A Stella Review: Get Your Shine On by Nick Wilgus

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

When his mother goes out to party one Saturday night and doesn’t come back, seven-year-old Ishmael Hood is taken in by his estranged uncle Henry and Henry’s live-in boyfriend, Sam. As this unlikely trio begins to build a new life together, they encounter both support and hostility in the small Mississippi town where they live. Seems like just about everybody has an opinion on the matter—and they’re not shy about expressing it.

While this blossoming little family finds its feet, outside forces—and ghosts from the past—threaten to tear it apart. Henry, still trying to deal with the tragic death of his parents, finds himself hard-pressed to open his heart to this needy child.

Just as a little shine begins to come back into their lives, Ishmael’s mother returns, and their world is thrown into chaos.

Nick Wilgus is one of my favorite authors, I have a soft spot for his Sugar Tree series, so every time I know he’s releasing a new book, I start to hyperventilate. Even if his books are not the usual m/m books I read, most of all even if his writing is hard to read for me, I’ve learned to simply love them and wish for more and more of his characters.

Get Your Shine On was another winner to me. I didn’t read the blurb because I didn’t care what it was about, I just cared that it was out. I wasn’t expecting this kind of story, so much (sometimes too much) emotional for me and I wasn’t ready for it. Especially halfway through it when we get some heavy angst. I so hoped, until the end, that it wasn’t like I suspected to be and when my suspicions became reality they were hard to take; the central part was melting, I had to stop a couple of times.

The style and the language are the ones we used to find in the Sugar Tree series so if you liked that books you absolutely can’t miss this new one. I enjoy Nick Wilgus’ writing so much especially because he talks about children, the not so lucky ones, the same ones that break my heart in almost every scene I read. He writes so beautifully about imperfect characters, in fact there is no one perfect character in all of his books. For example at the start of Get Your Shine On I despised Henry, the MC, so much. I didn’t like how he approached his nephew Ishy, he didn’t get the boy at all and often he was too hard to the little one to my liking. But Wilgus is great at creating well developed characters, some of them will grow in the book and become better people, for other character there will be no hope sadly. Each one of them is well portrayed, from the details, to their background.

What I appreciate the most (cause it’s real) but at the same time I can understand it could be not easy to accept, is a specific quality of this author, so present in this book too. His books are full of crap, the MCs usually have to take it from everyone. There are a lot of homophobic people, too many times the word pedophile is said and it is just one of the nasty things that flew in the books. It’s a trait of his writing that can leave the reader puzzled the first time but later will be understood as the true way to show us a world that truly exists. Moreover the icing on the cake is that all of this is surrounded by a ton of laughter. There are so many funny scenes that balanced the angsty and heavy and sad parts.

As you can see I haven’t talked about blurb, plot or characters, it will be your pleasure to discover them, I’m sure. I just want to mention my favorite character (apart from the little Ishy that filled my heart every time he smiled), because she deserves it. She is Sister Ascension. She was the best, so fierce in her wanting to help Hen and his new family. Religion and I have a tough relationship and I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the author for giving me a nun as the most positive person in this book.

I want to recommend Get Your Shine On cause it was emotional, funny, too many times really over the top. I can’t have enough of Wilgus’ works.

Cover art by AngstyG. It’s not my favorite by this artist. Not a bad cover at all but not so eye catching. I like it but nothing more. But at the end you could have give me a blank cover for this book, I wouldn’t have cared.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook 350 pages
Published July 24th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN13 9781634763738
Edition Language English

Anna Butler is Here Talking SciFy, Aliens, Romance and Heart Scarab! (Author Interview, Excerpt and Contest)

Heart Scarab (Taking Shield #2) by Anna Butler
Release Date: July 22, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas

Sales Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Kobo

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Anna Butler, author of Heart Scarab.
Hi Anna, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

First, thank you for hosting me today. I’m delighted to be here.

Heart Scarab is the second of the Taking Shield series, which charts the life and loves of Shield Captain Bennet. Taking Shield is both a sweeping sci-fi story (old school sci-fi with spaceships and lasers, aliens and handsome heroes) and an equally sweeping love story. I should warn you, though, that it isn’t a romance in the sense that it won’t be what most m/m romance readers would expect.

Thousands of years after an alternate-universe Earth went dark, the people of one of her colonies, Albion, are struggling in a war that’s probably unwinnable, against aliens called the Maess. Although humans have been fighting the aliens’ cyborg drones for over a century, they haven’t seen a real, organic Maess. Set against the war, is the love story between Bennet and Fleet Lieutenant Flynn. They meet in the first book, Gyrfalcon, but for various reasons theirs isn’t going to be an easy love. They meet and part several times before the end. In Heart Scarab, Bennet’s return after being declared missing in action, presumed dead, puts intolerable strain on his relationship with his long term partner, Joss, but paves the way for a reunion with Flynn.
As for me, I worked for the UK civil service for many years as a communications specialist, working on everything from marketing employment programmes to running an internal TV service. These days I’m concentrating on trying to make it as a writer, combining my love of old school science fiction and m/m themes. I live in London with my husband and our cockapoo, Molly. We’re currently house hunting, looking for a country retreat.
• Do you buy a book because of the cover, the blurb, or something else?

That depends. I won’t say that I buy books *because of* either of those things, but if I’m trawling Amazon or a bookshop they do influence which books I’ll look into and which I’ll then consider buying.

I’m a very visual person, so the cover will catch my eye first. Truly, all the advice you read about getting a good cover that tells the reader something about the story, really holds true. Terrible cover, and I probably won’t even get to the blurb to see if it’s worth pursuing.

If the book comes to me as a recommendation, I’ll usually not let the cover influence me too much (beyond a wince if it’s dire).

Best possible tool – the ‘look inside’ feature on Amazon, or the sample. That really gives you a feel for if you’re going to get on with this author and book.

• What does ‘romance’ mean to you?

‘Good storytelling’ and ‘strong characters’ and ‘lose yourself for an hour here’—heartfelt emotion and drama, eroticism, sex scenes in which the feelings and the relationship matter as much (more?) than the physical gymnastics, an ending that is happy/enriching/hopeful. Stories about love. Sometimes about loss. But ultimately uplifting stories that leave you feeling good.
• What are your current projects?

I’m currently working on the fourth Shield book, The Chains Of Their Sins. On the current timetable, it will be published around this time next year, so I have a little time to polish it up! In this book, Bennet and Flynn are thrown together again, but it isn’t all hearts and rainbows. In fact, it isn’t hearts and rainbows at all…

• What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

Not to edit as I go along. I have a terrible habit of tinkering with what I’ve written so far, trying to perfect it, rather than ploughing on to the end and then editing in its entirety. It is a bad habit, because I can spend hours dithering over word choices and syntax when I should be forging on with the plot. Scrivener helps because it’s a separate folder and document for each chapter, so going back to the beginning to read is several steps more complex than in a word processing programme like Word. Scrivener is breaking me of some bad habits!

• Tell us something about yourself that would surprise people.

I’ve ridden in the circus ring.

I was about five, and my parents took my sister (then about three) and I to a small circus visiting a nearby town. The clowns brought in a Shetland pony, trained to do tricks as part of their routine, and at the end the Ringmaster asked for a volunteer to ride it. I was down in the ring almost before the man finished speaking. I can just about remember noise and light and a lot of people’s faces as I rode three times around the ring, led by the chief clown. He had a red coat and blue trousers and that’s all I remember about him. The pony was called Pickles.

Thank you, Anna, that was wonderful!

Now more about Heart Scarab.

Blurb:

Telnos is an unpleasant little planet, inhabited by religious fanatics in the festering marshlands and unregistered miners running illegal solactinium mines up in the hills. But the Maess want Telnos, and Shield Captain Bennet’s job is to get out as many civilians as he can—a task that leaves him lying on Telnos while the last cutter of evacuees escapes in the teeth of the Maess invasion.

Bennet is listed missing in action, believed dead on a planet now overrun by Maess drones. His family is grieving. His long-term partner, Joss, is both mourning and guilt-ridden.

And Fleet Lieutenant Flynn? Flynn is desolate. Flynn is heart-broken… no. Flynn is just broken

Pages or Words: 97,900 words

Categories: Gay Fiction, Science Fiction

Excerpt:

Flynn liked kissing. In fact, Flynn considered himself something of an expert in the art. He’d tried it in all its forms, from the first tentative pressing together of juvenile lips that had you wondering what all the fuss was about, to the discovery that if you just opened your mouth and, you know, kind of moved everything, your tongue suddenly had a lot more positive uses than just allowing you to articulate clearly and swallow things without choking. Flynn got the hang of it, ran with it, and never looked back.

Soft kisses and hard kisses; kisses that were wet and slobbery with people who didn’t know exactly how to hold their lips to get the best and sexiest effect, and wet and sexy kisses with people who did. Kisses that turned the blood to molten lava and kisses that cooled you as you came down. Kisses that inflamed and kisses that soothed; feverish kisses and languid after-sex kisses. Kisses that meant only good fellowship and casual affection, and kisses that were desire incarnate.

Flynn had not only tried them all, he’d made them his own. He was considered by all the relevant authorities to be rather a specialist in the area.

Flynn really liked kissing. He had been gratified by the discovery that Bennet liked it too. Because now he could add slow kisses to the repertoire. Kisses so leisured and intense the world came to a stop while a hot tongue moved over his lips, explored each and every tooth down to the last molar, while teeth pulled at his bottom lip, biting it gently until it was swollen and hot and heavy, and he had to lick his lip to cool it and met Bennet’s tongue with his. Only then, would Bennet’s mouth close over his and start a real in-earnest kiss that lasted several more centuries. Those were kisses Bennet seemed to specialise in.

Flynn was always willing to take tips from another expert. A man should always try to extend his technique.

About the author:

Anna Butler was a communications specialist for many years, working in UK government departments on everything from marketing employment schemes to running an internal TV service. She now spends her time indulging her love of old-school science fiction. She lives in the ethnic and cultural melting pot of East London with her husband and the Deputy Editor, aka Molly the cockapoo.

Where to find the author:

annabutlerfiction@gmail.com
Website and Blog
Facebook
The Butler’s Pantry (Facebook Group)
Pinterest
Twitter

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize:

– a copy of my novella, FlashWired (epub, mobi or pdf) on every stop to one random commentator

– Chance to enter a rafflecopter for

(i) top prize of an Amazon gift voucher (is $50 overdoing it? It makes for a decent prize!)

(ii) second prize, winner’s choice of a Heart Scarab ipad cover or kindle cover

(ii) third prize, a Gyrfalcon iPad cover

Must be 18 years of 18 or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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Tour Dates & Stops: Wednesdays July 22 – November 4, 2015

22-Jul

Prism Book Alliance

29-Jul

Just Love Romance

Bayou Book Junkie

5-Aug

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

12-Aug

19-Aug

26-Aug

2-Sep

9-Sep

Inked Rainbow Reads

16-Sep

Velvet Panic

Molly Lolly

23-Sep

Emotion in Motion

30-Sep

BFD Book Blog

Jessie G. Books

7-Oct

Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews

14-Oct

MM Good Book Reviews

21-Oct

The Novel Approach

28-Oct

Amanda C. Stone

4-Nov

Butterfly-O-Meter

In the Book Spotlight: Agate: Then and Now (The Stones of Power #4) by M.D. Grimm

Agate: Then and Now (The Stones of Power #4) by M.D. Grimm
Release Date: August 5, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Torquere Press
Cover Artist: Shardel_4251

Sales Links: Torquere Books

Time travel. For mages, it violates their number one rule: what the Mother has written, let no one unwrite. The Mother writes the destinies of the creatures on the world of Karishian. If her writings were undone, it is feared that Creation itself could be undone. The Dark Mage Morgorth takes this rule to heart, but there are others who do not.

Morgorth is about to claim a stone of power when it is stolen from him by a female mage he hasn’t seen in decades. As they struggle for the stone, she activates it, and Morgorth is unwillingly plunged into another time and another place. It isn’t long before he realizes what time he’s found himself in and there are a few familiar faces.

Most notable is a much younger version of Aishe. His mate.

Living with a tribe who will be massacred, caring for a young lad who will become his mate, and fighting a battle against a mage who can travel from past to future at a whim; Morgorth’s life has never been easy but now he must contend with the will of the Mother. Unable to change the future and the tragedies of Aishe’s life, he must decide what his role in his mate’s past will be, and ask himself one vital question: how does one defeat time?

Pages or Words: 74,654 words

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

 Even as I felt the air around her began to tremble and heat, I only had a split second to make a decision. I lunged forward, trying to grab the stone again. She jerked her arm away but I managed to grab her wrist just as she activated the stone’s power. I didn’t have time to change my mind as a silver dome formed around Drasyln, as the stone seemed to open a vortex with a gravity I couldn’t fight. I was being suffocated, compressed on all sides. My breath left my lungs, my muscles seized and wept. My last thoughts were of Aishe, and if I would ever see him again.

In my efforts to prevent this exact event, I realized I’d just broken the cardinal rule of a mage. The Number One rule my mentor Master Ulezander had ever taught me.

What the Mother has written, let no one unwrite.

Atcoatlu was an agate. It was the stone of time.

M.D. Grimm has wanted to write stories since second grade and nothing has changed since then. Thankfully, she has indulgent parents who let her dream, but also made sure she understood she’d need a steady job to pay the bills. After graduating from the University of Oregon and majoring in English, she embarked on her writing career and couldn’t be happier. Working by day, writing by night, she enjoys embarking on romantic quests and daring adventures and creating characters that always triumph against the villain and find their soul mate in the process.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001710645622
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/M.D.-Grimm/e/B00I0KZMY6/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Website: http://www.mdgrimmwrites.com

Tour Dates & Stops: August 5, 2015Parker Williams, MM Good Book Reviews, TTC Books and More, Bayou Book Junkie, BFD Book Blog, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Molly Lolly, Christy Loves 2 Read, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, 3 Chicks After Dark, Amanda C. Stone, Full Moon Dreaming, Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My, My Fiction Nook, Andrew Q. Gordon, Ogitchida Book Blog, Inked Rainbow Reads

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Agate: Then and Now’. 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 Stella Review: Breakthrough by J. H. Knight

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

The road to recovery is never easy, even when you’re just an innocent bystander to someone else’s addiction.

For Jack, it’s especially hard because he blames himself for his son Rick’s drug problems. It took Jack over half his life to admit to himself (and his wife) that he was gay, but years later, he still carries guilt over what his realization did to his son.

He never thought Rick’s treatment would help him rehabilitate too, but when Jack meets Seth, the man trying to help his son get back on his feet, it’s the breakthrough he never knew he needed.

I swoon over JH Knight‘s works every time. This week I read two of them: this new novella called Breakthrough and a free story, Just a Feeling. If you love sweet stories like I do, these two are just for you too. The author of the so emotional The Last Thing He Needs never disappointed me. She’s so talented. What I like more in her books is they all are so real, especially this new one. Breakthrough was a quick read, light and funny too. What amazed me was that in just 57 pages she could put so many emotions, I found myself often crying with Jack. We were both a wreck.

I’m pretty sure this was my first book with a Mc as a grandfather, a young one cause Jack is only 49 years old, still I found it interesting. Moreover it was also the first one I read where the focus of the story wasn’t mainly on MCs’ relationship, the spot was on Jack and the breakthrough he’s subjected to while trying to help his son recovering from a serious drug addiction. In only one meeting Seth was the key to finally break the impenetrable wall behind which Jack hides his deep guilty trip over the failure of his wedding and his son’s addiction.

I enjoyed Breakthrough a lot, I put it in my comfort shelf and I am surely going to reread it, but it could have been much better, and that’s the only reason I didn’t give it the full 5 stars. In my opinion it needed just one more little chapter, an epilogue, to know something about Jack and Seth life together, just a little snippet would have been so appreciated, because I saw them together just a couple of times and it wasn’t enough!

Well done JH! Waiting for more by this author, always. Highly recommended!

Cover art by Brooke Albrecht. Honestly this cover didn’t impress me, it’s well done and the model could fit the story but nothing more. It wasn’t eye catching.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 59 pages
Expected publication: August 5th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN13 9781634763189
Edition Language English

A Mika Review: Breakthrough by J.H. Knight

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The road to recovery is never easy, even when you’re just an innocent bystander to someone else’s addiction.

He never thought Rick’s treatment would help him rehabilitate too, but when Jack meets Seth, the man trying to help his son get back on his feet, it’s the breakthrough he never knew he needed.

Since The Last Thing He Needs (The Last Thing He Needs, #1) by J. H. Knight came out, I’ve tried to devour everything this author has written. It’s realistic fiction at it’s finest. This novella was no different. I enjoyed the life challenges that Jack had to overcome. This dealt with a topic that we see a lot of. Jack was a married gay man to a straight woman. He was ashamed of his sexuality, and felt like he was a failure to his only child, who is dealing with addiction. This didn’t get any better to me. I loved it, Jack had to deal with some personal issues in himself before he could ever be happy.

I really liked the story, I liked seeing them talk out their issues, and I liked seeing the two mc’s come together.   Seth was definitely a breath of fresh air. He had the best optimism in the world. I liked his energy, and how he treated Jack. He definitely didn’t hold back. I would have loved for this to be a full length novel. I love this author’s writing style so much. J. H. Knight is a wonderful writer, she gives us things we can see in everyday life. I’m greedy and I want anything she decides to release.

Cover Art by Brooke Albrecht: I think this was a fine representation of Jack, and his coming to terms with himself. I loved the journal as well, since it’s something that Jack is doing to accept himself.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 59 pages
Expected publication: August 5th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781634763189
edition languageEnglish

In the Book Spotlight: The Camp by Victoria Zagar (excerpt and giveaway)

The Camp by Victoria Zagar
Release Date: August 5, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Prizm Books
Cover Artist: BSClay

Sales Links: Torquere Books | Amazon

Blurb:

Jesse Harvan comes home from school one day to find his parents have discovered the gay pornographic magazine hidden under his bed. Disgusted, they decide to send Jesse to Camp Grady, a summer camp which prides itself on converting people’s sexuality.

Once at the camp, Jesse meets the other inmates: Charlie, a disabled African-American gay teenager, Natalie, a transgender girl, her sister Lita, Japanese lesbian Sakura, and last of all, Minister Grady’s son Jacob, who works for the camp under duress. These teens must learn to bridge their differences and get along if they’re to beat their common enemy and keep their identities–and sanity–intact.

Pages or Words: 27,600 words

Categories: Contemporary, LGBT Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Transexual, Lesbian Romance, M/M Romance

Excerpt:

I sit in the back of an old school bus that has been converted for the camp’s use. It rankles that I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Sam. Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me near him. I tried to send him an e-mail, but it was blocked. I didn’t have time to figure out how their new family-filter software worked. The next morning, I was on a plane to Pennsylvania, Mom and Dad accompanying me like this was some kind of family vacation. They left me at the airport and went their own way, transferring me directly to camp custody so that I wouldn’t get infected with any gay on the way.

I know I’ll be going back home eventually, but it doesn’t feel like it right now. I feel like Camp Grady will go on forever. My greatest fear is that the me who goes home won’t be the same as the one sitting here right now.

What if they can change me? What if they do have the power to fix me? That thought in my head argues with its natural opposite: I’m not broken. I won’t change. There’s nothing they can do to change who I am.

Last night I scared myself. I went onto the Internet and looked up ex-gay camps, which surprisingly were not filtered out. There are people who claim that they work. That they’ve thrown away partners, friends, and husbands because they’ve been ‘cured’. I read reports of abuse and beatings that made my stomach clench. I cried myself to sleep for the first time in a long time. I’m genuinely scared. How can something like this be legal? Apparently in California it isn’t. I wish I was a San Francisco kid. Maybe then my parents would be cool, and I wouldn’t feel so alone in the world.

About the author:

Victoria was born in the United Kingdom but emigrated to the United States at age 21. She’s bisexual, genderqueer, happily married, and still shouts in a British accent. She lives with her husband in Pennsylvania where she spends a lot of time playing and talking about video games, especially Japanese role-playing games.

Where to find the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synthesislandale
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/infinitelovefiction
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/landale
Website http://victoriazagar.com

 Tour Dates & Stops: August 3, 2015
Parker Williams, MM Good Book Reviews, Just Love Romance, Jessie G. Books, Boys on the Brink Reviews, Bayou Book Junkie, BFD Book Blog, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Molly Lolly, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Full Moon Dreaming, Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My, My Fiction Nook, Ogitchida Book Blog, Foxylutely Book Reviews, Inked Rainbow

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘The Camp’ by Victoria Zagar Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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In the Book Spotlight: The Homecoming by J. Scott Coatsworth (author interview and giveaway)

The Homecoming by J. Scott Coatsworth
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Cover Artist: London Burden
Release Date: 7/29

Sales Link: Less Than Three Press

My Interview with Author J. Scott Coatsworth on writing, The Homecoming and Much More

Tell me a little about you and your writing:

Thanks for inviting me on the blog again! I’ve known I wanted to be a writer since I was a kid in elementary school in Tucson, Arizona. I wrote my first (longhand, illustrated in crayon) short story in fourth grade – and won a writing contest. In junior high, I graduated to an old manual typewriter, and eventually to an old IBM PC.

I’ve always been fascinated with Fantasy and Sci Fi and the intersection of the two. Most of my stories have revolved around those things; but lately, I’ve added a third thing to the mix – a little MM romance/interaction.

You have a new novella coming out – The Homecoming. What’s it about, and how does it fit into that scheme?

The homecoming was a story I started years ago. I wrote maybe three or four scenes, but never finished it. Then I saw a call for stories about the forest, and thought this piece would be perfect. But I had to give it a mixed-genre twist.

There is a romance in the story, but it’s not the main aspect. I call “The Homecoming” my wolfman-spaceman story, and it really does blend some aspects of sci fi with some aspects of shifter wolves. So it hits upon all three of my current writing interests.

Are you a full-time writer?

Oh, I wish. I have so many ideas I want to explore. But my husband Mark and I run our own little internet company, and that takes most of our time. I do try to sneak in an hour or hour and a half to write each day.

What other projects do you have going, writing-wise?

Hmmm, let’s see. I’ve finished two other novellas that are awaiting possible publication – one of them is a marriage equality love story set in my old home town of Tucson; the other is an elf in post-climate change San Francisco piece.

But I’m also working on a novel in four parts – basically four connected novellas – that will serve as the prequel to another novel I wrote in my twenties, but never published – I plan to go back to that one and rework it, eventually.

I also have an MM sci fi trilogy I’m working on called Oberon.

One more question – what do you do when you need to relax?

Relax? I don’t understand the question. *grin*

Thanks, Scott, for dropping in. Now more about Scott’s new novel, The Homecoming.

When his own world is destroyed, Aldiss and his crew barely manage to escape, leaving friends and lovers behind. What was meant to be an exploratory trip back to the home world turns into a mad dash for survival.

When they awaken from stasis on Earth, which was abandoned by humanity five centuries before, they must quickly learn about their new home. While exploring the region around the ship, Aldiss meets Hari, a shape-changer, whose people harbor secrets that might cost the crew their lives.

Hari reached the edge of the woods just in time to see Neru crouching to leap at the two-legs. Young fool.

He gathered himself and jumped after Neru, knocking him aside as his teeth reached for the two-legs’ throat.

Neru turned and snarled at him, backing away toward the woods.

Hari stood firm, ears back, hackles raised, and drew the corners of his mouth back to reveal his teeth. Back off, Neru.

The whelp shook his head and grinned with the brashness of youth, until Hari leaped at him and nipped his ear. With a surprised yelp, Neru turned his head, deferring to Hari’s strength. As you say, brother. There was a cockiness to Neru’s look that unsettled him.

The other wolf backed up slowly then turned to disappear into the woods.

Hari caught a glimpse of Mavi watching from the shadows. The old wolf snarled, and slunk off after her son.

What do you seek, old mother? Hari wondered, watching Mavi’s silver-tipped tail flicker into the darkness. It was clear where Neru’s courage and cunning had come from.

Hari turned back toward the two-legs. He was holding a strange stick, not unlike the one that Hari’s grandmother had shown him in the wolf dream.

But it was his face that caught Hari’s eye. He knew that face. The two-legs’ eyes were white-gray, and his jet-black hair was swept to the side.

Despite the danger, he shifted in the manner only a few of the clan are able to do in the cold. He grew quickly taller and less hairy but no less muscled, and stood naked before the two-legs.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Hari felt an immense attraction washing over him. He saw in his summer form that this two-legs was beautiful. His own body responded to this… man… in an unexpected way, seeing and feeling things his winter form could not. Hari leaned forward and sniffed the stranger, drinking in his musk. It smelled enticing. Strangely familiar.

He sensed the two-legs stiffen, and to reassure, him, Hari licked the man’s neck.

The two-legs was trembling now like a young whelp, so he tried something else. He took the stranger’s face in his hands and kissed him.

The shaking slowed, and then the man was kissing him back. Hari was hungry for him, like a starving wolf at the end of a long, hard winter.

It is not the time for this, the keh whispered in his ear.

He broke contact and turned away, ashamed that he was betraying his Clan, and for lust. An emotion of his summer form.

“I’m sorry,” he said to the two-legs, without looking back. “It won’t happen again.” Even he was not sure if he meant Neru’s attack, or the kiss.

He shifted back into his winter form and loped off into the woods after his pack mates.

Scott has been writing since elementary school, when he and won a University of Arizona writing contest in 4th grade for his first sci fi story (with illustrations!). He finished his first novel in his mid twenties, but after seeing it rejected by ten publishers, he gave up on writing for a while.

Over the ensuing years, he came back to it periodically, but it never stuck. Then one day, he was complaining to Mark, his husband, early last year about how he had been derailed yet again by the death of a family member, and Mark said to him “the only one stopping you from writing is you.”

Since then, Scott has gone back to writing in a big way, finishing more than a dozen short stories – some new, some that he had started years before – and seeing his first sale. He’s embarking on a new trilogy, and also runs the Queer Sci Fi (http://www.queerscifi.com) site, a support group for writers of gay sci fi, fantasy, and supernatural fiction.

Website: http://www.jscottcoatsworth.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworth

Scott is giving away one copy of The Homecoming. To enter to win you must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the Rafflecopter link to enter and make sure we have your email address to reach you if you are chosen. Contest runs from July 22 to August 5th, at midnight.

Thoughts of Books and August and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

August, summer reading, and books has always been associated together in my mind, especially growing up. August was the month of reading lists, it was the last days of getting away for a vacation, of those summer “big books” you lugged to the beach in tote bags full of soda, sunscreen and beach towels. August was the month for your last chance of a vacation romance and stories to stock up on to tell you friends in September. August was hot, lazy yet full of a kind of desperation to pack in as much fun as you can for fall and September was calling. Some read, some boogied the nights away, some did both. And most of us can remember those blockbuster books we poured over in the sands and porches that marked the passing of summer.

In my mind, that sandy stack of books used to be all about the “winding down”. Now my book stack is mostly electronic and August is all about the “winding up”. Sort of refreshing change of perspective if you ask me…ah age!

August has arrived and with it comes an outpouring of awaited books in series you love, new books by authors you adore and debut novels by authors who soon may claim a place on your auto buy list. I am reviewing one such book this week, that would be Eden Winter’s Redemption (a Bo and Lucky story). Stella’s got another Nick Wilgus’ book for you all, one that’s claimed her heart as has the author. Mika and Stella both feel that way about J. H. Knight…so check out their Double Dipping reviews of Breakthrough. Jeri’s reviews start in this week. Check out what her thoughts are of RJ Scott’s Undercover Lover and Double Cross by Shannon West. Aurora is back with our YA Saturday with a Lissa Kasey novel. I love her world building in her adult M/M fiction, check out what Aurora finds with Kasey’s YA stories.

What’s coming soon? Mary Calmes has a new Jory and Sam story, Piece of Cake, to be released from Dreamspinner Press, Heidi Cullinan has “Winter Wonderland“, John Inman is releasing another in his marvelous Belladonna Arms series “Coming Home’, and the Pulp Friction gang continues to ride that supernatural pony of interconnected stories into wild going ons and deathly doings! Next up? The last of the 3rd round stories, Diamond Edge by Laura Harner. And so much more. What stories are you looking forward to?

This Week At Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, August 2:

Thoughts of Books and August and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
J. Scott Coatsworth “The Homecoming” Blog Tour and Giveaway

Monday, August 3:

Book Spotlight: The Camp by Victoria Zagar (excerpt and giveaway)
RJ Jones ‘Black & Bluhe’ excerpt only tour
A Jeri Review: Double Cross by Shannon West
A Double Dip Review: A Mika Review: Breakthrough by J.H. Knight
A Double Dip Review: A Stella Review: Breakthrough by J. H. Knight

Tuesday, August 4:

In the Book Spotlight: Annabeth Albert’s ‘Treble Maker’ (excerpt and giveaway)
Guest Blog: Jon Keys “Spurred On” Book Blast and Contest
A Mika Review: Beyond the Scars by Louise Lyons
A MelanieM Review: Lovers Entwined by Lillian Frances
A Jeri Review: Undercover Lovers (Bodyguards Inc. #4) by R.J. Scott

Wednesday, August 5:

Happy Birthday, Author Shira Anthony!
MD Grimm ‘Agate: Then and Now’ book blast and contest
Anna Butler’s ‘Heart Scarab‘ Keep Me In Mind tour and giveaway
A Stella Review: Get Your Shine On by Nick Wilgus
A Mika Review: Violated by Jamie Fessenden

Thursday, August 6:

New Author Debut: Strength to Let Go by Alina Popescu‏ (excerpt and giveaway)
Riptide’s Bound with Honor Tour for Megan Mulry (contest included)
Book Spotlight: ‘Redesigning Max’ by Pat Henshaw (excerpt and giveaway)
A MelanieM Review: Groomzilla By Tere Michaels
A Jeri Review: Fireworks by Aimer Boyz

Friday, August 7:

Jump into the Supernatural with Victoria Sue’s Sirius’ Wolves (excerpt and giveaway)
It’s SciFy Friday with Breeding Stations by Chris T. Kat (guest post, excerpt and giveaway)
The Roughstock gang is back with BA Tortuga’s Blind Ride (tour and contest)
A Mika Review: Ink and Shadows (Ink and Shadows #1) by Rhys Ford
A MelanieM Review: Redemption (Diversions #5) by Eden Winters

YA Saturday, August 8:

An Aurora YA Review: Evolution by Lissa Kasey

A Stella Review: Prickly Business (Portland Pack Chronicles #1) by Piper Vaughn and Kenzie Cade

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

Some people might call Avery Babineaux a prick. He’s a hedgehog shifter from an old-money Louisiana family with a penchant for expensive shoes and a reputation for being a judgmental snob. His attitude is why he and his fated mate are estranged. Not that Avery cares. He doesn’t want to be mated to some blue-collar werewolf anyway. Or so he keeps telling himself.

No werewolf likes to be looked down upon, least of all Dylan Green. He doesn’t need a mate, especially not some snotty hedgehog who sneers at his custom motorcycle shop and calls him a grease monkey. But when Avery gets into trouble with a shady loan shark, Dylan can’t stand by and let him be hurt—whether he wants the brat or not.

Yet once Dylan steps into Avery’s world, he realizes there’s more to Avery than his prickly exterior, and that unexpected vulnerability calls to Dylan’s protective instincts. The sassy little hedgehog needs a keeper, and despite their horrible first impressions, Dylan starts to believe he might be the wolf for the job.

Piper Vaughn is one of my favorite author (and a great person too). I already knew I was going to like her work no matter what,including a “new to me” author called Kenzie Cade, whoin my opinion has married Piper’s writing perfectly. What I got to read was definitely so much more than I was expecting.

Prickly Business is not just a simple shifter story. It has everything I love to read in a m/m book: enemies to lovers, destined mates, humour, bikers. Plus an unexpected theme, the mystery. I don’t even want to tell you how much I hated the authors at the end. Here are all the premises for a fantastic and long (I hope) new entertaining series, funny and sexy, just how I like them.

The strange and unlikely couple, a hedgehog shifter and his wolf mate, was hilarious and believable at the same time. Have you ever read about a hedgehog shifter? Well I found it a fresh and original idea, well developed in the book. A book with essence, with is a true plot, with some deepness. I wasn’t bored for a minute, on the contrary it was hard to put it down.

There is a great second characters cast I can’t wait to meet them again pretty soon, please?

I gave Prickly Business five stars cause i simply loved it. But my pleasure increased at the end of the story where, even if I was a little angry at the little cliffhanger, I realized the next book in the Portland Pack Chronicles series will still be about Avery and Dylan. I like to read series in general but I love this kind of series, where I can follow the MCs of the book I fell in love with through their life together after the HEA. If I really enjoyed a couple I want more about them, always.

Highly recommended!

Cover art by Reese Dante. Well done! But it’s probably the first and only time I’m going to say I could have even done without the models due to the so cute couple on the left. The wolf keeping his little hedgehog between his legs is so sweet.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance eBook | Amazon | Buy It Here

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 256 pages
Expected publication: July 27th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN13 9781634764537
Edition Language English
Series Portland Pack Chronicles #1

Kenzie Cade on “Wheels and the Open Road” & Prickly Business Portland Pack Chronicles #1) by Piper Vaughn & Kenzie Cade (guest post and giveaway)

Prickly Business Portland Pack Chronicles #1) by Piper Vaughn & Kenzie Cade
Release Date: July 27, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press ebook & Paperback

Wheels and the Open Road by Kenzie Cade

Hey y’all! Thanks for stopping by today and thanks so much to Melanie and the crew for having me today!

When Piper and I started planning out Prickly Business Dylan came to me almost fully formed—growly, dominant, and badass. And what does every growly, dominant, badass wolf need? That’s right. He needs a bike… or twenty.

Dylan Green fell in love with motorcycles—the mechanics, construction, and restoration—after a particularly rebellious time in his life and that love never faded.

In the research of the great machine, I sort of fell in love with them myself. And it’s not just the freedom and open road that comes from hopping on and taking off. There’s a beauty to each piece of the vehicle, each nuance.
Dylan has several and creates even more masterpieces.

Here’s is favorite. The Harley Davidson Softail. It’s a roadster, this one. Built lighter (if that’s really a thing with motorcycles) than the infamous Fatboy Lo. It’s a smoother, faster ride. Dylan’s everyday wheels of choice. Dylan has a penchant for making thigs his own. This bike is actually by customizing artist Marcus Walz. It’s a beauty, no? He’s dubbed it Sin Rival, which is translated in Spanish as “without rival.” It’s a standout while proclaiming it’s badassery for all to see.

Softail Hardcore
Next up is the Fatboy Lo with apes. Yes, I said apes—as in ape hangers: the tall handlebars that give the perception of a driver hanging… like an ape. This is the classic of all bikes in my opinion. It screams rule breaker. This bad boy is made for the long ride, average speeds, and general looking of awesomness. It’s the king of the road, and Dylan’s just along for the ride. Fatboy Lo
You’ll meet Dylan’s two-wheeled dream in Prickly Business. The 1946 Harley Davidson Flathead is his passion. Rebuilding it is his therapy and relaxation. This machine was actually restored by Ewing Kustoms in Silver Creek, Washington. Just looking at the bike brings on a calming effect. I can just picture Dylan straddling this, letting everything go, and taking off on it. (Of course, he’ll always return because as much as he loves this bike, nothing compares to the hedgehog in his life.)

Harley flathead
And last but far from least is the Green Machine. I can’t end this post without dropping this here for you guys to admire, though I choose not to tell you its role within our story. In all reality, this guy—the M-org concept motorcycle—was designed by Russian designer Mikhail Smolyanov. The guy is crazy innovative. One of the things that attracted me to this bike, besides the outrageousness of it, is that it’s a completely eco-friendly design, made of organic materials. And what better bike for P-town than a hipster bike. The Green Machine
These are only a few of Dylan’s and my favorites. There are more to come and so much more to see. The world of motorcycles is one of freedom, rule breaking, and bad boys. Probably why I love it all so much.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! And thanks again to Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for having me. Dylan sends his love and wishes you many long miles of open road.

~Kenzie

Blurb:

Pages or Words: 97,000 words (approximately)

Categories: Contemporary, M/M Romance, Mystery, Paranormal, Romance

About the authors:

Piper Vaughn Bio
Piper Vaughn wrote her first love story at eleven and never looked back. Since then, she’s known that writing in some form was exactly what she wanted to do. A reader at the core, Piper loves nothing more than getting lost in a great book—fantasy, young adult, romance, she loves them all (and has a two thousand book library to prove it!). She grew up in Chicago, in an ethnically diverse neighborhood, and loves to put faces and characters of every ethnicity in her stories, so her fictional worlds are as colorful as the real one. Above all, she believes that everyone needs a little true love in their life…even if it’s only in a book.

Kenzie Cade Bio

Kenzie Cade was born and raised in the South where she spends her days in the sometimes stressful field of private medicine observing interesting people and committing them to memory for later use. When she isn’t reading, experimenting with recipes, or being distracted by social media, Kenzie spends time with her family, friends, and the Pomeranian/Long-haired Chihuahua mix who likes to keep her company while she writes. As a young girl, Kenzie dreamed of princesses and their white knights. As an adult (or sort of adult), she dreams of princes and their proverbial white knights, which she attributes the fellow Arkansan S.E. Hinton and her novel The Outsiders. Writing to keep the fictional voices at bay, Kenzie enjoys the journeys her characters travel to find their happy endings, and she loves the challenge of writing a great love story. Contact Kenzie at kenziecade.author@gmail.com. You can also find her online at her blog: kenziecade.wordpress.com; on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kenziecade.author; and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thekenziecade.

Where to find the authors:

Piper Vaughn & Kenzie Cade

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pipervaughn & https://www.facebook.com/kenziecade.author
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pipervaughnauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pipervaughn & https://twitter.com/thekenziecade
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pipervaughn7 & https://www.pinterest.com/thekenziecade
Other: Website: http://pipervaughn.com,
Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/104698982870458063898/posts
Other: Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/1/+KenzieCade,
Tumblr: http://thekenziecade.tumblr.com,
Blog: https://kenziecade.wordpress.com/

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: Copy of the ebook or paperback (when book is released) & $10 gift card to Amazon, ARe, or Barnes & Noble (Winner’s choice), Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the authors and Pride Promotions.

Rafflecopter Code:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Dates & Stops: July 27 – August 7

27-JulJoyfully Jay

28-JulPrism Book Alliance

29-Jul3 Chicks After Dark

30-JulHearts on Fire

31-JulScattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

3-AugCharlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Teahouse

4-AugThe Novel Approach

5-AugMolly Lolly

6-AugSinfully Addicted to All Male Romance

7-AugRainbow Gold Reviews