Oranges
ISBN13 9781626493575
edition language English

Scary Review Redux: A MelanieM Review of The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men (Valley Books) by Eric Arvin

Rating: 5 stars out of 5    ★★★★★

Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men coverWinifred Walterhouse lived in the mansion on the top of Black Hill.  She was aware of the secrets the river and the valley held.   She knew of the river sprites, and of the forest passions, small beings becoming fewer and fewer in number.  She had helped hold off the outdwellers, those who would steal the valley’s magic and destroy the old ways.  But now she is dying, unable to take care of herself let alone a young girl of a certain stubborn temperament.

When her parents died, little Calpurnia Covington was sent to live with her eccentric aunt in the mysterious River Valley. And by her arrival changed everything.  With her aunt, Winifred Walterhouse, dying and confined to her room, Calpurnia is free to roam throughout the estate and nearby woods.  Missing the outside world, Calpurnia is frightened by the beings and things she sees in the Valley and resolutely turns her back on the magic all around her, thus setting her path away from the light and those coming after her.

Minerva True is a mystic who lives deep in the Valley, aware of the magic and light all around her.  She is also aware of The Prophecy and the coming darkness.  Although Minerva tries to warn the river valley’s inhabitants, she is ignored and the darkness is allowed to grow and thrive.  In the future, it will be the mingled destinies of Minerva, the young hero Leith, his lover Aubrey, and the mute boy, Deverell that will tilt the fate of the valley and perhaps the world towards the light or darkness.  Who will succeed and who will fail in the ultimate of all battles?

The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men by Eric Arvin has to be one of the most memorable and complex books that I have read recently.  It is an extraordinary and sometimes confounding mixture of gothic horror, Grimm’s fairy tale, and dark fantasy.  Arvin pulls from a number of sources, from elementals and the Industrial Revolution to the Bible and uses them to help him create a lost river valley where magic still exists along side the human and the mundane.  Inside the valley, power flows through the woods and into the river. Here river dwellers and passions live but no longer flourish.  The Outsiders and Industry test the borders  and darkness has come to claim the valley and its souls for its own.

With this novel and the books to follow, Eric Arvin conceived his version of the eternal war between good and evil, the battle between the light and the darkness.  This story has a language so lyrical that it will remind you of sonnets and characters so beautifully defined and textured that their loss will haunt you for days.  Arvin’s story feels so old and timeless that the aroma of old leather bindings and yellowed pages of text will commingle in your mind along with the title, an effortless interface of ideas both ancient, fantastical and still somehow quite new.  All of which makes The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men a book of emotional heft and extraordinary value.

In keeping with the epic scope of his story,  Arvin’s novel encompasses a rather large time span that starts from Calpurnia’s arrival in the valley as a young girl through her marriage and birth of her child and further still as that child, Leith, grows up and becomes a featured player in this timeless spiritual war between good and evil. Circling around Calpurnia is a convoluted and intertwining group of relationships that will include beings of power to Leith, her son.   Arvin has created a large and incredible cast for his story and series, including Azriel, a angel and the fundamental Mother True.  These characters live and breath and love with an realness that will grab you.  Some love with a lightness of being and others, well,  others are weighed down with such a darkness of spirit that it seeps right off the page.  Some of Arvin’s creations just exude such a presence of evil that they carry a stench of corruption that threatens to flow off the page.  And with any tale of good and evil, there are so many losses that will cut to the heart as the story and the fight progress.

Its that unrelenting parade of death as the story proceeds with its inexorable march towards that final battle between good and evil that might turn away readers looking for a warm tale of love and romance.  This is a true fantasy, horror story.  An epic tale that must, by its very nature, come with the deaths of characters the reader has come to love. I think it is those character deaths here will cause not only consternation but pain as the losses add up.  Not only because we didn’t see these deaths coming but because we had come to care for these people in the short amount of time we knew them, a required ingredient of great characters.   It is this aspect of the story that most readers will shy away from, especially those looking for a strictly m/m romance.  This is not that book.   Yes, there is a m/m romance, but there is also heterosexual love, familial love and so much more.  This story has great heart to go along with great loss.

One of the real revelations here is Arvin’s ability to reveal a true contamination of the soul, a slow defilement of character so extraordinary that you almost weep for the promise of the child that was thrown away, seduced by her own needs and a greater evil.  The author’s prose and descriptions delivering both a story of great emotional impact but also of spiritual warnings that go unheeded to the sorrow of all involved.   The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men is easily one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2013.  Consider this tale highly recommended and a must read for all.

Cover photography by Amy Morrison.  This book needs an extraordinary cover to measure up to the greatness of the story within and it gets it with this great cover by Amy Morrison.  Also one of the best covers of 2013.

Sales Links:   Wilde City Press |  Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 286 pages
Published April 24th 2013 by Wilde City Press
ISBN13 9781925031065
edition language English
series Valley

Want that Shiver of Dread to Go with your Romance? Dead Ringer by Heidi Belleau and Sam Schooler is Here ( contest)

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Dead Ringer by Heidi Belleau and Sam Schooler
Published by Riptide Publishing
Cover Art by  Dion Marc, Marisha Dudek

Buy It at Riptide Publishing here

Hi, and welcome to the DEAD RINGER release tour! We’re Heidi Belleau and Sam Schooler. Thanks to our generous blog hosts, and thanks to you for hanging out with us! Be sure to check out our full list of tour stops so you can see the rest of our extras and snag yourself more chances to win our giveaway!

Blurb

Brandon Ringer has a dead man’s face. His grandfather, silver-screen heartthrob James Ringer, died tragically at twenty-one, and Brandon looks exactly like him. But that’s where the resemblance ends. Brandon is unknown, unemployed, and up to his ears in bills after inheriting his grandparents’ Hollywood mansion. He refuses to sell it—it’s his last connection to his grandmother—so to raise the cash he needs, he joins a celebrity look-alike escort agency.

Percy Charles is chronically ill, isolated, and lonely. His only company is his meddlesome caregiver and his collection of James Ringer memorabilia. When he finds “Jim Ringer” on Hollywood Doubles’ website, he books an appointment, hoping to meet someone who shares his passion for his idol.

Brandon? Not that person.

But despite their differences, they connect, and Percy’s fanboy love for James shows Brandon a side of his grandfather he never knew. Soon they want time together off the clock, but Percy is losing his battle for independence, and Brandon feels trapped in James’s long shadow. Their struggle to love each other is the stuff of classic Hollywood. Too bad Brandon knows how those stories end.

About Heidi

Heidi Belleau was born and raised in small town New Brunswick, Canada. She now lives in the rugged oil-patch frontier of Northern BC with her husband, an Irish ex-pat whose long work hours in the trades leave her plenty of quiet time to write.

She has a degree in history from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in British and Irish studies; much of her work centred on popular culture, oral folklore, and sexuality, but she was known to perplex her professors with unironic papers on the historical roots of modern romance novel tropes. (Ask her about Highlanders!)

When not writing, you might catch her trying to explain British television to her newborn daughter or standing in line at the local coffee shop, waiting on her caramel macchiato.

Connect with Heidi:

About Sam

Sam Schooler is queer and nonbinary, and she grew up surrounded by corn, churches, and cliché “Hell Is Real” signs. After twelve years of Catholic school in southwestern Ohio, she applied to the most liberal university she could find and wound up with a degree in journalism. Now, she writes trope-subverting new adult books about people of all genders and orientations—and all the ways they can love each other. Sam lives with her wife and their two cats in Regina, Saskatchewan.

You can find her backlist and details about upcoming projects at “http://samschooler.weebly.com/” .

If you’re feeling daring, follow her on Twitter as “https://twitter.com/samschoolering”  or on Tumblr as “http://meetcute-s.tumblr.com/“ to get the full immersive experience.

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Giveaway

Feeling lucky? Leave a comment with your email on this or any of our other DEAD RINGER tour posts for a chance to win one of our two grand prizes. Each winner will receive a $15 gift card to Riptide Publishing, plus get their choice of either a poster-sized print of DEAD RINGER’s gorgeous cover photo by Marisha Dudek, or a postcard set featuring the eye-catching ephemera of James Ringer’s filmography, designed by Vivian Ng. Contest is not restricted to US entries.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.